Which do I choose?

[Scullypuss]

Hi there, can anyone help?

I am buying a high-end graphics card for my insane gamer son's birthday.

He had asked for an Asus V9999 Ultra Deluxe 256Mb AGP.

Time is running out and I still haven't been able to get one of these, but I have been contacted by one of my hopeful suppliers who said that he had an XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra 256Mb AGP, and there is virtually no difference between the two.

Is this true, or should I just hang on in the hope of gettting hold of the one my lad specified in time?

Thanks for your time.

[sawyen]

ASUS cards usually carry its brand name much like Mercedes carry its tri-star badge. V9999 Ultra will still be using the ol'usual reference Nvidia board and will probably cost more on your wallet for the ASUS brand. XFX variant should not have any significant performance difference, probably be a little nicer to your pocket as well... If you prefer a treat for your son.. BFG does very good Ultra cards with overclocked speeds that come standard. (ASUS didn't even swap the reference ultra cooler for a better one.. bad bad ASUS)..

[Nox]

BFG...

Factory overclocked, so will be faster than the XFX equivalent, AND they carry lifetime warranty, not just a few years.

Though I know why he asked for the ASUS - that blue glow on some of their cards not sure if that particular model has it though.

Nox

[sawyen]

BFG...

Factory overclocked, so will be faster than the XFX equivalent, AND they carry lifetime warranty, not just a few years.

Nox

Enuf said...

[Smokey21]

If you wanna spend a bit more i would get a bfg, if not xfx are cheap, there all the same really.

[Allen]

I am buying a high-end graphics card for my insane gamer son's birthday.

Heh, my Dad told me to stop playing so many games as a kid, yet you're buying yours a top of the range graphics card??

Nice Dad.

[sawyen]

I wish my dad was that nice....

[Steve]

Can't you get him a 6800GT and introduce him to overclocking?

[sawyen]

Can't you get him a 6800GT and introduce him to overclocking?

Well.. depend how young is his kid... Ask a 10 yr old to do OC would be like throwing 200 quid down the drain...

[Steve]

Well.. depend how young is his kid... Ask a 10 yr old to do OC would be like throwing 200 quid down the drain...

I'm 18 now, and remember overclocking my Matrox Mystique 220 4MB. Can't think how long ago that would have been. Then there was the cyrix... I think overclocking is in my blood.

Anyway, it's easier than it used to be - coolbits hack -> nvidia control panel -> find optimal overclock.

Still, if it's gotta be a Ultra, then XFX should be alright - I have their 6800GT and it serves me very well.

[DavidM]

I like XFX

[Allen]

Well.. depend how young is his kid... Ask a 10 yr old to do OC would be like throwing 200 quid down the drain...

Nah, it's a piece of cake these days. I don't think I can even harm my XFX 6800GT with overclocking, I'm sure it shuts down the GPU if it gets too hot or something...

I hope!

[sawyen]

Nah, it's a piece of cake these days. I don't think I can even harm my XFX 6800GT with overclocking, I'm sure it shuts down the GPU if it gets too hot or something...

I hope!

thats true until the 10 yr old patience boils to nil... and he'll begin some vadalism overhaul like sticking chewing gums on the fan or sth... try tying a 10 yr old kid to a pole and observe... his patience will last no longer than 10 minutes... in case anyone ask... yes.. its a chip off a life-long experience wif my never ending cousins...

[Scullypuss]

Thanks guys.

Well, I won't have him for much longer 'cos he's growing up awful fast - anyway, he'll be doing his own upgrade. The last time he asked me, we changed his motherboard, and Windows XP wouldn't work afterwards, so he doesn't trust me.

[sawyen]

cheers mate... hope ur kid likes the spiky big green armoured dog on XFX box art...

[iranu]

anyway, he'll be doing his own upgrade. The last time he asked me, we changed his motherboard, and Windows XP wouldn't work afterwards, so he doesn't trust me.

Show him this - you need to re-install windows when changing motherboards. Sometimes windows does work after the change but it is always best to re-install.

A quick bit of advice if I may on changing the gfx card. If he already has an Nvidia card installed then you most likely will not have any problems with just swapping in the new 6800. However, if you have an ATI card at the moment then the old ATI gfx card drivers will need to be removed before installing the 6800 and new Nvidia drivers. Sry if you know this already, but I see alot of problems caused by not removing old gfx card drivers.