Graphics ATI x800 Or nVidia 6800U??

i am planning on buying one of these cards, but not sure which one is the better one!! (Just about 2 read the reveiws on AnandTech ) i know that the ATI hasn't been released yet, unless i'm looking in the wrong places and also it doesnt support pixel shader 3.0, and from what ive seen of the 6800U reveiws it excels the x800, just wanted to confirm with you guys as some reviews can be biased!!

Death

 

i'm not getting involved

 

I'd get the n-vidia GeForce FX6800U

There's just something I love about FX cards.....






Cheers,
Mike

 

Is there something I don't know?






Cheers,
Mike

 

Itll turn into a raving fanboy thread any minute

/hands out flame proof suits

All i can suggest is reading some impartial reviews (Ie NOT THG), and looking at prices then making your mind up. Threads like this often end up along the lines of "which of your children do you like more and why" an answer thatll never be nice unless you say "they're all equal at the end of the day, each has their good points and bad"

 

its not an FX my good man.

/me takes up offer of flame proof suit.

im an nvidia guy (a lot due to linux ease of driver install, etc), but if nvidia dont hit back to ATI methinks i will be getting an X800pro

hmm, i will prolly just get a 5900 and a new proc! as i barely ever play games

 

From what I've gathered it seams like the radeon is better, the tests with the 2 cards head to head were the same, till they turned up the aff..the anti-aliasing that is, then the radeon pulled ahead by far wile the nvidia fell behind, plus it uses more power and is less efficient. So I would probably go with the radeon, even though I don't like the company that much.

 

Reading around, there seems to be 2 choices that offer good perfromance and slightly less cost... these are:
x800 pro, most seemt o clock to x800XT speeds and slighty beyond, they are down 4 pipelines though so you take a performance hit. the cards are ~60 quid cheaper though.
6800GT is a downclocked version of the 6800ultra, IIRC its not been tested, BUT if it will OC it could well reach 6800ultra levels as the only difference is the clock speed.

no fanboyism here, but from looking at the reviews and such, the ATI offerings are the way to go, less power, cooler, (cheaper??) but whichever you choose it'll be fast!

 

This is why I approached this thread with due caution.

First off the X800 is essentially a supercharged R300 architecture. The performance of the card is amazing, but it does lack any new features (apart from 3dc a lossy compression algorithm) and the performance will remain reasonably static with new driver revisions. Other nice points to consider is the single molex, smaller cooling solution and lower power consumption.

The 6800 is what NV30 should have been and builds on this architecture. It does have a fair chunk of new features including PS 3.0 and the performance is pretty darn good as well. The NV40 architecture and supporting drivers are very much at an early stage and you should expect new driver revisions to reap good performance gains. Another nice point is the dual DVI sockets that most manufacturers seem to be including, which is very good if you have dual LCDs. On the negative side the card is a beast, requires a lot of power (2 molexs that must be on different empty wires) and takes up 2+ slots.

So to sum up the x800 is a mature platform because it does not differ wildly from its predecessor, so you can enjoy strong performance and a complete solution straight away. The 6800 on the other hand is a very new platform and as such it has some teething issues (power usage!), if you can live with this you should get good gains in the future as driver revisions are knocked out.

 

If you are tired of waiting for new hardware and such and want the high end right now, go with the x800xt PE; it doesnt have as much a demand for power, runs cooler, and is smaller. Both cards come stock with single slot solutions (You were wrong about that Bindi ) But the X800 is indeed a more mature platform, and for now, the chip is going to offer maximum performance. But, If you can put up with the power drain, large size, and absolutely must have some awesome performance now, driver issues be damned, go with the 6800 Ultra. Its kicks ass now, is available now, and will be better driver wise in the future. (essentially, I just summed up what Jads said just now )

 

ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I was waiting for this post. ANd the argument off. GO WITH THE MASSIVE 6800U, NO GO WITH x800!!!


Personally I would say x800.

 

/me puts it on.

/me is also thinking ATI this time

/me runs off to hide

 

/me dons flame proof suit

/me starts placing bets on when someone will stop being cautious and start blasting people with their respective side's rhetoric, even if they have no idea what the hell it means or why; they just know that for some reason their respective company is better, gawd damnit!

 

Go with ATI, there, better then nvidia, better then everything



/grabs flame proof suit, runs to nearest corner with hose at the ready

 

lol, it's been surprisingly unbiased so far actually

One thing - someone made a comment a few posts back about overclocking results with the X800 editions, but I didnt think any had actually been released yet? Or at least the only I've seen in the UK have been 'reserve yours now and we'll ship as soon as it arrives.'

I wont be upgrading graphics for a while, but since both are so good the deciding factor for me will be price.

 

lol

/me grabs flame proof suit as well

/me runs and hides behind flame proof shield

yeah i was thinkin ATI as well, it looks an excellent card, good performance, one molex etc.. so i think i'll stick with that idea anyone know when its released??

Thanx to whoever moved this thread, wasnt sure where to put it

Death

 

Another point to look at is the rawness of the NV40 architecture, I suspect when it gets into the hands of users some problems will arise. This is no bad thing providing you don't mind being a beta tester with an entry fee of several hundred £s.

Perhaps the most ovbious example of this is the 400MHz clock speed, on the 0.13 process it should be good for up to 600MHz with good yields. It really shows that the silicon is very new and still a work in progress.

We've seen this situation before with the NV30 although the NV40 has good performance from the start. Really the 6800U has great potential, but I don't think it will be fully realised until the NV45 hits the markets later this year. It should be a matured NV40 core with higher clocks, the kinks worked out and possibly lower power usage/heat production.

 

No one knows me, so I can take flaming
Anyway, depends how much money to plop down & ur games:

As said, with aa & af, x800 does better, w/o, fx6800, barely
I say x800, & x800pro is a great deal, at higher settings, better than 6800, for just $400, 100 bones less than 6800, 150 less than 6800u
I might get an x800 pro myself, but thats later

 

I would wait until there are reviews of actual retail cards released, clocks vary from reference to retail

 

bigZ is right, don't be an early adopter thers a strong chance you will make the wrong decision, its difficult to see how its going to end when the game has just started.

'doc