Eh what the hell...UPDATED WITH CARD IN COMPUTER

[Killrose]

Originally posted by: JaredExtreme
This is definitely tempting. That cooler looks LOUD though. Would have to replace it with one of those NV5 Silencers.

 

[Killrose]

Originally posted by: JaredExtreme
This is definitely tempting. That cooler looks LOUD though. Would have to replace it with one of those NV5 Silencers.

Yeah, how loud is this card?

 

[JaredExtreme]

BTW, will the NV5 Artic Silencer even work on this since the 6800LE has the PCB layout of the 6800 Ultra which blocks the second PCI slot that the NV5 uses as an exhaust?

 

[sparhawk6]

Originally posted by: Killrose

Originally posted by: JaredExtreme
This is definitely tempting. That cooler looks LOUD though. Would have to replace it with one of those NV5 Silencers.

Yeah, how loud is this card?

I'd also like to know how loud this card is.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK

Originally posted by: Killrose

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
core OCing really shouldnt be an issue ~ due to throttling.

So there is some sort of overheat protection in nVidia's bios/software that throttles the core?

yes, and if its anything like the 5900s ~ it works very very well.


advise for running 6800 cards~
use a 500+W psu
raise vagp to 1.65v (motherboard vagp)

these cards use alot of power ~ and i mean ALOT OF POWER! :Q

not enough juice could fry them...... easily

No. Please inform me how NOT ENOUGH juice fries them. Unless the fan stops they aint gonna fry from not enough power. They do not use much power over the ATI cards. What are they something like ATI-76Watts MAX and Nvidia like 97Watts Max. Anyways not going to hurt you at all. People have reports and proof of running the 6800U(E) on QUALITY (like SFF PC's) on 300Watt PSUs.

-Kevin

 

[remagavon]

Originally posted by: THUGSROOK
we already know how to get around the throttling.
(my 5900 is throttle free, same can be done for the 6800s)

Yeah, the rivatuner setting doesn't work for all people, it did work for me however my ultra hated even straight water cooling, it would artifact at stock speeds. I think my block was shorting something. I do know for certain though that freezing (the BFG 6800gt to be precise) can kill it, even at maybe 15c temps, nothing subzero. I've only heard of this happening with BFG cards however, either way I had absolutely no luck watercooling my PNY ultra. Go figure

 

[remagavon]

Originally posted by: Rollo

So even though you've probably OCd about .0000000000000000000000000000000000001% of all chips that have been OCd, I can't consider your statement as having any merit.

(no offense intended, just pointing out your experience is "sand on the beach" and not generalizable)

Right, that might be true (though I have owned basically every mid/high end card released throughout the past year or two) but unless there was something already somewhat defective it's hard to believe that the card died from overclocking (assuming just normal methods were used). I'd even bet that it probably was something else in his pc (if in fact he didnt mess with it otherwise).

I had problems due to a psu, which was 430w and modded with better lines across the board, power is a very big issue with these cards and I didn't even believe the reports of that until I saw it myself.

Electromigration happens as a result of increased voltages on a smaller process (my understanding) and when you increase the voltage on the smaller process part which was not designed to receive that much voltage, heat in the smallest parts of the chip goes up and you can have electrons 'migrate' to where they aren't supposed to be which results in internal failures inside the chip. This was a big issue with the northwood originally came out IIRC, and we had to stay under 1.70v to avoid 'SNDS' (sudden northwood death syndrome) which is in fact very real-- and no matter what cooling was used you had to basically stick to that for long term use. Some people with vapochills had P4s die with higher voltage, so it's not so much a tempreature thing as a voltage thing which is my basis for saying I don't think he killed it by moving a slider.

Not postiive, of course; but I think he might have received a defective card to begin with. If this drops below $300 I may pick one up to play with.

 

[Cannabis]

Yeah, how loud is this card?

Card was very loud when I installed it.

