6800gt and x800xl at the same price

I'd like such a room too! *drool*

I also compared them side-by-side and I really see no real difference with both running hi-res 4xAA and 16xAF. I bought a GT just because of SM3 and quite a bit lower price than it's ATI counterpart a few months ago (GT was about €70 cheaper).

And I play nothing except fps's. I do also turn on all eye-candy stuff.

Again, my stand on this topic: in terms of IQ, speed and driver quality they're at the same level now. Tech-wise, NV40 can do a bit more (however "useless" you may consider it).

EDIT:
check the price difference, it's still that way:
http://www3.alternate.de/html/shop/...owTechData=true&artno=JAGL21&#tecData
http://www3.alternate.de/html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=JAGB52&

What I find ridiculous is that the X800XT still costs about €50-100 more than GF6800U.

All AGP, of course.

 

well I would say that 6XAA + 16 AF on X850XT are about the same FPS as R9700 with nothing. So if you could play a game @ 1280*1024 on R9700 now you can play it with max AA and max AF on X850XT... maybe even faster than that. 6xAA doesn't have a large hit over 4xAA on R4xx

check this out

and here is dave's part - to add http://www.beyond3d.com/reviews/ati/r480/index.php?p=12

where even in 3DMark03 second game with 6xAA16xAF it almost manages 30FPS... 29.2 or whatever it was... so not that is impossible to use it with latest games, given that this game test is rather tough.

As for the price difference... yes ATI is still more expensive it seems, so whatever, I bought the X850XT only because of this thread and got it for £200 Thank you Phantom69

 

ok, but if you check this shop: www.grafikkartenpower.de you'll find quite different offers. please check out prices for X800XT PE and X850XT PE!

have a nice day!

 

I understand exactely what you are saying, _xxx_, and, for the most part agree. I've never said SM 3.0 is useless, just not, at this point, of value. There is nothing, ATM, that it does that would make it a strong buying point - for me. And from what I can see, by the time you will "need " SM3.0, the 6xxx series will be a bit lacking...... kind of like the GF series was by the time T&L was needed (well, maybe a bit better than that!). As far as FSAA goes, at 4X there is a noticable differance, but it is not that big, and certainly not a make it or break it thing. And, given the price difference between a GT and an XT, I can understand and agree with that. However.....the subject was not the XT, but the XL. What I was trying to get across was that those features that do make a difference - 6x FSAA and the texture quality - are very useable on the XL. That makes the XL a really comparable choice. For those that want the best IQ for around the stated $350US(for AGP - on PCIe it's a real steal!), the XL is a very viable choice.

BTW, as I type this - on the XL - I'm playing WOW at 1600x1200, 6x FSAA/16x AF. My Vsync is at 75 fps, and that's where the FPS is pegged. With the exception of the really big cities - where Blizzard has some real problems, it doesn't drop below 30 fps. And rarely drops below 40 fps.

 

Pity the XL wasn't there yet a few months back, I might even had bought one instead of the GT. But I suspect there will be some games where SM3 will make for a little bit more eye candy without huge impact on frame rates. I would go crazy if I wouldn't be able to see that, y'know...

 

ATI’s gamma corrected AA definitely seems to have IQ advantages in some situations over the GT … (see the power lines) …

2AA
4AA

 

Well....by that time I'll have a R520 ...and whatever nVidia replaces the 6xxxx with .......and lets hope that, by that time, you will not need to replace your 6xxx in order to use that SM3 at a good frame rate and with the eye candy turned on! No scarcasm intended at all......

 

Yeah, but some other stuff (like that bridge in the background) looks better with nV. I'd still say it's a tie.

matrox:
I don't know either, but I'll wait and see and take what's better I'm definitely not a brand whore.

 

I'm not either....although many here think I am. I buy most of the better stuff made. And I end up using the one that does the best - for me - most of the time! ATM, I am using the XL...... it's almost as fast as the XT-PE.....and the system it's in is faster. At this point, If someone were going to get a PCIe card, it's really hard to recommend anything else.

While I do have major problems - well documented - with nVidia over their ethics (and it's not going to change till nVidia changes it!) I still buy and use what's best for me. ATM I own 4 nVidia cards, 3 ATI cards, 6 nVidia chipset motherboards and 1 SIS chipset MB. If that makes me a hypocrite, well, guess I'm guilty.

 

I had to choose between these two myself. I went with the 800xl only because at that TIME I was able to buy it at my Local CompUSA for $299+Tax. Where the cheapest 6800GTs were still about $50 more.

If you having such a hard time, it probably because the cards are equal. Thus no matter what you get it should work well. Flip a coin

 

I just put a x800xl in my wifes machine and I have a 6800GT in my machine. Same CPU's (AMD64 3500), different mobo's. The 6800GT has been faster at most things I've thrown at it, but I do have my 6800GT overclocked to 420/1.13 (and I still idle at 48C!).

