pci-e msi/leadtek 6800

[Dimebag]

I've tried googleing reviews for this card, or any benchmarks because i'm thinking about putting it in my new rig for sli. It retails in Canada at about 450 bucks and I believe it's better than the 6600's and the 6800 but worse than the 6800gt and the 6800ultra. Can anyone shed some more light on this? I don't know much about the card but it appears as though it could make an excellent midrange-to-high-end card.

Here's the link:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=NX6800-TD256E&class=vga

Here's a link for the Leadtek version:
http://www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/3d_graphic/overview.asp?lineid=1&pronameid=163

Thanks a lot,

Dime

[shuiends]

I would go for the Leadteck simply because it has a slightly better heatsink/fan. I am also looking into these cards to and cannot find anything on how well they overclock or unlock either. I cant do 500$ for a 6800GT but 330$ is ok for one card. And then afetr prices come down grab another one and I will be set for sli.

[Sentential]

I'd go with leadtek. They generally are more generous with game bundles than say MSI is.

[Dimebag]

Shuiends, I don't really care about the GPU heatsink because I'm going to do a Thermaltake BigWater watercooling system. I'm gonna wait until for about a year or so until my DFI nForce4 Ultra-D warranty is up, then slap on some conductive paint on those two resistors and have a full SLI setup. By the time that happens maybe these cards would drop a little bit in price, although for 5 extra bucks Canadian I think I can spare it for what the recommendations are.

Thanks a bunch.

Dime

[shuiends]

Dimebag the mod sounds like a good idea and I wish you luck on it succesfully working. I am going to go the route of the SLI-DR since I figure the extra money would be well spent on supporting the product.

[Sentential]

Shuiends, I don't really care about the GPU heatsink because I'm going to do a Thermaltake BigWater watercooling system. ....

Dime
Ummmm.....I wouldnt go for a kit, especially one made by TT. You would be better off using straight air-cooling than the big-water

[Dimebag]

Really? I hear good things as a CPU cooler, why not add a Danger Den block and some extra piping? My other option is shelling out about 100 bucks more for a custom danger den setup, or for air cooling getting a Zalman 7700cu. My only fear with the 7700 is that it's a monster and won't fit into the antec sonata case :D

[Mustanley]

I don't know if all PCI-E 6800s are the same, but mine uses the NV41 GPU, which only has 12 pipes in silicon, so there is no hope of unlocking them, because they do not exist. But it does overclock pretty well, running it at 430 core and 850 mem at the moment with NV5 silencer.

[Sentential]

Really? I hear good things as a CPU cooler, why not add a Danger Den block and some extra piping? My other option is shelling out about 100 bucks more for a custom danger den setup, or for air cooling getting a Zalman 7700cu. My only fear with the 7700 is that it's a monster and won't fit into the antec sonata case :D
Ya heard wrong then lol...most of the guys here and at procooling.com mock TR's efforts;)

In addition TT uses smaller connections so you would need to buy an adapter to use a Danger den.

Personally If I can get a super-lanboy to take Thermalright's XP-90 then you should be fine as well. I personally would worry about motherboard compatability more than your case ;).

Stick with air-cooling. I plan to and I dont feel water-cooling is worth the cost or the risk at the moment. Btw here is my case:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/Sentential/IMG_1769.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/Sentential/IMG_1745.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/Sentential/IMG_1750.jpg

<specs in sig>
Cooling = Thermalright XP-90
Fan = Delta TBF HHE 92mm (80CFM / 46dbls)

Zalman is a great choise for a heatsink, however if you are looking for peformance no one is better than Thermalright. I reccomend either the XP90 or XP120 depending on your motherboard compatabilty which is available on their website:

www.thermalright.com

[shuiends]

Mustanly what company made your 6800? I had not herd of them not being unlockable and that is frightening to me. I might have to go for a GT if none of the pcie cards can be unlocked.

[Mustanley]

I got it in a Dell Inspiron 8400 system about a month ago. Unwinder of rivatuner fame is the one who confirmed it after sending him the info from rivatuner and the bios image.

[shuiends]

Mustanley what brand card is it? Or is it just a generic dell card. Also does anyone else have info on pcie cards not being unlockable.

[Dimebag]

Sentential,

True TT uses 3/8'' and Danger Den uses 1/2'' I believe. I guess I'll wait until the compatibility to the DFI nForce4 Ultra-D comes out. I had a problem with Thermalright back in the day, but that was my own fault :P. The computer in my sig (now sold), the k7n2 delta didn't have the mounting bracket holes around the socket for the slk800. My last computer was super loud, and I was looking for a quieter solution (was it the 92mmTornado? Nooooooo way :P). So I was looking for a 120mm quieter solution, that's why I'm ordering the Sonata case. It comes with the 2 120mm intake/exhaust, and it's cheaper then a SuperLanBoy. I shall definately look for Thermalright's compatibility with this board, I hope it's fine.

