x800 Pro or 6800 GT

matt719 · Post by **matt719** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:47 pm

I am interested in what other computer enthusists think about this decision; which to buy: ATI Radeon x800 Pro or Nvidia Geforce 6800 GT. It seems that the 6800 GT has the upper hand on FPS, but the x800 Pro has image quality on its side. Pretend you are a salesman trying to sell me one of these cards. Make a case for buying either of these.

Thanks -hope this doesn't stir up bad highschool memories

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 1:46 pm

ati also has the movie advantage. if you watch a good or even fair amount of media on your PC (not just dvd's) then the ati card is also far better.

Greg

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:31 pm

In all honesty you'll probably be happy with either one.

I can't tell you anything about the 6800 GT, but I will tell you I love my x800 Pro. On an AMD 3200+ Barton, 1Gb system with this card I can run any modern game silky smooth.

Visual quality is stunning on the desktop or in games.

matt719 · Post by **matt719** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 10:25 pm

I guess my biggest problem is power. I'm running the 380W Antec that comes with the Sonata. It's 12v rail is 18a, so i'm just clearing the minimum specs for my athlon 64 system. I haven't updated the bios yet (all my floppy drives are dead) but from what it says now the voltages are running pretty low. I've heard that the athlon 64 and its motherboards have had a lot of reading errors (temps, voltages). The x800 is better on power. Also the 6800s have crappy shaders... i wonder if that is why they hold some of the fps advantages.

RexHavoc · Post by **RexHavoc** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:59 pm

A guy in my online squad just did a thousand word essay on why
The x800 pro is the card to have...Here it is:

Re: Why Geforce FX line SUX
« Reply #3 on: 01/09/2005 at 15:58:03 »
the 6seirse is called geforce6 any use of fx is not my nvidias wishes
the 5xx0 cards are as showen CRAP for new games they must use dx8 code to be usefull and doing thus leads to quility loss. If u choose NOT to use dx8 mode and try for dx9 mode you see in the benches what it causes MASSIVE 70% perf loss across the whole nv3x line (fx5xx0)
as stated the gf6 like isnt bad though i had one and driver wise i didnt like how it looked with aa/af enabled in my games i had to drop the lod down a bit to remove shimmering on textures and to fix fsaa falloff.

the FX like was nvidias biggest mistake they put out "dirrectX 9 hardware" that cant do dirrectX9 and still be useable.

this is ment as a LARGE warrning to anybody thinking the price of a 5xx0 card is a great deal. better off gettting a 9550/9600 range card if you EVER plan on playing games that use dx9/pixel shader2.0

oh and rex ur 6800 dose have crap ps2 support but its FAR better then 5xx0 cards. compare your card with a 9800pro and you will see what i mean where ps2.0 is involved. Yes you card has ps3 but thats not a standred shader its one nvidia made up much like ps1.4 in the gf4TI line its nice and all but really its made using nvidias standred not the std's of dx9.

tark alot of reviewers back in the day where saying 5900was the best simply because they had something against ati due to past poor driver support. You got sucked into the nvidia line that they had the best card, Alot of those same reviewers changed there mind as soon as dx9 shaders started being used. The perv loss is not something you can ignore its there and quite notable.
My buddy brought over his system hes got a 5950ultra even on tribes2 if u enable ps2.0 support you loose 50+% fps in battles. now at 1024 or 800 res's you can live with that on a high end system. But say u want to use ur 17"-19" monotor at 1280 or 1600 res, well then you better be ready to use the card as thee dx8 hardware it really is

i spent good $ on my current card and would be VERRRRY pissed if it claimed to support something it dosnt (dx9) I spent ALOT less on my last card (9800se-256bit>true pro) but still it supports things as stated on the box. my card b4 that was a 9600 256mb it supported dx9 as stated.

i also have a 5200 here and have owned 5800ultra,5700ultra,5600ultra cards and ALL are fine ogl cards and dx8 is great onthem BUT they cant deal with any dx9 shaders without becoming crap glad i was able to sell them to people or exchange them because I would be PISSED at nvidia for rippin me off by selling me a part that CANT do what it claimes to do.

hl2 has code paths for older cards as well as newer cards NOT ALL GAMES ARE LIKE THIS some will have dx9 and limited dx8 codepaths (tribes:v dissables ps2 for older hardware)

and again rex ur card according to nvidia may have a suffix of fx but its not the white paper name ur card is part of the geforce6 seirse and has good perf in most things though ps2 do cause it to get gassy

my recomendation if ur looking for a cheap upgrade to give u full support for tribes:v is a 9550 or 9600 card they are the same chip just the 9550 is clocked lower.
If you have a bit more to spend i would wait and get a x800 xl or x800(non pro) class card.
or if ur going for all out look on newegg at the referb cards they have x800pro or xt cards for FAR under retail price and from what i have heard in the last few days IF u get one thats name brand like asus,abit,msi,gigibyte(not sapphire) you endup with a full retail warr but in most cases may be missing the adapters for dvi>vga and svid>rca or vivo plugs (all u can get cheap on ebay or from the mfgr)

it wasnt ment to attack you all it was a warrning as stated if u want a card thats gonna run games that are being made NOW as they where ment to be played DONT GET FX hell if a 9550(60$card) can beet a card thats over 2x the price(5900) i think that shows theres a good reasion to NOT get one as a current upgrade

I use to LOVE nvidia but since I have OWNED fx cards in recent years and have also owned radeon cards in recent years I can honestly say I wouldnt own another fx line (nv3x not gf6)

oh rex what version of the card u got normal or gt? gt is nice card normal well SOFTMOD TO 16pipes

You'll have to forgive spelling...a guy this long-winded is going to have typo's up the wazoo.

Brian48 · Post by **Brian48** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 10:43 am

Considering that the price between a x800Pro and 6800GT is approximately the same, I'd get the 6800GT. The extra 4 pipes really do make a difference in performance. I myself really wanted to get a x800Pro for my #2 machine, but the 6800GT was just a better bang for the buck. Granted, movie playback is better with the ATI, but it's still not bad with 6800GT. In all other areas, the 6800GT just flat out out-performs the x800Pro. Now if the x800Pro was about 80-100 cheaper, I would have jumped on it a long time ago.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:38 am

Running my x800 on an Antec True Power 400w PSU. No problems.

Don't rely on voltages through a utility like mother board monitor. They are no where near accurate. Only way to accurately see your rail voltage is to put a digital multimeter on it.

PSUs are relatively inexpensive anyway, and easy to upgrade. Just stick with Antec.