Graphics Up In Arms: 6800GT vs. X800XT Platinum!

Hi everyone;

I'm going to buy a new graphics card to replace my Sapphire 128MB 9800pro. I'm going for a significant step-up, so am looking at pretty much the top of the line cards.

I've boiled it down to two: the Club 3d GF FX 6800GT 256mb DDR and the Sapphire X800XT Platinum 256MB DDR3.

At the moment, my mind is pretty much set on the X800XT, judging from the various reviews I've read on the internet etc.

So, anyone got anything to say about these two cards? My system is as follows:

DFI LanParty NF3 250GB
AMD64 3000+
2 x 512MB Kingston DDR PC3200 400MHz RAM
Seagate 160GB HDD
(128mb 9800pro, but that's obviously getting replaced)

Thanks for any help & opinions.

 

The x800xt will give you better performance but it's a small gap. The 6800GT will get you HDR eye candy. I'd buy based on price if I were you

 

it depends whether you plan to upgrade again in the next 6-12 months or not.

 

I was thinking about going down the SLI path, but that would involve a lot more money as I'd have to get a new motherboard and processor as well. I don't think I will be upgrading in the next few months, no.

 

I think the 6800 GT will offer greater longetivity. While it is not as fast as an X800 XT Platinum, it has the added benefits of Shader Model 3.0 - there are quite a few games that are going down the SM1.1/SM3.0 route, with no Shader Model 2.0 support, nevermind Shader Model 2.0b.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the first to go down this path, whereby if the card doesn't support Shader Model 3.0, it runs a DirectX 8.1 code path, meaning reduced lighting an image quality. Having said that, Ubi did a great job with SC:CT's DX8.1 path, and it does look superb considering the technology they used for it.

The GeForce 6 series supports Shader Model 3.0, which is the future as far as games go and thus, should last a little longer. It just depends on how soon you are planning to upgrade, with new products on the shelves by the end of the year - including ATI's Shader Model 3.0 part.

 

I'm still not converted to the nVidia. (Or am I being awkward )

I think, personally, I'd rather have the more powerful card. Surely the graphical differences granted from Shader Model 3.0 cannot be that significant enough to warrant a totally different graphics card?

 

Well, in games that go down the SM1.1/3.0 path (which is only going to increase over time), rather than SM1.1/2.0/3.0 route, you will be forced to run a DirectX 8.1 rendering path in that game, rather than a DirectX 9.0, Shader Model 2.0 path that is supported by the hardware.

Unfortunately, the Radeon X800/X850 series does not support Shader Model 3.0, which is what developers all want to write their shaders in at the moment, because it's easier to code than Shader Model 2.0.

And having said that, you are likely to be able to overclock the GeForce 6800 GT past GeForce 6800 Ultra clock speeds - the usual mileage with the stock cooler is around 425/1100MHz, which is a typical retail GeForce 6800 Ultra clock speed. Many manufacturers are shipping Ultra's clocked at 425MHz, rather than the default 400MHz. Course, you can overclock the X800 XT Platinum Edition past its stock clocks, but it doesn't overclock quite so well as it is right on its limits.

I'm only advising here, and I think that in 12 months time, the GeForce 6800 GT will be of much more use than a Radeon X800 XT PE in new titles that come out. Also, how much are the respective cards, because they are technically non-competing cards. GeForce 6800 Ultra should be competing with Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition, whereas GeForce 6800 GT should be competing with the Radeon X800 XL (when it starts shipping on AGP) and Radeon X800 Pro.

P.S. you can get a Galaxy GeForce 6800 GT clocked at Ultra speeds by default (400/1100MHz) for £299.00: http://www.gladiatorcomputers.com/support/index.php?page=22&code=GRAGAL6800ULT

 

You have a point about the price, that's what has swayed me towards the nVidia as well. The X800XT Platinum is £332.96 inc VAT from ebuyer.com, whereas the 6800GT is £240, also from ebuyer.

 

if you have your heart set on an ATI card, I'd honestly wait for R520, because it'll last a hell of a lot longer than an X800 XT, as it'll have better support in games in terms of image quality.

I'm not saying that driver support will drop off because ATI's driver support is top notch, but game developer support will drop off when ATI hop over to Shader Model 3.0 with their new products.

