X800 XT or Geforce 6800 Ultra?

[Mazy]

Gonna get myself a new computer soon, and since I havent really paid that much attention to the latest gen of gfx cards then Ive been kinda wondering wut card to get. Been reading some reviews, and the impression I got was that the X800 XT was a little slower than the 6800 Ultra, but the reviewers still thought it was a somewhat better card (mainly cuz it handles AA better). Any thoughts on what I should get? (and money is no prob)

[insta]

Ever since my Nvidia card exploded (no really), I've been partial to ATI.

Plus a friend of mine has the 800XT, and its awesome.

[OL]

phish is goin to come in and quote statistics and suchforth and rant on and on about how ati is better, but ignore him!!! hes a fanboy! i vote nvidia but im sure theyre both awesome cards

[Duff-e]

im a pretty big ATI enthusiast and if it were me id go with the x800 just because my 9700 pro served me well....but....ive read a few reviews and most of them either say its A. too close to call or B. the 6800U is winnar

i would seriously wait till after d3 comes out though, just to see what the deal as far as benchmarks go. im sure both cards again will run it well, but you never know what the near future holds. (especially with the reintroduction of SLI from nvidia and what not)

*edit in case you didnt know, i heard that PCI express has almost like zero performance gain over the 8x agp cards (currently).....in case that in any way influences your purchase

[Mazy]

Hmmm aye

I prefer ATIs cards in general (I HAVE AN ATI T-SHIRT W00T!), but if the 6800 Ultra is better then that might be a better choice. Hmmm, I donno, and the thing is that I want the computer before Doom 3 is released D:!

Also, I remember Carmack blabbering about the R9800 (or wutever was a pwn ATi card at the time) was like way superior from the, at that time, the best nvidia card at doom 3. But that probably doesnt matter today, since both cards are twice as fast as their predecessor.

And besides, I probably shouldnt go too far on deciding what card to get based on 1 game.

[Duff-e]

but its THE game!

[Mazy]

[KidDynamite]

*shrug* personally i've never had good luck with ATI cards, my next purchase will be a BFG Tech GeForce 6800 GT OC, which when over clocked is faster then the Ultra, yet 100 bucks less, and doesn't require any extra cooling, and only takes up 1 slot unlike the ultra. ++++ just a personal thing wewt :wink:

[Mazy]

hmmm

the thing about the 6800 ultra is that it requires one mofo of a power supply, which possibly means more noise, and then it also drains power like hell.

Im pretty sure im gonna get a X800 XT now, but not totally decided yet.

hmmmm~

[KidDynamite]

Just flip a coin side with 1 Tilde you go x800, side with 2 Tilde you go 6800U , i already have a Powersupply that can support the 6800 so i'm not too worried The cards are so closely matched that i can see why you're torn between the two hehe good luck with your pick either way, FLIP THE TILDE COIN!

[DD]

The 6800 requires like three power supplies and a mule attached to a wheel producing electricity to run. Scary stuff.

[KidDynamite]

Ya, thats why i'm getting the BFG Tech 6800 GT OC, because it only at MINIMUM requires a 300W powersupply even though i have a 500W+ Powersupply, save 100 bucks and get better performance outta the GT vs the Ultra why not~~~ But ya the Ultra requires a minimum a 480W

Maybe instead of a Power Supply you could just run a car battery to it

[Duff-e]

a great powersupply should be the #1 item on your new computer list. i dont see how you can squabble over the power consumption. I learned this first hand a couple weeks ago running a 450 watt on a 9700 pro, 1 hd, and some other various, when it blew up on me.

[Izuno]

excellent question.

right after E3 I was given one of our Athlon 64 machinces with the 6800 ultras for a low low price.

I love the 6800u but honestly I don't have any games that push it. I only have Far Cry on 1280x1024 (native resolution of my LCD) but with full effects (4x AA, 8x AF and everything maxed) I get at least 40 frames/second most of the time. Problem is i don't find Far Cry fun so i don't play it, plus the MP is pants.

In all other games the FPS limit on max settings seems to be the refresh rate of my monitor which is stuck at 100 hz or something...but the image quality is amazing in all aspects. Yes, it takes up to slots and 2 power outlets, so you'll want a newer rig with a 400 watt power supply. if you don't have such a rig or a can't spend the extra $$$, get the ATI.

One of the key differences between the 6800u and the X800...

the 6800u supports DirectX 9.0c. the X800 series does not. Right now there are no games that support 9.0c, and I don't think HL2 or Doom3 will have feature complete 9.0c renderers so you won't notice.

STALKER (yes we know i'm biased) will have a full DX9.0c renderer and you'll need a compatible card to see all the effects. I've seen the difference between 9.0c and 9.0b and for the most part you can't tell, but in STALKER you can in some places and it is completely stunning. The 3.0 pixel shader in 9.0c is "awesome". Remeber the Unreal 3 engine tech movie from a couple months ago? That's the quality it can do. The 6800u is the only card currently on the market than can do this stuff.

I highly doubt you'll see much performance difference between the two, or image quality for the most part unless you're playing STALKER...erm...whenever that gets released . However, the differences between 9.0c and 9.0b in the game won't diminish it that much...most people may not even notice but since we're generally more in toon with image quality we might see it.

/gets of soap box...gets back to work.

[zaphod]

does it have dual dvi outputs?