As soon as I can afford it I'll upgrade my computer this autumn, and now I'm scrutinizing the market for candidate products. When it comes to graphics right now the choice stands between two Asus cards, that are about the same price: Extreme N6600GT Silencer/HTD and Extreme N6800/TD. The first one has cooler cooling, faster RAM and higher GPU clock speed, the second one has 12 pipes instead of 8. They both have 256MB RAM. Question is which one is likely to perform better at low-moderate resolution (1024x768) and filtering? I actually think the 6600GT will do better, based on some comparisons I've seen. Comments? TIA Olle
I think the 6800 will last you in the long run. Check out these benchmarks form Tomshardware guide. Plus if you are lucky you can unlock all 16 pipes and 6 shaders on the 6800. AGP http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html PCI-E http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/index.html
It's exactly those benchmarks I had a look at before. They compare GF 6600GT with 128MB RAM vs GF 6800, 256MB RAM. With 1024x768 resolution the 6600 outperform the 6800 in every test! Often by roughly 20%! (The 6800 with twice as much RAM do better at 1600x1200.) With 256MB RAM, as on the card I consider, the 6600GT should do even better at higher resolution. Unlocking features isn't really my cup of tea, although I might test some slight overclocking. /Olle
OK well consider this. If you can find a 6800 and 6600GT that are the same price go with the 6800. You have to think on how the 6800 and 6600GT with perform on future games at 1024*768. The 6800 has a 256bit interface and the 6600GT has a 128bit interface. The 6800 also has a higher bandwidth. I just bought a BFG 6800 OC for $170USD with shipping. Heres a link for some benchmarks. http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_6600_gt_agp/page5.asp http://www.behardware.com/articles/514-6/nvidia-geforce-6600-gt.html http://www.hardavenue.com/reviews/gf6600gtagp1.shtml BTW are you looking for an AGP or PCI-E video card? If you are looking for a PCI-E video card I would wait for the R520 to be released. The X1600 is suppose to be kickass for a midrange card and cost $200USD.
Yeah, werti316 is right. If you can get both cards for the same price, I would recommend on the 6800. But if the 6600GT is cheaper (and I think this is the situation) you should definitely go for it, because it will give you more value for the money.
To me it's a lot more relevant to compare current and older games. This new card will be old and about to be replaced once I get to buy "future games". ... but lower fillrate, which also seems to matter. That's a non starter simply because the ATI drivers don't support pixel/table fog and thus aren't fully DirX compatible! Anyways it seems I've now found an even better card at an acceptable price: XFX PVT42PUDF7, a 6800 with 256MB GDDR3 clocked at 350/900 MHz. Less than 5% costlier than the ASUS cards. Cheers Olle
I am calling em like I see em. More relevant? How so? I know they will be replaced by somthing faster. I am basing on the 2 cards you are asking about. I didn't know there were any 6800s that have GDDR3. It seems on ly PCI-E 6800s have GDDR3. Also if you insist on a 6800 with GDDR3 it will cost more than a 6800 with DDR. You might as well get a 6800GT
I just about never buy a game until it's been on the market for at least a year, and I keep playing my older games for several years. Therefore it's more relevant how my graphics card handle games that are three to five years old now than how it will handle something that will be released in two years or so. Neither did I until I found this one. It's definitely non-standard. Let's take a look at the current costs in Sweden, prices are slightly rounded: 6600GT, 128MB GDDR3; 1600 SEK. 6600GT, 256MB GDDR3; 2000 SEK. 6800, 256MB DDR; 2200 SEK. 6800, 256MB GDDR3; 2400 SEK. 6800GT; 256MB GDDR3; 3200 SEK. As you can see the price of a 6800 with GDDR3 is only 10% up from the vanilla 6800, and you get almost twice as fast memory. The 6800GT is 50% more expensive and way out of my price range. Cheers Olle
