ATI vs. Nvidia Lower tier high end

[W1nTry]

Basically I am buying a new video card and these are the two options i've narrowed it down to. Its the proverbial sweet spots as far as price performance goes. Now take into account its AGP cards I am comparing and they are both within the same price range of sub 300USD or at least at most 300USD. They are both 16 pixel pipeline cards and i've seen reviews to show both are better than the other. The real question is which is really better and why u think it is, links to reviews and forums are all welcomed. I personally am not sure, I was going with an Leadtek 6800GT until they got a faulty batch (this card is known for OCing to Ultra speeds because of its massive copper cooling solution) but is no longer an option. THe X800XL I am looking at is an ATI original, OCing is 10% at best. So vote away, the feedback is appreciated.

[TrinireturnofGamez]

  wait a few months wintry , Geforce 7800 GT (400 US) and 7800 (300US , 20 pipes . 300mhz)  gonna be out soon , after than Radeon X900s and Geforce 7600gt will be out for even less  , the 6800gt is a great card but neither it nor the X800XL can handle SM3.0 shading as i'v seen myself firsthand , the geforce 6 series  gets its frame rate cut in half or less in games that use SM3 to its fullest eg. Splinter cell chaos theory  , Farcry + HDR , whith SM3 options turned on , the Geforce 7 and Radeon X900 series will have much more efficient shaders , and more raw horsepower to boot .

[W1nTry]

There is one large problem with what ur saying. I will repeat I want an AGP solution. The 7 series line of Nvidia cards may very well NEVER see AGP and the R5 series may or may not. Either way I am pretty much looking to get a card to hold me the next 2 yrs the way my Gefore 3 Ti 200 did back in the day. Also I am not waiting for the prices to drop any lower as they AREN'T expected to. WHen R520 launches it will be the fastest and have the highest price since Nvidia does not need to compete in the AGP against R520 it doesn't need to drop the prices. Also consider that the X850XT PE remains the highest performing AGP card, then ATI doesn't need to drop the price on that either. So again I ask which is prefferable the X800XL or the 6800GT

[trinigamer]

tomshardware just did a guide for AGP cards:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html

The 6800GT does better at the highest resolutions with the eye candy turned on, with the exception of HL2.

[TriniXaeno]

^^ what he said

[Czar]

Without being a benchmark whore...my gut feeling is the 6800GT...

As you said, there may be examples that show each card holding its own against the other...but quite frankly, either card will do you good, cos they're both quite powerful.

But in my eyes, nVidia pulled the rabbit out of their hat with the 6 series and totally redeemed themselves after the FX...and I like what I've been reading about their plans for future drivers...which imo, have always been a step ahead of ATI's drivers...just about tips the scales for me.

[Kaizen]

no doubt no doubt nvidia 6800 gt
even though i had a x800xl O_o NVIDIA - The way its meant to be played!

[TrinireturnofGamez]

it still won't hurt to wait wintry, at least until october , prices on the 6800GT will drop and new cards would have been released  ,  and i think lower end Geforce 7 series cards wil make it to the AGP market even if the 7800 line of cards never does,  a 12 7600GT clocked at 500mhz  will outperform a 350mhz 16 pipe card most of the time , even if you do manage to get it to 400mhz the 7600gt still will have much more efficient shaders , anti aliasing and better IQ .
    Heheh wintry was one of the ones who gave me a lecture to stay with AGP... its already bieng ignored by the graphics card makers, by the next cycle of video cards it will probably be a dead slot  .   
   Socket 939 looks to have life in it  , AMD's processors next year will only be 200-300mhz more than those this year , integrated PCI-E may increase performance a bit but socket 939 processors  would come down in price , dual core Socket 939 processors should be affordable in 2006  and AMD will probably keep making processors for S939 like they did with Socket A  , i know AMD plans to keep socket 754 for the Turion series  , 939 may live long too .

