6800LE Vs 6600GT

[mike_w]

The official product lineup from nVidia is pretty clear - 6800 Ultra, 6800GT, 6800, 6600GT, 6600, etc. However, you can get the 6800LE - I believe the reason why nVidia didn't choose to use this card in the mainstream was that it was around the same performance region as the 6600GT, so that would effectively be aimed at the same market. (Correct me if I'm wrong, of which there is a high possibility )

So my question is, how do the 6800LE and 6600GT compare?

Thanks

Mike

[davidstone28]

There are loads of comparison charts across the web - just try googling or tracking down a few at the usual culprits - HardOCp, Anandtech, Toms, Xbits, TechReport, Nvnews, Guru3d etc.

I've never tried any of the 6600 cards, but I have tried several flavours of the 6800 cards with different pipe/shader/clock configs. At a guess, the 6600GT and 6800LE are *probably* much of muchness - the higher clock speeds of the 6600GT compensating for its lower memory bandwith. However both cards will struggle at more than 1024x768 with anything involving high texture fillrates or medium to high AA/AF settings. The pipe deficiency of both cards put them at a huge fill rate deficiency. I suppose you have the potential to unlock the extra pipes/shaders on the 6800LE but success rates, in terms of unlocking with no artefacting are very poor. The lower end 6800s do seem to overclock pretty well though. I have a 6800 that manages 395mhz/865mhz from a stock 325mhz/700mhz. Still chugs at 1280x1024 with 4xAA/8xAF though.

[iMc]

nice overclock on the 6800 there david. what brand is that? any extra cooling?

[Agent]

A heck of a lot of the 6800LE's are also softmodding pretty well (ive had several do 16/6 without any problem)

[Phalanx]

im planning to get a 6800 from www.lowestonweb.com although im finding it hard to choose between a 6800 and a 6800 LE with Doom 3 from OCUK

[davidstone28]

nice overclock on the 6800 there david. what brand is that? any extra cooling?

It's a Gigabyte card - the passive one with no fan. Temps hit 90C on occasions....

[Agent]

im planning to get a 6800 from www.lowestonweb.com although im finding it hard to choose between a 6800 and a 6800 LE with Doom 3 from OCUK

OCUK's are way overpriced.
Mine from LOW also mods into 16/6 a card (i have one here). Of course, they are all different, but if you get one from the same batch, you have a good chance

[iMc]

cant get mine to softmod, doesnt stick in rivatuner. its the one from lowestinweb. still great price anyway.

[Agent]

I think your problem is somthing different iMc, other people i know that have unsuccessfully softmodded still have it stick in RT, but it artifacts on loading.
Im not sure what it could be though, and im not around that much at the moment to put some proper research into it

[iMc]

Yeh its a strange one, but I don't think anything can be done unfortunately.

Still the 6800 is a good card for the money. Deffo worth it over the 6600GT/6800LE (unless its a dead cert softmodder)

[MurphmanL]

I was considering picking up a 6800 LE myself and chancing the softmod, I know the card I've spotted is a Reference Nvidia board with the mermaid on the cooler.
Even without the sofmod, am I right in thinking these outperform the 9800 XT and all last generation cards?

[schmunk]

Even without the sofmod, am I right in thinking these outperform the 9800 XT and all last generation cards?

Yep.

[mike_w]

So at stock, it's pretty even - the 6800LE has the 256 bit bus, but the 6600GT has the greater clock speeds to compensate.

What about overclocking? I'd assume that the 6800LE has the edge here since it's at the low end of a range so has more headroom than the 6600GT, which is at the high end of a range?

Thanks

Mike

[davidstone28]

Even without the sofmod, am I right in thinking these outperform the 9800 XT and all last generation cards?

Generally yes, but if you're expecting big performance increases, prepare to be disappointed. 9800XT to 6800LE is not the way to go.

[MurphmanL]

It sure would be nice to have a 9800XT to go from lol
I got a 9700 Pro atm, but am thinking if i somehow get enough money for chrimbo after a ppc to upgrade my graphics card

Also seems in benchies the 9800 XT has come out around 8% faster than 6800LE, just look around Seems the disabled pipes really hits the LE hard...

[mike_w]

It sure would be nice to have a 9800XT to go from lol
I got a 9700 Pro atm, but am thinking if i somehow get enough money for chrimbo after a ppc to upgrade my graphics card

Also seems in benchies the 9800 XT has come out around 8% faster than 6800LE, just look around Seems the disabled pipes really hits the LE hard...

I'd say that a plain 6800 wouldn't provide that much of a performance boost from a 9700 Pro, especially for £200! The least I would get in your position would be a 6800GT, but I would never spend over £200 on graphics card (in fact, I've yet to spend £100 on a graphics card!). The 9700 Pro should be able to play all current games at a decent resolution, so I'd stick with it and replace it when it starts to struggle and the new cards are cheaper.

Of course, if you take my advice, I'll actually not be helping myself since I won't be able to steal your 9700 Pro