What's the Geforce 6800 GTO?

[knyghtbyte]

Originally posted by: VedantR
Ok, I asked dell about the unusually high core temperatures. They said that the card is supposed to run at 35 degrees.... If that's the case then they really need to check their cooling and check the size of the Dimension 8400 case. Anyways, they said they would send me a replacement 6800 gto and i guess I'll see what kind of performance I get now.. I doubt it will make much of a difference but I dont know how this system passed its burn test... (if there was a burn test conducted lol)

35 degrees? that sounds a little low......for something in a Dell puter anyhow....ok if u had a 4 fan full size tower with artic cooler on the card i could believe it, but not in a Dell......lol.....mine peaks at 80-90 under load now, but idling as it is right now its steady around 60.........still, i might phone up Dell, tell them im not happy, i want to swap my card, but can they take an extra £50 off me and give me an X800XT instead...lol

 

[jreg]

Originally posted by: knyghtbyte

let me know what it clocks at on a single gpu setup first if u can please.....it might only have normal DDR memory, meaning u wont get it over 900 effective.....

Started out just playing with the clocks. Ran fine at 430/1125, did a few runs of 3dmark without any visual problems whatsoever. Was pretty happy with that, even though temps are similar to what other people are reporting with the GTOs.

Decided to give the unlocking a try, just for kicks. Didn't expect it to work at all, but it did! Rivatuner reports 16x1,6vp. Ran it a bunch times at 350/900 just to make sure the unlocked stuff was ok, and it seems like it is. Didn't see any visual problems. Cranked it up to 430/1125 with the unlocked pipelines, but it hard locked toward the end of battle of proxycon, I'm guessing from temps, though I wasn't monitoring them at the time. Backed it down to 405/1105 and it ran through 4 times with no problems. Getting ~12,300 with 3dmark 03 (Running an Athlon 64 3200+ at stock on an A8n-SLI for now, will see what I can can do with that after the video card).

Temps making me slightly nervous, so I'll probably be fairly conservative with actual usage. Temps are 56ish idle with load going up to around 85c and higher. Wondering if I should swap out the stock cooling with something else. Anyone had much success with that for a GTO?

 

[knyghtbyte]

Originally posted by: jreg

Originally posted by: knyghtbyte

let me know what it clocks at on a single gpu setup first if u can please.....it might only have normal DDR memory, meaning u wont get it over 900 effective.....

Started out just playing with the clocks. Ran fine at 430/1125, did a few runs of 3dmark without any visual problems whatsoever. Was pretty happy with that, even though temps are similar to what other people are reporting with the GTOs.

Decided to give the unlocking a try, just for kicks. Didn't expect it to work at all, but it did! Rivatuner reports 16x1,6vp. Ran it a bunch times at 350/900 just to make sure the unlocked stuff was ok, and it seems like it is. Didn't see any visual problems. Cranked it up to 430/1125 with the unlocked pipelines, but it hard locked toward the end of battle of proxycon, I'm guessing from temps, though I wasn't monitoring them at the time. Backed it down to 405/1105 and it ran through 4 times with no problems. Getting ~12,300 with 3dmark 03 (Running an Athlon 64 3200+ at stock on an A8n-SLI for now, will see what I can can do with that after the video card).

Temps making me slightly nervous, so I'll probably be fairly conservative with actual usage. Temps are 56ish idle with load going up to around 85c and higher. Wondering if I should swap out the stock cooling with something else. Anyone had much success with that for a GTO?

Do me a favour, try running it unlocked and o/c in HL2, tell me if u see sparklies in any dark places.....i started to get them somewhere aroudn the tunnel bit where u come out into a swimming pool shaped sewer area with the big spinning fan thing that u went to the left underwater to carry on.....
i never showed any sparklies in 3dmark03/05 unlocked and o/c, but in hl2 i did...stwange.....anyhow lemme know if u have hl2 if that happens to you.

Hopefully be a moot point for me soon tho, b-day coming up at end of Jan, hopefully an Ultra will be available cheap in PCI-E or if not an X800XT PE cheap and i can whack that in my puter as a pressie...lol
(i'll have to pay over half towards it, but i figure if it costs me £175 i'll be happy enuff...lol)

 

[VedantR]

Hmm.... maybe the new card they send me will be unscrewedup (by dell) aswell because maybe they only cripple the chip during pc assembly or something. ill tell you how it goes... december 30th and i hope i see 16x1,6....

knyghtbyte, I would say wait a while for SLi to come out for Pentium 4 Processors. Its technically already out for Alienware Xeons and Supermicro and Gigabyte have some betas. However, these aren't 2 16x connectors so you dont take full advantage of it. We'll probably be seeing SLi for Intel in 2k5 maybe...