[Kaizen]

well 939 is living long
dual cores jus out on 939 an stuff yep yep no doubt 939 runnin it till next year hopefully

[W1nTry]

Well the way I see it AGP will be around for quite some time again there's no two ways about that Trini, however for those that want better and better tech its a dead end. From a cost perspective its quite attractive so my opinion on AGP still stands. Had I NOW gotten my 939 I would have opted to go PCIe all the way, but as I have said before it was premature. Anyways its interesting that so many ppl prefer the 6800GT... thing is I really did want the Leadtek version... which unfortunately has a bad batch, so much so that newegg completely pulled it from the site.... 0_o.... I hear what you're saying about waiting trini but to be honest going that long without gaming thats just too much to bear.... I have a 9600 stock card in it right now, but I will have to return that sooner rather than later it would seem.... so soon I may have NO card at all and I not up to having meh 939 sitting there doing nothing OCT is FAR FAR AWAY so its not much of an option. As for a say 7600 outperforming the current 16 pipe cards.... well that MAY be true... then again it may not. The way I see it the 6800GT is nominally slower than the 6800Ultra and the 7800GTX is up to 50% faster but in most cases more like 25% faster than the Ultra... so... its hard for me to foresee a revised 12 pipeline card out performing a 16 pipeline card. Even if you compare a similar situation like the 6600GT and the 9800Pro, you'll see that they're both at 8 pipes and the 6600GT is about 10% faster overall... so I really can't see 12 pipes besting 16 unless it has RIDICULOUS clocks which would need XDR I am sure. So I think I am safe with a 16 pipe current gen card as opposed to a 12 pipe next gen. Either way trini unless you spotting meh a card as good as a 9800Pro until OCT, I have no recourse but to get a new one and soon. Is there noone in here to defend the X800XL? its kinda my card of choice...since meh Leadtek went under?

[TrinireturnofGamez]

X800XL is a good alternative ,  since the Geforce 6 series can't really use SM 3.0 options unless you have SLI , but the X800XL is 320 US min for AGP models while the 6800gt can be had for as low as 260 US with a little rebate . 6800GT it is wintry.
  The AGP 6800 isn't really an option  since it has only 128mb of RAM for the cheaper 180 US models , and the 256mb models are about the same price as the 6800gt anyway ,  i can also tell you from experience that since BF2 128mb of video RAM doesn't cut it unless you running PCI-E and 2GB of high speed DDR .

[W1nTry]

Actually the ATI original X800XL is less than the eVGA 6800GT check newegg you go see. The X800XL going for 289USD whilst the 6800GT is 296USD thereabouts... so whats that about prices?

[TrinireturnofGamez]

 look again wintry , the cheapest AGP x800xl is 312 USD , the ones below that are PCI-E!   
  The XFX 6800gt goes for 280 off newegg.. xfx is an okay brand  in my opinion ,   go for it if you must .

[W1nTry]

MUST I PUT LINKS? *sighs*
ATI Orginal X800XL
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321329
275USD with free 2nd day shipping

XFX 6800GT
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321009
289USD with free 2nd day shipping

IF U LIKE the CHEAPEST 6800GT on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140053
269USD with shipping

Notice ATI ORIGINAL vs OEMs 10USD more... or 15USD LESS no brainer

[Czar]

LOL @ put links

[TrinireturnofGamez]

Actually the ATI original X800XL is less than the eVGA 6800GT check newegg you go see. The X800XL going for 289USD whilst the 6800GT is 296USD thereabouts... so whats that about prices?

 

    you said check newegg  , not zip zoom fly :p   , the cheapest AGP x800 XL on newegg is 312 US : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102520    , i dunno what you getting on for :p
     
   

[TriniXaeno]

tech war iwmc!

lol

[W1nTry]

If u simply scroll to the bottom of the page with the X800XLLs on it you will see the ATI original which I have ben stressing from before... is OUT OF STOCK. When i first posted this thread it was still IN STOCK trini.... so I can say the cheapest ATI card on Newegg is indeed 289USD except its NOW as of TODAY out of stock. I don't intend to purchase the saphiretech or the gigabyte cards. So as it stands the X800XL is competitively priced amoungst the 6800GT... but I am still unsure which is the overall better performer... I am gathering its the X800XL (rem pplz at STOCK speeds) and well meh Leadtek not even on newegg no more, thats a card u can say trini is NOT on newegg.