6800 GS or X800 GTO2?

[Snoopsta]

which one do you think I should get? I heard the X800 GTO2 is guaranteed to overclock to the X850 XT PE.

[cptwhite_uk]

Personally I'd get the GTO2...

[jimborae]

GTO2 for sure. It's not guaranteed to unlock & overclock to X850XT PE speeds but it is almost guaranteed to at least unlock.

Mine does 580 on the core & 620 on the mem fully unlocked.

[Snoopsta]

does unlocking cause alot of heat?

[fredered]

unlocking caused literally no extra heat on my gto2, i just got my rig running, i am currently artifact testing at xt pe speeds at 62C fan at 73% which is noticably noisy but i opne the disk drives get going for games its not noticable over their noise.

[gedalia]

Wish I had these options. Im stuck on agp and looking for a second hand 6800gt to keep me going another year or two.

[jimborae]

does unlocking cause alot of heat?

No it's the overclocking that causes more heat.

[krazy_olie]

Either way is good, the unlock on the gto2 is certain but overclocking will vary from person to person. If you can actually get hold of a gto2 then I would think for most current games it is the better card (once unlocked and oc'd). Then again the 6800gs appears to be a good overclocker too, the xfx versions come pre oc'd and could probably be pushed further. Sm 3.0 may come in in the future which could hinder the gto.

[killkoy]

i'd definitely go with th 6800gs as it is about the same as the 6800gt performance wise
also it is a card that can overclock very well giving you a good performance boost

[Octavean]

I think they are both great cards and you cant go wrong with either one. Gone are the days of paying a premium for PCIe cards and now is the time of relatively cheap performance cards such as the 6800GS and X800GTO2.

When I first heard about the 6800GS I wanted to buy one right away but I had already bought a Sapphire X800GTO2 (and already have two or three other PCIe cards) and have no pressing need of another video card.

The reviews of the 6800GS cards that I have seen are very promising in terms of out of the box performance. However, according to the reviews I have read, OCing seemed to only yield about 55/55 core/MEM increase and we know there is nothing to unlock. I wouldn’t call that a spectacular OC but the default performance is impressive and the price is relatively low.

I also came across this bit of 6800GS SLI info:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27777

The GTO defaults are 400/490/12pp and I run my X800GTO2 at 540/590/16pp=X850XT PE. That is IMO an impressive OC and it will go even higher. I know the core will do 600 and I know the MEM will do 600 as well. In most cases I think the X800GTO2 at 540/590/16pp will outperform the 6800GS at default speed (425/500 for most) and possibly even when OCed (~485/555).

However, I can buy a 6800GS for about $199 and my GTO2 cost me about $240. BTW, the last time I looked the GTO2 was hovering around the $300 mark.

I’d say if you can get a GTO2 for around $220 go for it but if not go for the 6800GS since it will likely cost you less.

Or,…you could flip a coin.

[killkoy]

The GTO defaults are 400/490/12pp and I run my X800GTO2 at 540/590/16pp=X850XT PE. That is IMO an impressive OC and it will go even higher. I know the core will do 600 and I know the MEM will do 600 as well. In most cases I think the X800GTO2 at 540/590/16pp will outperform the 6800GS at default speed (425/500 for most) and possibly even when OCed (~485/555).

In most reviews i have read the gs has gone to around 510 on the core and around 600(1200) on the memory
Aso you can get pre overclocked ones like the xfx which is already 485/550 so will probably go further
also bear in mind that the gs supports shader model 3

[crepness]

Depends on what the buyer wants. Does he want more performance - GTO2 - or more a futureproof card - 6800GS. Plus you can also run the GS in SLI. They both seem to cost the same. I'd go for the GS myself.

[Octavean]

In most reviews i have read the gs has gone to around 510 on the core and around 600(1200) on the memory
Aso you can get pre overclocked ones like the xfx which is already 485/550 so will probably go further
also bear in mind that the gs supports shader model 3

Thus the rule of thumb that an OC is not guaranteed.

The XFX at 485/550 just about falls in line with the 55/55 OC in the reviews I have come across. In either case I'm sure we can all agree that there are some great parts coming out of the woodworks now.

One thing I find interesting is that the 6800GS supposedly will have a short life. This may mean that nVidia plans to replace it with a faster part soon. If nVidia manages to replace the 6800GS with a faster part soon and is able to persevere the price point,….I will be even more impressed than I already am with the 6800GS.

[Smokey21]

GT02 IMO. The X800 series was always better than the same spec 6800. It will also perform better than the 6800GS with AA/AF and high res.