$100 6800 good deal?

[Soggy_Popcorn]

I was considering the XFX GeForce 6800 Extreme XT (pci-e) on TigerDirect for only $100. This looks like a great deal to me, but I wanted to see if u guys had any better alternatives for the same price range. ($100 ~ $130)

 

[prozac26]

No, that card is a total ripoff. Do not buy the 6800XT. For about same price you can get a X800GTO. Maybe even a X1600.

 

[DrBlofeld]

Agreed.

 

[korsen]

Honestly, if you want to play something today, you need to have a card with at least 16 pixel pipes (or shader units?) and prefferablly 256bit bus and 256MB (i'd say you can't live without either one of them).

Newegg is selling a sapphire OEM X850XT for 120$ i'd suggest you get that. It has all the aforementioned.

 

[angry_ducky]

Yuck; 6800XT. Don't waste your money on that piece of crap; save a bit more for a 7600GT, which will pwn that card, along with the whole 6800 series.

 

[Soggy_Popcorn]

Well, it has 256 MB GDDR3, 256-bit memory, so its pretty good in regards to memory. I was also planning on unlocking some pixel pipelines, but if u guys say I can get those better cards for about the same price, that sounds like a better deal. Do these already have 16 pipelines unlocked? That would definitely beat the 8 pp in the 6800

 

[fyter]

The PCI-Express versions do not unlock. They overclock some, but not enough to make a huge difference.

 

[angry_ducky]

Well, it has 256 MB GDDR3, 256-bit memory, so its pretty good in regards to memory. I was also planning on unlocking some pixel pipelines, but if u guys say I can get those better cards for about the same price, that sounds like a better deal. Do these already have 16 pipelines unlocked? That would definitely beat the 8 pp in the 6800

The 7600GT has 256MB, 128-bit GDDR3 memory and 12 pp. However, the memory is clocked much higher than those of any 6800. Compare:

7600GT memory: 1400-1500MHz; 22.8-24.0 GB/s memory bandwidth
6800XT memory: 600-1050MHz; 16.0-33.6GB/s memory bandwidth


Despite having more memory bandwidth, the 6800XT gets thrashed by the 7600GT because the 7600GT has 12 pipelines, and a more powerful GPU. Don't waste your time trying to unlock a 6800XT; just save a couple more bucks and get a 7600GT.

 

[Soggy_Popcorn]

Well, I don't think my budget will allow for a 7600GT, as much as I would like it, so how would the 7600 or 7600GS fare? Also, the X850s are insanely priced for such an old card. Since DX10 will come out soon, i'm hoping my next card will last well into the DX10 era.

 

[angry_ducky]

Well, I don't think my budget will allow for a 7600GT, as much as I would like it, so how would the 7600 or 7600GS fare? Also, the X850s are insanely priced for such an old card. Since DX10 will come out soon, i'm hoping my next card will last well into the DX10 era.

If you want a card that "will last well into the DX10 era", then wait for DX10. BTW, on newegg, you can get an eVGA 7600GT for $140 after a $30 MIR.