the age old nvidea or ati, 6800u or x800xt question

[lrmat]

here is the age old dillema. i want to upgrade my video card the last item on my freshly built rig (actually almost a month old now (awwwww look it the baby pictures)).

my sister and wife both have wanted to give me a birthday present so i will direct them to just buy me a gift certificate from compusa, (i don't need the wife to know that i'm willing to blow $500 on a f$%#@ing video card). whatever the gift certificates don't cover, i will. i need to know where to apply my money. 6800ultra x800xt pe? i would have gone with the 6800gt or x800pro but seeing as my costs will be offset by the certificates, i will splurge.

i am awaiting half-life2 (the best video game i have ever played, bar none) this is probably the reason i built a new rig (athlon64 3400, 200gig sata drive, 1 gig corsair ram, etc, etc.) but one game engine does not a gaming rig make, there is source, there is doom, there is unreal, there is crytech.

which video card would best take advantage of all the latest gaming engines now and potentially in the future?

is this the right question to ask?

will batman escape from the shark tank?

is that really burt reynolds hair?

let me know.

 

[imported_obsidian]

If you're going to get it from CompUSA then you might want to see what they got in stock. If they have an XT-PE in stock for $500, then by all means get it. However, I would take the 6800GT over a X800 Pro.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

How about you get the 6800GT and use the extra to buy your wife some flowers?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

will batman escape from the shark tank?

Hell yeah! They never take his damned utility belt away. Dumbasses

is that really burt reynolds hair?

Of course not.

How about you get the 6800GT and use the extra to buy your wife some flowers?

Something from Victoria's Secret is more in order, afterall it's HIS B-day :evil:

 

[jrphoenix]

Hey that's the same case I bought for my parent's system (they wanted silver). For the games you like (excluding Doom) get the XT PE (if they have it). I wanted that card but, it wasn't available when my old rig died

Oh yeah, if you get the GT, go with the Victoria's Secret suggestion! I concour.

 

[Marsumane]

Originally posted by: jrphoenix
Hey that's the same case I bought for my parent's system (they wanted silver). For the games you like (excluding Doom) get the XT PE (if they have it). I wanted that card but, it wasn't available when my old rig died

Oh yeah, if you get the GT, go with the Victoria's Secret suggestion! I concour.

The cards are both even. Get the one with the lower price. The xt is good, but the 6800 series is a bit more future proof and its more ballanced. The xt seems to drop more in gl games then it should, such as doom 3, but seems to accelerate in dx games. Its just not quite as ballanced and consistant from my findings. Its a good card, and by all means id buy it if it was $25 or more cheaper then the 6800u, but it is definately not the clear winner in most tests. But then again neither is the 6800u in many dx9 titles. Basically im saying get the cheaper card and u cant go wrong this round.

 

[darom]

Why Compusa? one of the most expensive places to buy soft/hardware with crappy service and return policy. They completely discredited themselves in my eyes for not willing to price match the Doom3 game with CircuitCity. I guess they knew that the game was hot and other people would buy it for $55+tax.

Show your relatives how to get an online gift certificate from places like NewEgg

As far as the card is concerned, if I had money, I would get the 6800U. Of course, do you own research and figure out which games you will be playing.

Regards!

 

[lrmat]

thanks guys for the advice.

the flowers, she's not a flowers type of gal (or jewelery, thank god!!) victoria's secret is a great idea but no, i get that perk anyway. i want to splurge and get the cutting edge cause i wouldn't normally, i would get the median card (x700 or 6600). being married and with a kid, the days of doing anything strictly for myself are rare. yeah, i'll get an x800xt, either the ati or visiontek.

the reason i chose compusa is because they have more to choose from and they have gift certificates if not i would have bought either card from ecost which has the x800xt pe for $450.

 

[Delorian]

Xtasy X800 XT PE $500

Only available in select locations, otherwise I'd say 6800 GT and OC it to Ultra speeds.



BTW I'd easily get a gift card from newegg instead of compusa if I had a choice

 

[lrmat]

the problem with newegg is that you can only get visa gift certificates and their prices on the video cards are no different then anywhere else.

 

[SneakyStuff]

evga 6800GT An excellent value on an excellent card, it even comes with a full version of FarCry, can't beat it for the price/performance you get. It'll be a perfect playmate for the A64.

 

[JBT]

If you can, go with the XTPE. Ir performs a bit better in most instances. If you can't the GT is certainly no slouch. I have a PNY GT and it rocks.

 

[lrmat]

how difficult is it to overclock the gt to ultra levels, does it shorten the life of the gt? how reliable is it overclocked? my cpu mobo temps are 34/33 idle and 50/43 under load.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: lrmat
how difficult is it to overclock the gt to ultra levels, does it shorten the life of the gt? how reliable is it overclocked? my cpu mobo temps are 34/33 idle and 50/43 under load.

No set answer for any of your questions sorry. It's the old 'pay your money, take your chances" gamble. My BFG GT OC does U speeds and runs rock solid but as always it's YMMV. Good luck whatever you do