 

[knyghtbyte]

Originally posted by: VedantR
Hmm.... maybe the new card they send me will be unscrewedup (by dell) aswell because maybe they only cripple the chip during pc assembly or something. ill tell you how it goes... december 30th and i hope i see 16x1,6....

knyghtbyte, I would say wait a while for SLi to come out for Pentium 4 Processors. Its technically already out for Alienware Xeons and Supermicro and Gigabyte have some betas. However, these aren't 2 16x connectors so you dont take full advantage of it. We'll probably be seeing SLi for Intel in 2k5 maybe...

i cant remember where i read it and i might be wrong, but PCI-E is never going to be 2 x 16 when in SLi mode for video cards, i think it can only be 2 x 8 in SLi with the video cards (however u will be able to use 2 different cards for different purposes (i dunno, say 1 video card and 1 sound card) as 1x16 and 1x16 on a motherboard with two x16 PCI-E slots.....
like i say i might have remembered wrongly so dont bite me head off...lol

 

[jreg]

Originally posted by: VedantR

knyghtbyte, I would say wait a while for SLi to come out for Pentium 4 Processors. Its technically already out for Alienware Xeons and Supermicro and Gigabyte have some betas. However, these aren't 2 16x connectors so you dont take full advantage of it. We'll probably be seeing SLi for Intel in 2k5 maybe...

You'll never be able to use SLI on an 8400, so it's a moot point, at least in terms of an upgrade. Maybe it's something to consider when you're shopping around for a Dimension 8550 or something...

Don't have HL2 to test out the pipes, unfortunately. Maybe I'll pick it up, though I haven't been into FPS much lately (been playing mostly WoW).

I'm really interested to see what prices drop to as more high end PCI Express cards get released, along with ATI's new line becoming available. SLI with a pair of GTOs is an option for me, provided I'd be able to get my hands on another one for a reasonable price. Really only got the one I have now because of pure luck (roommate buying the Dell and me being able to "upgrade" off it, and Dell shipping me a GTO instead of vanilla 6800). Anyone seen any benchmarks of GTOs running in SLI?

 

[bat711]

Just an update:

With the newest Rivatuner RC 15.3 you can unlock the extra pixel vertex units that were hardware masked even when using RC 15.2.

After using Rivatuner RC 15.3 to unlock masked pixel and vertex units I saw a significant increase.

6800 GTO 12x1 5vp:

Stock speed (350/900) - 9754 3DMarks
Overclocked (400/1050) - 11342 3DMarks

6800 GTO 16x1 6vp:
Stock speed (350/900) - 11267 3DMarks
Overclocked (400/1000) - 12371 3DMarks

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=3523666

The temps on this GTO card are at ridiculous levels even at stock speed (90-95c at peak), so I installed a PCI slot car cooler (Adaptec ACC-9100, can be purchased through Best Buy if in US, howeve, I don't recommend it because it seems to have some issues maintaining a constant RPM) it lowered peak temps 7-10c.

Idle temp: ~55-56
Peak temp: ~85-88

 

[bat711]

As you can see from above I'm essentially getting overclocked (@400/1050) performance at stock speeds not too bad. So if you had problems not being able to unlock the units previously go get the new Rivatuner.

 

[VedantR]

Thankyou bat, you made me so happy

edit

ok its been confirmed. it can be done and there is NO graphics corruption whatsoever. I've checked, my card performs even better than a stock GT with the 375/1000 and the 16/6 softmod. In Test 1 (Return to proxycon) on 3d mark 05, the GT on an Athlon64 3400+ got 20.3 fps while with 12/5 i got 18 fps and with the mods, i got 22.3 fps. Im quite happy with this purchase now and now I can crank up the stuff on Doom III.

 

[VedantR]

[/quote]Temps making me slightly nervous, so I'll probably be fairly conservative with actual usage. Temps are 56ish idle with load going up to around 85c and higher. Wondering if I should swap out the stock cooling with something else. Anyone had much success with that for a GTO?[/quote]

The NV Silencer 5 from arctic cooling is the best for the 6800 series of cards.

 

[rikadik]

Hi everybody, as you can see I'm new here.

Yesterday I ordered a new Dell Dimension 8400, as shown in my signature - the value for money was fantastic.

I had the choice of a 6800 GTO or an X800 XT for £47 more. Thinking the GTO was the same as a GT, i went for it. Then I came accross this thread! I think if I'd realised the GTO was stipped down I would have paid the extra for the X800 XT, since it seemed good value for money.

This annoyed me at first, but then I thought:

"Actually, this card is still bloody fast, I don't care".

I don't play games loads, and I primarily went for a top-end card to speed up the video editing and DVD rendering I do. Could you tell me if I am right in feeling happy about this, or should I be annoyed? I really don't know to be honest. Cheers!

 

[rikadik]

 

[VedantR]

The 6800 GTO is not a bad card and you can still unmask the extra pipelines. You just need rivatuner 15.3 and with some core clock and memory speed mods, you could be performing at 6800 Ultra levels.

Im purchasing parts for my new custom build high performance rig.

 

[rikadik]

Thanks.

From what I've heard overclocking and unmasking pipelines is pretty straight forward using Rivatuner. If I was to unmask the pipelines and OC to GT levels, can you see any problems such as heat or lifetime of the card. And how about warranty? I've heard its best to replace a bust card with nVidia not Dell because the tech support can't speak English!

Thanks again!

