AGP BFG6800 Ultra vs. Radeon X850XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI

[Groundhogster]

Which card is better? I have the 6800 Ultra but want to upgrade my processor to the AMD 64 X2 3800+ processor so I would need a new video card that would work in the new MB. Is this card comparable to the 6800 Ultra performance wise?
Thanks

 

[Vokofpolisiekar]

EVERYtime I see BFG - I go BIG F**KING GUN! :lol: :lol:

I'll start by saying X850XT is the better option - last of the great AGP cards of ATi. BUT, the 6800Ultra has SM3.0 and HDr support. So it depends if you crack nuts on performance or tech.

If you going the X2 3800 route, you might consider using a PCIx mobo - it's going to benefit you more in the long run (if and when PCIx bandwidth reaches claimed thru put)...

 

[cleeve]

I consider them both pretty much on-par. They'll trade blows in different games but they're definitely solidly in the same league.

 

[Heyyou27]

Upgrading from a 6800 Ultra to an X850 XT would be a bad idea.

 

[MTLink]

If you're going to get PCIe might as well get something better. 7800GTs can be found for $250 after MIR.

BTW, if you have extra money, I'd suggest you spring for the 4200+ or 4400+ if you're going X2. Even with the extra core, it's about only on par with the 3500+ 64 (refer to THG's CPU Charts)

 

[Dekkard]

If you can't afford the upgrade to something beyond the X850XT then how about the ASRock dualSATA with fully functional AGP and PCI-E. That way you could keep your Ultra for a while longer and then have money available for the 7900GTX when it comes out!!!!!

 

[cleeve]

If you have an AGP 6800 Ultra, you might be able to sell it for the same price it'd cost to buy a 7800 GT or X1800 XL, which is better than both.

That's what I did. Sold my 6800 Ultra for $300, and bought an All-in-wonder X1800 for $340 (I went for the X1800 AIW because of the nifty video features mostly, I do alot of video editing but the 7800 GT would have been cheaper)

6800 Ultras go for a lot on ebay because they're rare, although with the new 7800 GS on AGP they might not fetch the same premium they did a month ago...

 

[admiral25]

7800gt hands down best midrange pci-e card... x850xt pe does not have sm3.0 and you can oc that 7800gt to 500core and 1400 mem if your an overclocker.

 

[cleeve]

Yeah, 7800 GS is the best highend AGP card, but it's a bit pricey for my tastes.

But I think this fellow is migrating to PCI-express, so a 7800 GS is probably not a good option for him because a 7800 GT is cheaper and much better than the 7800 GS.

I heard the MSRP of the X1800 XL is also going down, and it'll perform on par with the 7800 GT, allow you to use HDR & AA at the same time, and they're great overclockers too.

 

[admiral25]

yeah, I though he said agp but, I edited my gs to a gt

 

[Dekkard]

That's what I did. Sold my 6800 Ultra for $300, and bought an All-in-wonder X1800 for $340 (I went for the X1800 AIW because of the nifty video features mostly, I do alot of video editing but the 7800 GT would have been cheaper)

Hey Cleeve, I take it you are impressed with the X1800AIW performance in video editing? Have you used any previous AIW products to compare? Did ATI crank down the clock/core settings on this a little over the non-AIW version?

Hey Groundhogster, I'd have to agree that selling your Ultra is probably still the way to go although I think those in the know these days are less likely to pay out for this card. Still, there are always suckers on ebay
One word of warning though is some reports of driver incompatibility issues with dual core AMD systems, 7 series nvidia cards and the recent forceware drivers (the latest drivers seem to be a problem for everyone if you ask me!) so I'd recommend doing some reading around b4 u buy.

 

[cleeve]

Well, I'm VERY impressed with the AVIVO H264 acceleration. That's a big bonus when encoding a video.

As far as the clocks, the X1800 core is VERY overclock friendly, especially since voltage can be controlled through software. makes it real easy.

Memory is a crap shoot on XLs though. I've got 1.6 ns RAM which isn't bad (should do 1250 mhz), but I've heard alot of people get 2.0 ns RAM on their X1800 XLs (1000 mhz)...

It's very easy to get an X1800 XL core to go over X1800 XT speeds. it's the memory you have to cross the fingers on.

 

[Dekkard]

Thanks Cleeve, good to know.