6800nus: leadtek vs. chaintech apogee

Hi guys, im new here. This forum looks like it rocks!!! anyways, im probably gonna either save up or get a 6800nu for christmas. The two cards that i really like are the leadtek, because of its beastly looking cooling and the chaintech turbo edition (358/770). I DO plan to oc so that turbo edition stock oc is really not that important to me. I also plan on trying out that 15.2 rivatuner softmod to try and unlock the 16 pipes/6 vertex shaders. Do anyone have any negative thoughts on these two cards? good thoughts? overall what would you choose and why? which one ocs better? etc. sorry for all the questions but i want to make the right decision. THANX SO MUCH GUYS, look forward to chatting with ya on the forums

EDIT: also, if i were to get the softmod to work and get a decent oc how would the card compare to an x800pro. Cause thats my other option from outpost.com for 329.99. seems like a good deal to me considering its sorta future proof with the 256 gddr3 instead of the nus 128 ddr1

they are out of stock at outpost.com for the 329.99 for the X800.

The X800 pro will definitely be a better card compare to the 6800NU. Techinically, you should be comparing the 6800GT to the X800pro. But if you really want the 6800NU, you may want to consider the EVGA 6800NU Limited Edition. From my understanding, that is an underclock 6800 Ultra. But take note, the 6800GT and the 6800U has 16 pipelines. I think that limited edition card has 4 broken pipelines, and therefore only have 12 working pipelines. It does come with DDR3 1.6ns mem, clock at 1100Mhz.

thank you for your reply, i realize all of what you have told me. i do research like every hour that im home from school.....lol i have no life. I was just wondering what kind of performance increases can be obtained with the rivatuner softmod and which card you would take out of the two listed. and like i said the gfx card would be for christmas which leaves outpost plenty of time to get the card in stock should i decide to go that route. but with all of these softmods going around and the wonderful performance of the 6800s for the price they are hard to pass up. o and btw, 6800s can be compared to x800s imo because of how low the 6800 price is vs. the x800. pros and cons can be brought up about both. x800 vs. 6800gt......6800gt would beat the crap outta it lol.

no opinions at all?!

first off, WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

imo, i don't think you can put the 6800nu in the same room with the x800pro, being a current owner of a 6800GT and a former owner of an x800pro, i could honestly say i wish i would've kept the x800pro, but money was tight at the time, i favor better IQ over a few FPS anyday. if you happened to be able to softmod the 6800nu to a GT/Ultra, you will still have the slower ram of the NU's, save the EVGA 6800 Limited Edition. a 16pipe 6800nu and a regular x800pro would be a toss up, i would still choose the pro even if it were more expensive, but if you were able to softmod or hardmod a x800pro to have 16pipes, you would have nothing short of an x800xt, which i would choose anyday over the 6800GT and Ultra

I wrote a short little blurb the other day on my Chaintech AA6800 with some quick benchmark results with it at stock, overclocked and then pipeline enabled and overclocked. Pretty amazing performance can be had if you get one that softmods and has the 2.2ns memory.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=337700

thanx a lot guys for the reply. Jhatfie are you pleased with your chaintech card? I know you have to be extremely happy that the softmod and stuff worked but i mean about the build quality, components used and the chaintech service and support (if you have needed it), also, what is their warranty. bobmanfoo, if i can, i will buy the x800pro TRUST ME. but you always know how money can be in quite short supply i know i would only be saving like 60 bucks going with the nu but it might be the difference of keeping this "lied to me" sapphire card....i read more about it in your ati cards list (stupid 128bit.....it SUCKS the performance down the drain!!!) and getting a very decent card like a 6800. Also, from the reviews ive read the x800pro doesnt do so hot against the 6800gt. What did you like about it? Also, i have heard rumors of the ati drivers not yet released that will fix a problem with the usage of the x800pros 256mb of graphics memory. If this is true, it could finally start posing a great threat against the gt. Tell me your thoughts on this and if you have heard anything of the like.

EDIT: One thing i LOVE about the x800 is how much smaller the power requirements are and simply how much more compact it is....compared to the gts HUGE heatsink. plus i think it runs a few degrees cooler

I am extremely pleased. My previous card was a Sapphire 9800 Pro (R360 core) that was modded to an XT and ran 450/370 daily and could be benched at 490/410 under water cooling. Both are really excellent cards, but I am very impressed with my chaintech so far. I think they have a 2 year warranty, that is not as good as some manufacturers, but better than others. The stock cooling solution is pulled strait off their GT with a copper heatsink. Plus it has speedy 2.2ns memory that should get you to at least near 900mhz. If you can afford it, I'd still say go with the X800 Pro, but if you can't I am sure you'll be pleased with a good 6800nu. Very pleased if it mod's successfully.

why i like the x800pro: IQ can't be touched, its runs about 10C cooler, 1080i output for HDTV gaming on ur widescreen, it can actually run HD videos with no problem, OCed like it like a crackhead in need of a fix, not many problems with games/drivers, no noticable difference in fps except for doom3, it came with a worthy hsf not like the sh!tty reference GT hsf, thats all i can think of at the moment

and you are right about ati drivers and the memory problem, but i think they fixed it with the catalyst 4.10s, haven't been keeping up with the ATI camp

once again thanks so much guys, it all comes down to cash now......and what the parents are willing to put forth for christmas. but i know that if i cant afford the x800 i will be VERY pleased with the nu. see? you guys are already making me feel welcome at these forums

I have a leadtech 6800nu , and yes the stock cooling imho is the best of all the 6800nu cards out. The card overclocks very well and I have looped 3D03 at 380/880 solid. I have unlocked the 16/6 however I get a weird anomaly in 3D03 with the elephants, flashing pink color but thats it all other tests run fine but that is an arifact of some sort. Whether this is heat related or something to do with the unlock I am not 100% sure as I have to bench it at default speeds in 12/6 and 16/5 and 16/6 setting.

I have not had time to game heavily with it, the cards performance is very worthy for pirce, as you can come across various brands of 6800nu cards at $240 US shipped used off forums


The Limited Edition EVGA mentioned above is a wolf in sheeps clothing, they all come with 16 pipes and are basically Ultras that did not make the cut so the core has been set at 325 and mem at 1100. However success after a bios flash has enabled most owners to get in the 400-450 core range and mem to 1200 range. At $339 it is a deal but supposedly EVGA has quit producing them from what has been posted in forums and zipzoomfly has stock which I am sure will be all gone quick like newegg. I grabbed one and will pass on my Leadtek 6800nu to a friend. If you can get lucky the LE EVGA card w 256 DDR3 is a smoking deal, with luck and a bios flash you could basically have an Ultra card with a slower core.

Take a look at this review the 6800nu does very well when overclocked I think quite good. I guess price is factor, I think the Leadtek is solid choice as well as the chainteck card
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/gffx/nv40-3-p4.html

Good luck with your choice
Cisco Kid

one last question: if i "just" got an nu, how long would it last me......i dont want to be upgrading in a year......

blitzkrieg1110 said:

one last question: if i "just" got an nu, how long would it last me......i dont want to be upgrading in a year......

Click to expand...

Well, depends on how hard you want to push your game. Technically speaking, the 9800pro can last you 2 years from now too.

if you are playing at a decent resolution..... somewhere mid - mid high range, it will definitely last you for over a year.

i would be aiming for 1024x768 with some aa/af im not looking at too high......

blitzkrieg1110 said:

i would be aiming for 1024x768 with some aa/af im not looking at too high......

Click to expand...

easily more than a year I would expect at 1280x1024 more tha a year as well

ck