As for the AA - the x800xl is better. Not much to my eyes unless I really specifically look for differences. This is with the 4x mode. Using the enHancer 4xAA Gamma Corrected mode the differences become smaller, but still there. It's not something I've noticed much except in certain instances.

6xAA is playable on most everything on x800xl though where 8xAA is not playable in much on the 6800GT.

For instance, with WOW - X800xl 6xAA 16xAF 1600x1200 = very playable.
6800GT 1280x960 8xAA, 8xAF = playable.

The 8x mixed mode looks phenomenal on the GT when you can use.

As for texture shimmering - I don't see it with my GT and I've looked at it. The only game I have seen a bit of shimmering with is WOW and that is with the shadows being rendered. I'm not sure how the shadows are rendered in wow but the edges shimmer. The also show this with the x800xl, but not to the same degree.

In the end - compare both and get what you want. The are both pretty much equal with there own strengths and weaknesses.

Just my .02 cents...

 

nHancer is sweet little app for geforce cards. It adds a bunch of functionality for profiles and settings.

For instance - it adds a ton of different AA modes: the usual MSAA mode, true SSAA modes (1x2, 2x2, 4x4, etc) and all the mixed modes that have ever been available in previous cards.

Very nice, and if you are using a geforce card it's worth using.


http://www.nhancer.com

 

Cool, thx!

 

Of course the GT is faster at most things- clockspeeds are faster.
Put it back to 350/1000 and see what's faster
Or for true apples to apples, clock the GT to 400, but leave memory at 1000 and see who's faster at the same clockspeed.

 

An important point that I have not seen mentioned yet, and probably deserves its own thread, is that the Geforce 6000 series (at least the 6800s) have really come into their own with the release of ForceWare 71.84 drivers. I am not altogether sure how the balance between NV40 and R420 was considered so close before these latests drivers. Not having seen an X800 in action I would say they must stink if they compare to Geforce 6000 series on anything before 71.84, but I know a bit better I think that reviewers have just been lenient.

So this is just a shout-out that if you are buying now and you are choosing between NV4x and R42x (the eternal battle, it seems) the performance of the NV4x have just been given a major shot in the arm. All the funky shimmering in Battlefield is gone and most games look just dreamy. I am not sure how the benchmark averages have changed but many titles feel much smoother now and Far Cry with HDR runs better than ever (but still looks just wrong in places).

 

Another consideration is overclocking.

My eVGA OCs from 350/1.0 to 420/1.14 with no problems. That is a 20% increase on the core. And the card is rock solid. The eVGA, Leadtek, and Gigabyte OC well from what I hear (BFG seem not to do much more than stock). From what I have heard a lot of XL owners have a hard time getting a 10% OC.

I had a 9700, bought the 6800GT in Aug, and while there is a slight noticable difference in AA it was not a huge deal. I like my framerates at 60fps average (preferably MINIMUM for 60fps) so 6xAA never was really an option for high quality 3D games. As SP:CT shows the XL and GT both struggle to hit 60fps at 1280x1024 WITHOUT AA. So AA, to me, is a moot point. If you compare the 1.1 XL to the 3.0 GT in SC:CT the GT is faster. Not buy much mind you...

But in the end it really matters what games you play. Both are great cards. If you can save $50 getting one over the other save the $50 and enjoy a new game

 

Who cares about percentage overclock?
The final clockspeed is what determines performance.
The X800XL is also 300 dollers(or 350~ for agp), on the pci expess front, the GT is much more expensive, even at stock speeds it's fast enough, if that's not enough, you could get the X850 pro, for it's overclocking ability, or step up the X850 XT.
I don't think anyone thought the X800XL was going to be an overclocker.
It's just a card priced to compete with the 6800/6800GT and devliers performance between the 6800(doom 3/riddick) and the GT/ultra(DX9 games).

 

Well that's not always true - Ultra vs XTPE for example. The Ultra still lands some blows against the PE with 120Mhz clock disadvantage. Besides, the overclockability of the GT doesn't take anything away from the XL since most people don't touch clocks anyway.

 

In a way you are correct, but if you can buy a card that is almost guaranteed to overclock to the ultra speeds for the non-ultra price that seems like a really nice price/performance ratio.

My eVGA 6800GT AGP was $349 with free shipping back in October. Since day 1 this card has been pushing 420/1.13 - and that's being conservative (my idle temp is 48C - after I install the eVGA copper heatsink I expect to drop a few more degrees). That is one hell of a price to perfomance ratio anyway you look at it.

I paid around $315 + shipping for my x800xl. A very good price/performace there also, but I don't think it's quite as good as my 6800GT. My x800xl only overclocks about 8% stable.

When I buy any card I always look at my bang for the buck - which includes overclocking.

IMO, the 71.84 drivers from XG are wonderful with the 6800 series cards. The 70 series drivers have increased speed and IQ across the board for me without a single problem in any of my games.

My ATI drivers (4.12) are stable as all heck too.