Which to buy ? X800 or 6800

agcheavin · May 28, 2004

OK then, so with the next generation cards about to hit the Aussie market in the hopefully next few weeks which card should I get ? the X800 or the 6800 and why.

Gary

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AMD 2700 XP
Gecube 9800 pro Extreme
ASUS A7N8X deluxe
1024 meg Dual Channel DDR 3200
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TheGreatGrapeApe · May 28, 2004

Actually the questions start with you.

What do you usually play, what ydo you expect to play, and how long are you keeping the card. Also, what's your price range, what's your current config, and what else are you willing to upgrade?

Just a little background, as we have covered this before but the answers may be different depending on needs and resources.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

scottchen · May 28, 2004

Before purchasing a new card, buy yourself a new heatsink, and push your FSB to 200.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

dhlucke · May 28, 2004

Are they both being released at the same time?

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agcheavin · May 28, 2004

Pure gaming, first person shooter ( far cry, ghost recon etc on my 19" monitor) what I look for is not only high FPS, but also high res, 1600 x 1200 if I can get it, the prettier it is on the screen the sooner I can shoot somebody else B4 they can even see to shoot me.

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AMD 2700 XP
Gecube 9800 pro Extreme
ASUS A7N8X deluxe
1024 meg Dual Channel DDR 3200
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agcheavin · May 28, 2004

and how do I do that without O/C it too much, I would like very much to run it at 200 mhz fsb and gain the benifits albiet small from the ram as well but i don't want to push the 2700, a slight O/C would be OK, but I don't know how.

Gary

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AMD 2700 XP
Gecube 9800 pro Extreme
ASUS A7N8X deluxe
1024 meg Dual Channel DDR 3200
....................

TheGreatGrapeApe · May 28, 2004

Sorta answered this a bit in the other thread, so may be repeating a few items.

Based on your requirements and the fact that you have a 'satisfacroty' card now and want to upgrade. My suggestion would be to get an X800Pro, run that for about a year, sell it, and buy the next Generation PCI-EX card. Until the summer of next year you will not se any difference between the two cards features being exploited (IMO), and at that time, you'll likely want another new card. If D3 is enough of a concern or focus, that may tip the scales in the GF6800's favour, but we won't know until it gets properly reviewed. With the overclockability of the X800 and it's cheapness compared to the two top end cards it offers very similar performance, and save you money to helpwith that upgrade to the next Gen next year. However I would strongly urge that you wait for D3 and HL2, as they should be here relatively soon (compared to past generation to new titles), and those will be the building blocks for many games to come. Paper stats and predictions don't mean much if the cards crap out in the actual games.

I don't think either equally priced card will let you down though between now and next summer. Resolution will never be an issue for these cards, what may be a difference is AA/AF and window dressing features, like slightly shinier water. I look at it like this, FarCry's water is great but an R8500/R9000P can have similarly great looking water in Morrowind. OF course if you have equality in all other things, why not have those shiny extras. However people have yet to really make a compelling case for either company's key features.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

HardWareBoss · May 28, 2004

You buying X800Pro?

Willamette_sucks · May 28, 2004

Not only what Grape said, but also remember that the x800 Pro can be modded to an x800 XT (i.e. 16 pipes)!!! They also OC well.

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coylter · May 28, 2004

11x200 can be done with stock hsf.

Athlon 2700xp+ (oc: 3200xp+ with 200fsb) , Radeon 9800pro (oc: 410/360) , 1024mb pc3200 (5-3-3-2), Asus A7N8X-X

Guest · May 28, 2004

W_S is right I think X800pro will have more OC/modding potential altough to get 16 pipe you probly need to hard mod it no soft mod stuff...
Also the X800 seams to run cooler and to be less power hungry so id lean toward this card.
Plus its available right now hard to come by a 6800...

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-3-3-8, Leadtek FX5900@450/875, 2X30gig Raid0

agcheavin · Jun 1, 2004

wouldn't mind the x800 XT...if I can find them in Aus

....................
AMD 2700 XP
Gecube 9800 pro Extreme
ASUS A7N8X deluxe
1024 meg Dual Channel DDR 3200
....................

pauldh · Jun 2, 2004

Depends how long he has had that Xp2700+ and whether it is multiplier locked or not.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

skystreak · Jun 2, 2004

Any ETA on when the XT is due ? I've checked with a couple of places and nobody has a release date- mid-June, late June, mid-July are dates being bandied about. ATI's site is silent on the issue.