By the way, GO JAGS!!! I am actually a huge Jacksonville fan, and was quite upset when the Broncos beat the Colts to beat them out of the playoffs. I have a Mark Brunell jersey :D :D :D

Also, I have to praise you for that choking-the-cpu-until-it-learns-how-to-deal-with-it approach to overclocking. Although my 2500+ never really did get that high, I was able to lower the voltage to make it considerably cooler *thumbs up*.

Now onto the video card. This does concern me, but not overly much. If it overclocks well, I'm already happy. Any unlocking pipes or anything is a bonus. But here's a question: 1) Is there a version of rivatuner out for pci express? Can you overclock BOTH video cards, and do they have to be running at the same frequencies to work?

pci-express and nVidia and SLI are all quite new to me, and probably a lot of others. But get back to me when you find a review or something.

P.S. - The Thermalright xp-120 says it is compatible with the Athlon 64 3200+ and up. I'm assuming the 3000+ is okay, but if not, let me know.

Thanks again

Dime

[shuiends]

Dimebag the xp-120 is compatible with all socket 939/940 processors. Also for SLI the nvidia drivers will clock both cards to whichever one runs the slowest supposably. I believe rivatuner works the same with pcie as it does with agp but I am not positive on that. We shall have to see in the future.

[Dimebag]

Ok, but that begs the question: how do you overclock both cards in SLI? Maybe I should start a new thread.

[shuiends]

Dimebag I think to overclock both cards you would just use one at a time. Then once u find there max in riva tuner you flash the bios to that speed. Make sure they are both the same speeds though just to be safe.

[Sentential]

Yeeeha lots o questions..... :D

Sentential,

.....By the way, GO JAGS!!! I am actually a huge Jacksonville fan, and was quite upset when the Broncos beat the Colts to beat them out of the playoffs. I have a Mark Brunell jersey :D :D :D
My father is the real fan of the house. He's been to lots of training camps etc and has more autographs than I can count. Since I was away at military school he had "free reign" on my room and decided it would be best as the "I love football room" lol.

Also, I have to praise you for that choking-the-cpu-until-it-learns-how-to-deal-with-it approach to overclocking. Although my 2500+ never really did get that high, I was able to lower the voltage to make it considerably cooler *thumbs up*.
Every CPU is different and will yeild different OCs. Its not a matter of skill but of the hardware itself. Also I appreacite the compliment. I gots to keep my bitches in line. If it doesnt give me my mhz it gets a beat-down

Now onto the video card. This does concern me, but not overly much. If it overclocks well, I'm already happy. Any unlocking pipes or anything is a bonus. But here's a question: 1) Is there a version of rivatuner out for pci express? Can you overclock BOTH video cards, and do they have to be running at the same frequencies to work?
For the regular 6800s on PCI-E? Little to no chance. If you have an NV41 perhaps, NV45 no. Alot of the new PCI-E cards are using the new NV45 core which has 12 native pipes and has zero chance of being flashed to 16.

As for the overclocking coolbits will OC them equally in SLI mode from what I understand.

P.S. - The Thermalright xp-120 says it is compatible with the Athlon 64 3200+ and up. I'm assuming the 3000+ is okay, but if not, let me know.
They say that because they havent updated their specs. In actuality an XP120 should and *WILL* cover any A64 made...period. This includes all dual-cores and 5000+ whatever.. No way in hell will AMd make a CPU that runs too hot for a Thermalright sink. The c/w rating of the XP series is almost half...literely


Dimebag the xp-120 is compatible with all socket 939/940 processors.
Not true. There are plenty of boards that do not support it. Just look at the spec sheet at TR.

[Mustanley]

Mustanley what brand card is it? Or is it just a generic dell card. Also does anyone else have info on pcie cards not being unlockable.

Generic Dell - nonbranded 6800.

[shuiends]

Sential I said the xp-120 will work with all socket 939/940 processors not motherboards. I know it dosent work with all motherboards.

I will have to look into the nv45 core b/c i wa splanning on going with the 6800NU simply for the possiblities of unlocking them. That might be reason enough to save up the extra money and go for a 6800Gt

[Dimebag]

I agree. The moment I can get my hands on a review of any of these strange better-than-NU, which, from my AGP understanding come with regular ddr memory, pci-e cards, I will report it.

Dime