 

[VedantR]

You won't even have a problem overclocking the GTO to Ultra levels provided you get the NV Silencer 5 cooling unit from Arctic Cooling. Dell Tech support has competent people that speak English. They have 2 call centres, one in India and one in Ireland. I think Dell is pretty good for most people unless you are a geek and want Alienware (like me). Anyways, Alienware sucks, Im building a custom rig that will whoop alienware badly.

 

[knyghtbyte]

i think its worth mentioning that if u bust the card due to unmasking or OC'ing, Dell or Nvidia are under no obligation to replace it for you for free. Its possible they might not realise, but if they do you dont legally have a leg to stand on. Also, if you remove the cooler they will certainly know that has happened.
Its unlikely anything would go wrong, just be sensible OC'ing it...lol

Oh and when you call Dell contact centres, dont use any kind of slang talk or expressions, just use 'literal english' then you wont have any problem with the staff understanding you or you them.

 

[rikadik]

Thanks guys.

I also found Dell sales and customer support fine, I was just commenting on what other people have said.

I've looked at the NV Silencer, looks reasonably priced and fairly straightforward to install. I currently just can't decide in my own mind whether its worth risking OCing, but I guess the risks are pretty insignificant if I'm sensible. I think I'll see how I get on with the default settings and consider OCing if I want more performance.

 

[VedantR]

First of all, Happy New Year

Second:
Rikadik, I think I have found a problem with the NV Silencer 5. ALthough its designed to work with any 6800 series card, its efficiency is reduced when dealing with double slot cards. The NV5 Silencer has an exhaust at the back of the case where all the hot air goes through. If the card is a double slot (like the GTO), you will not be able to exhaust heat. I have contacted Arctic Cooling and will tell you how it goes

 

[rikadik]

Really? Thats such a pain!

I looked at the Silencer and it seemed brilliant - the exhaust system is a pretty good idea. Thanks for keeping me up to date on it.

 

[rikadik]

Hey VedantR,

I think I've found the solution we were looking for. I read the FAQ on the Arctic Cooling website and stumbled across this:

"The exhaust from the cooler is blocked by the two-slot back plate of my original 6800 card. How can I make your cooler compatible to this card?
We do have a replacement bracket for the 6800 series to solve the double bracket issue. Please request for such a bracket from your local dealer.

Seems pretty straight forward, just finding that extra part may be a bit tricky.

 

[VedantR]

Hmm... yea it does sound tricky. I don't think Dell wants you to purchase someone else's products so they probably won't give us the bracket. I guess to solve that problem you could contact another manufacturer. For example, some companies make double slot GT cards and they might be able to provide us Dell people with replacement brackets. The GTO isn't all that different from a GT actually and with some tweaks, you can make it an Ultra. Ofcourse, it may not perform exactly like an Ultra since it has greater memory bandwith, fill rate etc. However, I read in the Drivers Heaven review on the 6800 GTO that you can max OC it to 420/1150. That exceeds stock ultra speeds

I hear the 6800 Ultra cooling system is really good but you have to buy the card to get it... Well, I suppose you could sell your GTO on E-BAY and hope someone buys it. lol.

EDIT : DELL DOESN'T SELL THE NV Silencer 5...

I guess we'll still be in luck because you just ask whoever you buy this cooler from for the bracket. I find NCIX has the best price for Canada.

 

[knyghtbyte]

first thing, u could probably just take an old graphics or sound card and use the single slot bracket from that and attach it to your GTO....secondly, u can buy a thermal exhaust card, simply a fan that sucks air out the computer, and install it into the PCI slot next to the PCI-Ex1 slot.........that would probably work almost as well as the NV Silencer....
dont quote me tho..lol

 

[rikadik]

Yea, i think Arctic make the bracket themselves so it shouldn't be too difficult to get hold of one. I imagine theres lots of people wanting to cool their OC'd GTOs!

 

[VedantR]

Hmm... the only problem is my old 5200 (in my 900mhz) is a DVI - VGA card so the bracket wouldn't fit. I am custom building another PC. With $7000 US, I will get the best parts money can buy.

My system:
I have:

Supermicro X6DAT-G MOBO (This thing retails for $4500 US but I got it for $1550)
Dual Intel XEON 3.6 GHZ HT 800FSB
4GB Ultra DDR Ram @ 500MHZ (PC 4000)
2 * 74GB Seagate Cheetah @ 15k rpm (raid 0)
400GB Hitachi SATA-150 @ 7200 rpm
2 GeForce 6800 Ultra (In SLi config)
M-Audio Delta 1010
Creative Gigaworks S750

Unsure about:
Case & PSU

edit:
Ok it seems like I'll need like a 700 Watt PSU. This system will generate a tremendous amount of heat so I'll have to have some crazy cooling solution.

 

[jelliott]

4 grand for a Supermicro X6DAT-G MOBO?

I must have found a deal on this one for 454.00 - 485.00 hmmm

NewEgg

Buy.com

PCNation

Wait, wait, wait.. i did find 1 place charging 4k for it... Colamco



Maybe I should buy a crap load of these and sell them for 1k each? lol Want to take yours back and buy one from me instead?