Does anybody know ?

entium · Jun 2, 2004

Late June is whats expected. But it might be released with the pci express version of the pro too!

phial · Jun 3, 2004

not all can, and its a very difficult procedure. even i wouldnt want to attempt it on a 400$ card.. imagine someone who isnt that familiar with the components on a video card...

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phial · Jun 3, 2004

poeple should really take into consideration of the fact that SM3.0 could significantly improve the 6800's performance!

personally, i wouldnt buy a video card at this time. the full product lines havent been released yet, and drivers are still new

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scottchen · Jun 3, 2004

I totally agree with you phial, i'd wait 'til we see some benchies with SM3.0vs2.0, PCI Express vs AGP before i do any kind of upgrading.

<A HREF="http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/myrig.php?do=view&id=17301" target="_new">My PC</A>

TheGreatGrapeApe · Jun 3, 2004

I agree, but really if they can't even provide a demo to exploit/expose the differences, how long do you think it'll be before you see games that do that? Longer than the next generation IMO.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

Phlacker · Jun 3, 2004

Ape has got it. Video card technology and features change too quickly to really keep a grasp on the market. People are talking about game developers writing stuff for PS 3.0 no sooner than two years from now. Are you going to keep the same card for that long, especially when the hot new thing comes out? Don't wait months to find out whether your investment was worth it... choose based on today's options. And I'm sure I'm not the only here to say that ATi currently has the edge, especially when you can't even buy the 6800, Nvidia's best offering. When these cards are $500 bucks a piece, get something that you'll be satisfied with NOW, not whenever the developers decide to use a feature.

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cleeve · Jun 3, 2004

PS 3.0 will be implemented in many titles MUCH sooner than 2 years from now. Many upcoming titles (Far Cry has a patch coming, LOTR: The war of the ring will implement PS 3.0 tweaks, as well as upcoming sports titles, many games almost here have declared 3.0 compatibility. Even half life 2 said they will patch for it)

However, since PS 3.0 is mainly a superset of 2.0, it remains to be seen the impact it will make in the short term.

Availablility is kind of a moot point because neither card is easy to get but it is possible at this point, and in one month this won't be an issue anymore... so buying a videocard based on what's on a shelf this very second might be kind of silly, IMO.

But like I said before, we really have yet to see an app that really shows what these cards can do. Nothing drags them down to unplayable levels and the playing field has been marred with filtering shenanigans already. Who really knows what the outcome will be?

The only obvious thing is that both of these cards are powerful monsters.

The bottom line is, if you had a Radeon 9800XT, you'd be stupid not to trade it for a 6800 for free if you could. If you had an FX 5950, you'd be stupid not to trade it for an X800 for free, as well.

These cards both perform so far beyond what brand preference can dictate that it's going to be a while before the smoke clears, and we see where the developers take software technology and know what really makes a difference.

________________
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AthlonXP ~2750+ (2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)
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TheGreatGrapeApe · Jun 4, 2004

Exactly.

I see the FartCry patch as being just that, an add on (wasn't that supposed to be added in patch 1.1?

).

When the games are truely developed with SM3.0 in mind you will likely see major benifits, but that won't be for some time, I'd say a year is much more likely.

Right now neither card will do much more than the R9800 series (and the FX59XX to some extent), they will simply do it faster. In the future you may see more benifits, but by the time that really happens, you'd be able to buy a better card that can do it even better still.

It apears that with the release of these new cards the concept of 'buying a card for the games you're playing and not the ones people have yet to finish storyboarding let alone coding' has gone out the window. So be it. I'll just laugh at all the AGP owners who ind they have to upgrade their cards again because their crappy CPUs can't handle the AI of the games that launch long before the ones that exploit these 'new features'.

Intel Extreme 3, it's the wave of the future.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

HardWareBoss · Jun 4, 2004

June is all I get. No set date.

HardWareBoss · Jun 4, 2004

Your right about the major changes being at least a year or more away. That's why I'm buying X800Pro. Plus the screen short of Far Cry with X800Pro was awesome.

entium · Jun 4, 2004

Dx9c is supposed to be released late this month or next month, soon after the Far Cry patch will be released, its not really hard to add in SM 3.0 just need Dx to support it first hehe

The video on the web was done with Nv specific extensions so I wouldn't be suprised if its just changing the extention name to what is available in Dx

Which to buy ? X800 or 6800

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