BTW, will the NV5 Artic Silencer even work on this since the 6800LE has the PCB layout of the 6800 Ultra which blocks the second PCI slot that the NV5 uses as an exhaust?

I ordered a NV5 with it which was a PITA to install because the bracket was a 2 slot design and I had to go at it with a hacksaw. Other than that the NV5 fits fine

 

[Wag]

Mine should arrive on Thurs. It looks like Newegg has 2 warehouses? The videocard and watch shipped from different coasts.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: remagavon

Originally posted by: Rollo

So even though you've probably OCd about .0000000000000000000000000000000000001% of all chips that have been OCd, I can't consider your statement as having any merit.

(no offense intended, just pointing out your experience is "sand on the beach" and not generalizable)

Right, that might be true (though I have owned basically every mid/high end card released throughout the past year or two) but unless there was something already somewhat defective it's hard to believe that the card died from overclocking (assuming just normal methods were used). I'd even bet that it probably was something else in his pc (if in fact he didnt mess with it otherwise).

I had problems due to a psu, which was 430w and modded with better lines across the board, power is a very big issue with these cards and I didn't even believe the reports of that until I saw it myself.

Electromigration happens as a result of increased voltages on a smaller process (my understanding) and when you increase the voltage on the smaller process part which was not designed to receive that much voltage, heat in the smallest parts of the chip goes up and you can have electrons 'migrate' to where they aren't supposed to be which results in internal failures inside the chip. This was a big issue with the northwood originally came out IIRC, and we had to stay under 1.70v to avoid 'SNDS' (sudden northwood death syndrome) which is in fact very real-- and no matter what cooling was used you had to basically stick to that for long term use. Some people with vapochills had P4s die with higher voltage, so it's not so much a tempreature thing as a voltage thing which is my basis for saying I don't think he killed it by moving a slider.

Not postiive, of course; but I think he might have received a defective card to begin with. If this drops below $300 I may pick one up to play with.

Hmmm. I always thought electromigration happened because the increased heat somehow facilitated the current arcing from circuit to cicuit and ended up fusing the two. It's been a long time since I've read about it though, maybe someone else can save us a Google?

 

[flyboy84]

just jumped on this delicious deal...went over my VC budget by $75, but what they hey, this should last me a few years! Now I need to find a good home for my trusty Ti4400

 

[Kabob]

I'm extremely tempted to buy this card. One question though, how can you tell the difference between DDR and DDR3 memory on a card?? What can you read to measure the clock speeds of video cards (notice I'm using an FX 5200...never had to do that before because it probably doesn't matter ) And how can you tell how many pixel pipelines are open??

Any clues??

 

[flyboy84]

I believe rivatuner is the program you are looking for

 

[flyboy84]

Question: to those that got this, did it come with far cry/ any games?

 

[ronach]

No games, just the biggest honkin vid card you've ever seen. It does make a little more noise than my 9800 np, not objectionable to me, but I don't have young ears anymore either. I like the quality look of the card, time will tell if the quality is built in. This is my first eVGA card so off we go, 2 days and counting.

 

[Kabob]

By what method did you overclockers overclock this card? What's the highest stable overclock you've managed to achieve thus far??

 

[sleepeeg3]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Originally posted by: PremiumG
just to cool you guys down:

this card takes up two slots and might NOT have 16 pipes opened.

Can't a real 6800GT be had for $350 or so if you shop around? Why not pay the extra $25 for a single slot, guaranteed 16 piped card?

Pfft.
1. The "real" 6800GT has 10% slower RAM
2. The "real" 6800GT has a cheaper cooling solution
3. Since when have gamers cared about the slot next to their AGP card?
4. Last I looked, one brand of 6800GT was $350 at one place, and that brand has a cheesy new cooling solution nobody seems to like. 6800GTs are $375 > at newegg I believe.

This card is the deal of the century. Although you are right that it may not have all 16 pipes, that would make it equivalent to the Asus V9999GE which splits the difference between a 6800NU and a GT, and with 10% faster RAM, this card would be even closer. Besides, has anyone actually gotten one that is 12 pipes?