 

in terms of the x800 series (in specific im looking at a x800 xl) and its lack of 3.0 shading. will this let it down alot in say, Quake 4 and the new Unreal engine? and is it worth getting it on AGP as oppose to upgrading to PCIe? (with the included cost of a new motherboard?)
i find everything very confusing at the moment in terms of the "latest" function or spec being needed over just raw clock or memory speed? so is there any specific to look for?

 

Me too AngelofRage, the industry seems to be at a pretty major graphical turning point that entails a lot of changes to pretty much every computer component (mainly thinking of SLI), I'm stuck in a rut!

 

Quake 4 will run better on NVIDIA hardware due to the way that the Doom 3 engine makes use of NVIDIA's UltraShadow II technology. ATI have had a long time to catch up, and they still haven't managed it in the real world.

Unreal Engine 3 is likely to include features such as HDR, Soft Shadows and Parallax Mapping. Epic work very closely with NVIDIA, and UE3 has thus far been demo'd on NVIDIA hardware fairly exclusively from what I understand.

I'd be very surprised if Unreal 3 and other major titles (read: Unreal Tournament) based on the engine weren't part of the TWIMTBP developer relations program - in fact, I'd be quite shocked.

I wouldn't count ATI out though, I'm looking torwards their next generation hardware (which I have heard very little about from ATI thus far), rather than their current products. While they're very good products for current generation games, the trend is going to change when ATI release Shader Model 3.0 hardware, and we are likely to see a lot of games coding for SM1.1 and SM3.0, rather than SM1.1, SM2.0 and SM3.0 all together. Older hardware will just have to run the DX8.1 shader path - a shame, but developers are very lazy, hence why they like coding for SM3.0.

FYI, UT2004 runs better on ATI hardware, but it is pretty CPU limited.

 

Any rough ETA on the new ATi stuff bigz?

Thanks for the info by the way, it's really helpful.

Oh... you aren't an nVidia rep, are you?

 

No, I just tend to get more info from NVIDIA than I do from ATI.

ATI's new stuff should be with us within the next couple of months according to a roadmap I saw not too long ago. We should have a review here on bit-tech when it does happen.

If I come across as pro-NVIDIA, that's not the way I'm trying to come across... we're just in a transitional period right now, and buying an 'old' card seems a bit silly at this moment in time. If ATI had the Shader Model 3.0 part, and NVIDIA didn't, I'd be saying things the other way around.

Quake 4 is based on the Doom 3 engine, so I'd be very surprised if Quake 4 ran better on ATI hardware - maybe it will on ATI's new hardware? I don't know right now.

Epic, developers of the Unreal series, have always worked very closely with NVIDIA, so I be willing to place bets on the fact that UE3 has been primarily developed on a GeForce 6800 Ultra.

Also, just to clarify some points, the X800 XL on AGP is set to cost around £30 more than the PCI-Express version, which means that it's price is a hell of a lot closer to the GeForce 6800 GT AGP, and it depends whether future features are more important than pure speed at this moment in time. The X800 XL is the faster card in the majority of titles, but how long are you planning on keeping the card for?

 

yeah thanks for the info, this is the sort of thing im after, as im going to have ~£200 to spend on a GFX card once my expense cheque comes through , i may hold on for awhile though as most opinion points towards either a Nvidia card now or an ATi later...

id hardly say he's a Nvidia rep, i thought he gave a pretty unbiased opinion.

 

I know, I was being sarcastic, should have made that clearer

I'll be keeping the card for a fair while, a year maybe. I'm prepared to spend £300+ on the card, hence the X800, so I imagine it would be worthwhile stepping up to an "XFX GeForce FX 6800 Ultra 256MB DDR3", which is £360 from ebuyer? It's sorely tempting now, over the X800.

 

maybe, but if you want a silent cooler, I'd go with the galaxy that I linked above. The reference GeForce 6800 Ultra cooler could be a lot quieter than it is. Just imagine running two of them next to each other.

 

It's SLI though

I need AGP, I'm an old fuddy duddy

 

thats another debate altogether and one that i dont know what to go for... PCIe or AGP?

i dont want to drop 100 squid on a PCIe motherboard because ive been told its the next big thing only to find that in 2 years, they are still churning out AGP GFX cards...

 

tbqh i doubt AGP will continue for much longer for the bleeding edge cards (not that low end cards are staying on agp or anything, its just that new top end cards get released on a more regular basis then lower end cards). We're already seeing cards that are ONLY on pci-e afaik (e.g. X800XL).