9800 Pro v 6600GT (which is best for me?)

[schmunk]

i hear that ordinary 6800s might unlock pipelines to become near gt's ?

It is possible, but not guaranteed. My LE (8 pipes, 4 shaders) has unlocked past a 6800 (12 pipes, 5 shaders). The other problem is the memory - 6800s use slower DDR, GT/Ultra use faster DDR3.

[chriswood_7]

Hey guys

Thinking of swapping my 9800 Pro for a 6800 just wondering if its a worthy upgrade?

Cheers

Chris

[SMPer]

based on this review,

http://www.techreport.com/reviews/20...p/index.x?pg=1

i'd say yes it's a worthy upgrade

[chriswood_7]

Ive decided against the 6600GT im thinking of going 6800 and softmodding to GT speeds... for the full 16 pipelines

I think between the 6600GT and 9800 Pro there aint much, not worthy of an upgrade probably more of a sideways step. Just wondering if im gonna notice much difference if i go 6800

Chris

[shiato storm]

sounds about right...

[mike_w]

If you go for a 6800 from a 9800 Pro, I don't think the boost would be worth it for £170+. The least I would go for would be a 6800GT.

[noah]

remeber that no matter how much you overclock the 6800 it aint gonna hit 6800gt speeds - the ram just aint fast enough, its ddr1 not ddr3 you see.

but you still get a big gain from getting the clocks as high as poss and unlocking pipes and shaders

[Dihi Doctor]

6600 or 9800 - Depends which games you play most and whether they run better on nvidia or Ati hardware (e.g. Doom 3, HL2). tbh, I would expect that you would find the 6600 a bit faster overall, but then it may not be enough of an increase to warrant spending.

[schmunk]

6600 or 9800 - Depends which games you play most and whether they run better on nvidia or Ati hardware (e.g. Doom 3, HL2). tbh, I would expect that you would find the 6600 a bit faster overall, but then it may not be enough of an increase to warrant spending.

Which is exactly the same thing as the first reply said...

[mike_w]

Which is exactly the same thing as the first reply said...

Everybody's allowed their own opinion, and this person is just expressing theirs.

[critofur]

Why is everybody saying get a 6800 GT? Why not just a 6800? I got a 6800 for $239 US ("open box") and had 100% success enabling the 4 pipes & 1 vertex shader using Rivatuner. I can run all my games at high quality at 1280 x 1024 (the resolution I use because that's my flat panel's native resolution, I could run higher if I used my CRT monitor) so there would be no point to having a more expensive card. When a game comes out that benefits from a better card than the 6800 by then there will be better prices on newer faster cards than the 6800GT.

It's hard to want to spend $200 on a 6600GT when the 6800 not that much more UNLESS you're talking about PCIe, then the 6600GT really makes sense because the 6600 is designed natively as a PCIe chip and the card costs a little less (than the AGP version), also it uses less power than the 6800s and runs less hot.

[critofur]

If you go for a 6800 from a 9800 Pro, I don't think the boost would be worth it for £170+. The least I would go for would be a 6800GT.

Even without unlocking the pipes you get as much as double the performance of the 9800 with the 6800, but the 6800 GT isn't that much better than the 6800, it doesn't make sense to spend the extra $ on the GT does it?

[wenis]

Do any of the 6800's have a video engine or encoder that works properly yet? If not, the 6600gt seems to be the better choice if you are using the computer for any home theater situations. Maybe this is not the case anymore, but I would never buy a 6800 if the video encoder doesnt work.

[noah]

nope, they're all still stuffed. but this isnt a big problem unless you use HD video.

i watch loads of dvd's and recorded divx's and mpegs on my machine and have no probs at all, yeah it uses a bit of cpu and my temps rise a touch, but nothing my poor little xp2600 can't handle with ease.

as mentioned in other threads the problems will arise when HD becomes the norm

[badass]

In response to the first question in the thread: Keep the 9800Pro. The performance difference isn't worth the hassle and money. Wait untill you can afford a card thats lots faster, like the 6800 or better.

[exAndrzej]

Questions worth asking yourself:-

• What is the most you want to spend ?
• What games do you want to play ?
• What monitor will you be using ?
• What is it's maximum (CRT) or native (TFT) resolution ?
• What kind of IQ levels (AA/AF) do you require ?
• What do you consider a 'playable average frame rate' ?
• How long do you expect to keep this card for ?
• What is the lowest price card that satisfies all of these criteria ?

Balance in always important

The CPU needs to give the GPU enough geometry each second

Your system memory needs to be big enough for the textures etc needed to play at the quality settings you select

If a lower card will give you +40fps on average in your favourite game as your TFT screen's native resolution... what are the arguments for spending more ?

Everyone will have an opinion on what constitutes 'balance' in a system - but maybe something like this :-
3GHz/3000+ 512MB X800 17" TFT
3.2GHz/3200+ 512MB X800XL 17"/19" TFT
3.46GHz EE/3800+ 1GB X850 XT 20" TFT
3.73GHz EE/FX55 2GB X850 XT PE 20" TFT

What do you guys think balance looks like ?