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Graphics Dual 6600GT or 6800?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by acidfire, 24 Apr 2005.

  1. acidfire

    acidfire What's a Dremel?

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    Hey graphics gurus, I'm in the market for a mid range sli setup to last me through my last year of school, and had a question.

    Should I look at dual 6600GTs or a single plain 6800? I'll be playing games and working with openGL video and 3d alot.

    Thanks guys
     
  2. webbyman

    webbyman Hax.

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    do you mean a plain 6800? or 6800GT

    and personally i think i would go with the 6800GT, and since they clock pretty much the same as Ultra's

    Sli isn't that great, i think it's just one of them marketing the 'Bling' factor :hehe: of running card's in Sli of corse it also give you that extra power when your using dual 6800GT's

    in my veiw go for a 6800GT, and if you need more power you can stick another one in later, and they would have gone down in price :thumb:
     
  3. acidfire

    acidfire What's a Dremel?

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    problem is for this is the cash factor, and where i'm buying from has the pair of the 6600gts for the same price as a plain 6800.
     
  4. smoguzbenjamin

    smoguzbenjamin "That guy"

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    6800nu or GT? cos a single GT should par with 2 6600GTs if I'm correct. If I were you just get a single 6800GT, mainly because of noise. My 6600GT is damn noisy and I only have 1 ;)
     
  5. webbyman

    webbyman Hax.

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    up to you i guess :duh: it's a hard decision...

    also an Amen to the 6600GT's have LOUD fans...
     
  6. TMM

    TMM Modder

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    Single 6800(GT) imo, 'cause sli doesn't work in everything ;), sometimes even reducing performance. Plus it gives you the advantage or adding another 6800GT later :)
     
  7. acidfire

    acidfire What's a Dremel?

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    noise isn't an issue, as I usually have my music cranked and besides, if i can sleep thru a shop vac running full tilt not 6 feet from my head (home renos :D) I'll do fine with the dual 6600gt since here the 6800gt is alot more, but its definite food for thought :thumb:
     
  8. Firehed

    Firehed Why not? I own a domain to match.

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    I'd say get a single 6800GT and an SLI board, that way you're more futureproof. There's no point whatsoever starting with two 6600GTs since it's the same price (if not a bit more, especially when you figure in the mobo cost) as a single 6800GT, may not perform as well in some games and leaves you with less of an upgrade path.
     
  9. smoguzbenjamin

    smoguzbenjamin "That guy"

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  10. Awoken

    Awoken Gazing at the stars

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    Anyone going to answer his question? :D

    From what I've seen the net reviews show a single 6800 to be a little faster than a single 6600GT but its a slim lead. If you get 6600GT SLI then you can get SLI speeds which are much quicker than the 6800 but this will only happen if you are playing one of the ~70 game which currently support SLI. NVidia also allow you to make SLI profiles for games which they currently do not support but this is not perfect and will not always work. My advice would be that if you want to play it safe see if you can get a single 6600GT and save some money so that you can make an informed choice later on when nvidia have improved their support. Or if you want to risk it and most of the games you like to play are on nVidias list of supported games then go for 2*6600GT SLI :thumb:

    A single 6600GT will still give you excelent performance in games and you have the option of SLI in the future or getting something better with the money you saved.
     
  11. Da Dego

    Da Dego Brett Thomas

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    Actually, I think this has been answered elsewhere, but here goes:

    A 6800 vanilla will actually outpace two 6600gt's in SLI, but barely. This depends on what settings you choose, as well (lower resolution or lower AA/AF, 2 6600s will pound a single 6800). SLI is not perfect, it runs at a slight performance decrease for each card, and you still only have a 128bit pipeline for each card, which renders half a frame. Even the difference between DDR and GDDR3 doesn't close the gap entirely. Another factor to keep in mind here is that SLI doesn't even work for many games right now (the programmers have to write for it), so having one card with more power is better than 2 cards. Finally, the 6800 will do a lot better with high AA/AF and higher resolutions, solely because of its 256bit interface. And let's be honest here, if you're looking at these solutions, you're a person who wants to run Doom3 in all its maxed out glory at some ridiculous resolution. :)

    So if you're looking at one or the other, the straight-up 6800 is a *slightly* better bet, even though you'll (I think) lose the chance for SLI in the future. This is where finding that little extra cash to take you up to the GT right now can be worth it, because then when it gets cheaper with age, you can nearly double your performance by putting in another card. By then, hopefully SLI will be supported by more games, and you'll have 2 very good cards to run it.

    I would only side with the dual 6600gts if you plan on upgrading again in the (relatively) near future, or if you run your games at lower AA/AF and resolutions (I run my comp at 1024x768, so a single 6600gt does me just fine!).

    I also can't really argue with Awoken's strategy of just buying one 6600gt (a great card on its own) and letting the next-generation dust settle a bit. ATi is coming out with a new line and NVidea's 7 series should be coming out fairly soon, making all of these cards a bit cheaper.

    Hope that helps!
     
    Last edited: 25 Apr 2005
  12. acidfire

    acidfire What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks Guys :thumb:
    I was asking about the dual 6600gt cause I'm suppose to be getting a deal on a pair when i upgrade. These cards will be moved to smaller rigs once I get out of school and can justify a large work station.

    Thanks for all the advice!
     
  13. Awoken

    Awoken Gazing at the stars

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    If its an immediate purchase then look at the list of games that SLI works for and decide whether you play a lot of them. If you do play a lot of whats on the list get the 6600GTs as you'll get better performance, otherwise get the 6800 vanilla as it'll give you better performance than a single 6600GT across all titles :thumb:
     
  14. matt1

    matt1 What's a Dremel?

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    The number of games SLi supports is growing, and its actually quite large at the moment. I'd go for the 6800 myself, as it would be cheaper than two 6600GT's and work just as well. Stepping out the box though, I'd go for a 6800GT due to the obvious upgrade potential but that will cost a few quid extra.
     
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