1. It clocks higher
2. It clocks higher
3. I have a SFF. It matters. Also a PITA if you buy an NV Silencer.
4. Get one off the forums. They're going for $340.

The ASUS GE also is an Ultra. ASUS just didn't "accidentally" leave the Ultra bios. Softmods with RivaTuner.

Looking at this deal, it's not bad dollar wise, but GT is overall the better choice if these are only going to clock to 350MHz on stock.

 

[yhelothar]

This card is noisy as hell! Is there any thermal throttling for this? It seems like it's running at max speed 24/7 unlike my former 5900.
Also I think the thermal sensor is broken, it's stuck at 98°C
I felt the heatsink with my hand, it didn't feel like I could boil water on there, or even fry eggs, it was just lukewarm.

 

[deldd]

When I had my eVGA 6800GT it was loud, one of the reasons I got rid of it. But it did overclock like mad, I got it up to around 430/1160 with the crappy eVGA cooler. Just couldn't take the noise, reminded me of an F-16

This does sound like an excellent deal, but I really think theses card manufacturers should spend more time with their cooling.

 

[remagavon]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Hmmm. I always thought electromigration happened because the increased heat somehow facilitated the current arcing from circuit to cicuit and ended up fusing the two. It's been a long time since I've read about it though, maybe someone else can save us a Google?

Yeah after reading some more I think it's a bit of both, increasing voltage brings out the electromigration because there is an obvious increase in heat when you do this, still seems strange that vapochilled P4s died though.

At any rate the card looks nice for the money, I had a plain 128mb 6800 in another pc and it was pretty damn fast by itself (doom 3 @ 1600x1200 was very smooth even on an AthlonXP, and $325 is a decent price for a 16 pipe guarenteed 6800 for sure. If anyone needs a card now and doesn't want to spend a ton of money then this should probably be at the top of the list.

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: Rollo
Hmmm. I always thought electromigration happened because the increased heat somehow facilitated the current arcing from circuit to cicuit and ended up fusing the two. It's been a long time since I've read about it though, maybe someone else can save us a Google?

Heat may be a factor, but from what I remember of my solid state physics and semiconductor processing classes voltage is the primary driver of electron migration. I also remember the descriptions that the migration was very sudden and not reversible (silicon toast).

-- Materials Engineering Graduate, but I don't work with silicon, I work with hard disks, and it's been 8 years, I could have remembered wrong.

 

[remagavon]

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
This card is noisy as hell! Is there any thermal throttling for this? It seems like it's running at max speed 24/7 unlike my former 5900.
Also I think the thermal sensor is broken, it's stuck at 98°C
I felt the heatsink with my hand, it didn't feel like I could boil water on there, or even fry eggs, it was just lukewarm.

98c is really hot, if it's that hot idle then there is something wrong (especially with an ultra heatsink), maybe try a different driver? I had a 6800gt that ran around 83c under full load with the single slot cooler, my 6800u runs anywhere from 54c or so (idle) to maybe something in the 70s under full load, nowhere near 98c.

Good luck!

 

[Glyphic]

I just ordered one, yay, get one of this horrible fx5600

 

[VeZ]

just ordered mine

 

[Vallybally]

This sounds like a very intriguing deal. I'm am deliberating between this card or my current BFG 6800nu which I can return. Please help me weigh the pros and cons.

BFG 6800nu ($275)
- seems to have successfully unlocked to 16/6 with no visible aritifacts
- only 128 DDR1 RAM, but do games today or next year really make use of 256 DDR3?
- has the louder than average dual fans

eVGA 6800 ($325)
- $50 more
- prolly even or slighly faster than my BFG at its stock 350 core
- cooler may be more efficient but could be as loud or louder
- may not OC well down the road, but bump from 325 to 350 should be safe bet
- 256 RAM may allow more room to grow for future games