Behold ! 3dmark2005 !

[TrinireturnofGamez]

Taking advantage of the latest hardware available : shader 2.0, 2.0b and 3.0 , 3dmark  . With more intensive tests and new technolagies used , new methods of benchmarking [ dynamic shading path ] this is our tool to see how games will run in the future .  
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/dis...y/3dmark05.html

available for download now : minimum spec is a  machine with full DX9 support !


shader 3.0 slows down the 6800s , 2.0B still can do everything 3 can  right now , and will be able to do so for a long time to come .                    

[coldstorm]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/dis...conclusion.html

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra is virtually the best thing money can buy for future games, if you really hope to play them on the current hardware. Extreme computing power and smart architecture definitely drive the whole GeForce 6-series family of chips.
RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition and RADEON X800 XT are a bit behind the leader, but it is clear that ATI’s RADEON X800 XT-series definitely offers great future-proof by supporting Shader Model 2.0b along with 3Dc technology.
NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 GT product has probably the best price/performance ratio in the high-end now and support for a number of exceptional features, such as Shader Model 3.0.
ATI’s RADEON X800 PRO is a very nice option for today and tomorrow, but its 12-pipelines definitely do not allow the board to spread its wings in highly-demanding cases, such as 3DMark05.
NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 lags behind the leaders and its performance is very close to that of the GeForce 6600 GT and the RADEON 9800 XT. Each of the mentioned products have its pros and cons, but it should be kept in mind that the RADEON 9800 XT does not support any advanced shader capabilities and is unlikely to see any performance boosts from this direction in future.

suprising conclusion ain't                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

not suprising at all , 9800XT is just a 9700 , super clocked and with some tweaks . 6800/6600 series IS better for games if you plan to keep it 2-3 years , even if games say they support SM3 right now , they do not and cannot implament  the SM3 only features  unless their engines are totally revamped = + 3-6 months in development , or they have had full sm3 support in mind from the start [ unreal III] . Early 2006 we will see full use of SM3,  
    i'd still put my money on @ti based SM3 : ATis shaders have always been better , always pushing the envalope , when the 8500 came out it had more advanced and faster  shaders than the geforce 3 AND geforce 4   , @ti had SM 2 first, and its SM2 was ALOT faster than the FX series cards ,  i'd wait for @ti , even if they manage to do crap ,  Nvidia cards will be faster/cheaper then.  my 8500 still has some life in it.. and i intend to squeeze every last  frame i can out of it ...                    

[W1nTry]

As I just recently read in an interesting article (check for the topic) AT1 cards i.e. their current line of cards x3-800 seem to have PCI-e issues that they come up with creative workabouts with the board manufacturers to ensure the hardware will work wel with their respective systems.. however the idea of upgrading ur mobo or changing ur cpu and mobo may cause some significant issues and well pretty much STICKS u with that rig. There are some 20+ cards offered by Nv1dia currently that are PCI-SIG compliant and only 1 that is AT1 made. Considering PCIe is the future i'd bet on Nv1dia for the time being.

Also by 2006, WGF (wind0ws graphics foundation as well as L0nghorn will be in full swing) its way too early to say whose card will have better SM3 performance as by then SM4 will be the new issue. You also have to factor in the .net framework that is introduced here in the mix, there are alot mroe things to consider than just hardware here, both Nv1dia and AT1 are capable of impressive hardware theres' no doubt, the software to match (which I think Nvidia is sligthly better at curently) will come more into play with all the new and wonderful things that uSoft is throwing into the mix.

One more thing, i've read some scores to the current line of cards and 3dmark2005, the 6800Ultra is the overal leader but the X800XT tops it with prototype drivers 4.10, the lower cards see almost the same trend with ATI leading X700 over 6600GT etc...                    

[coldstorm]

as it will always be drivers make the card perform better . nvidia will soon release new ones                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

@ti PCI-E compatability is under attack because @ti has 90% of the PCI-E market,   Nvidia will be left out in the rain unless this situation changes FAST : most of next years video card sales are for PCI-X products .
   Ati has their SM3 cards ready for next year, and sometime soon we will see the uber high end X-800 series cards , on .11 process and super clocked .