Nvidia 6600GT v's Ati 9800pro

[KromaZone]

Ok need to know which is the best gc on this systems AMD2400 512 meg mem running windows XP. Im building this computer for my kids for crimbo so need some advice on this...thanks people

 

[sirak]

The 6600GT easily. Here are some side-by-side comparison benchmarks:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2277&p=3

----------------------
PIV 2.4c @ 3.12ghz
1gig PC3200 (512mbx2)
ASUS P4P800
GF3 Ti200 64mb (soon to be replaced)
WinXP Pro
3DMark2001SE: 6453
3DMark2003: 746

 

[pauldh]

The 6600GT will win out almost all tests, yet on an XP2400+ the performance difference will often be almost nil. ANyway, if it comes down to price, the 128MB 9800 Pro (get a 256-bit one NOT a 128-bit one), is often much cheaper. I paid $170 shipped for a retail BBA, whereas the 6600GT AGP is $225+ now. Sheer Performance goes to the 6600GT, BUT if price matters and you find a R9800 Pro to be $50 cheaper, it will perform almost the same on that XP2400+ system of yours(depending on the game), and IMO be a better buy for you. Priced the same, buy the 6600GT for sure.

EDIT: My only beef with the 6600GT is that it was announced as a $199 card, but the AGP ones are selling for $225-275 instead so far. This "premium" over list price makes me think it is not a best buy whatsoever right now, yet on a higher end system it would be easily justifiable to buy one if a plain 6800 or higher was out of price range. A BFG 6800OC can be often found in the $250-260 range, so make sure you aren't paying too much for the 6600GT that you could find a 6800 for almost the same price.

MSI K8N Neo2 platinum, A64 3000+, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Pauldh on 11/25/04 11:47 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[davemar14]

Both cards are good, but I would lean towards the 6600GT. It has SM3.0 which should be implemented in upcoming games. The 6600GT will offer better performance with effects turned up.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

OK now this really is funny.

SM3.0 in the 6600GT, eh?

Yeah it barely makes itself felt in the GF6800GT, but oh sure it's a killer feature of the 6600GT. SM3.0 on the GF6600GT amounts to next to nothing.

The two cards are close, but the parts where the R9800Pro would be an advanatage are limited to old games at high resolution, so the conclusion is the same, the GF6600GT is the better choice, but SM3.0 plays little if no part in making that decision. It's like mentioning 3Dc or Trueform. Pointless really in making the decision as it would factor in less than 1% of the benifit. Even the R9800Pro's 256bit memory would have more impact, but really that impact is very limited like I said. I just find it funny everyone jumping on the SM3.0 bandwagon while there's little there to support it.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[cefoskey]

Gotta disagree with you there grape..

My buddy just got a 6600GT AGP card and plays with the HDR effects on in farcry (those are SM3.0 only, right?). I've been playing far cry for a while now and its one of my favorite games. The HDR lighting effects are pretty amazing, I think that might be something to consider when making a purchase.

In fact, my friend said he didnt even know about the HDR effects until I told him, and then he said that would have played a pretty big role in deciding what to get!

"Who is General Failure, and why is he reading my drive?"
P4 3.0C HT, Intel D865GBF, 1GB Crucial PC3200 DDR, 2x WD 36GB Raptor 10kRPM, BBA Radeon 9800PRO, SB Audigy, Hauppage WinTV

 

[priyajeet]

those HDR effects look like bugs sometimes :tongue: maybe they are just fooling us thinking its some cool effects. :tongue:
<font color=white>i know i m BSing</font color=white>

BTW, see HDR in HL2 on a ATi. they are awesome. specially when you are in tunnels and coming out the other end ie going from dark to light, its hurts ur eyes.

:tongue: <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/priyajeet/fing.jpg" target="_new"><i><font color=red>Very funny, Scotty.</font color=red><font color=blue> Now beam down my clothes.</font color=blue></i></A> :tongue: <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by priyajeet on 11/30/04 07:19 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

My buddy just got a 6600GT AGP card and plays with the HDR effects on in farcry (those are SM3.0 only, right?).

Yes FartCry's implementation is SM3.0 only (HL2 uses DX9.0/PS2.0, as does rthdribl), however I'm not saying it doesn't WORK, but considering that the massively powerfull GF6800GT/Ultra cards take a perfromance hit that dropped them to about 40% or less of non HDR performance (and that's HDR set to 3 not 7 [which was another ~5% drop]), exactly how playable is that? Sure your friend could turn it on, but I highly doubt it was playable at anywhere near the resolution he had it before. Likely the game experience would still be better with it off at a higher resolution or even using AA (no AA for HDR uses). Just look at <A HREF="http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/far_cry_1.3/page3.asp" target="_new">FiringSquad's results</A> (which show even greater performance hits at higher resolutions [below 35% performance @ 16x12, to below 20% @ 20x15] from playable to unplayable), and now tell me how practical HDR is likely to be on his card. It's a checkbox feature just like I said, but I doubt anyone would consider it more than that. Just like the R9800Pro doing better at 4xAA/16xAF, in an older game, yeah it's a feature, and it will often do it better than the GF6600GT, but really in new games neither is playable at those settings, so it's irrelevant for the future of the cards, just like SM3.0 is such a minor consideration, especially for these two cards. The GT wins, but it should have nothing to do with SM3.0 unless you want to simply see the technique, nothing's going to be effective with it, the GT can win on it's performance alone, which is better in 90+% of the situations.

People can make it something to consider when buying their next card, but to me that's like including 32bit FP and DX9 of the FX5200/5600 as why to buy it over a GF4ti.


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! - <font color=green>RED </font color=green> <font color=red> GREEN</font color=red> GA to SK

 

[HardWareBoss]

Thanks for the link . Looks like HDR does nothing for the 6800s at all.