6800GT vs 6600GT and or other varieties of 6600

[StoneRyno]

For this I looked at the BFG 6800GT OC and 6600GT OC. I currently have a 5700LE 256MB card and I bought it solely on the basis of the numerous benchmarks I had seen and also weighted by the price at the time. Once I got the card and overclocked it and benchmarked it to find that it scored higher on my xp 1800 system in my sig than several cards that beat out the 5700ultra on tomshardware I was very pleased with the buy. However I am thinking its nearing the time to upgrade for newer games and even some of the current games that I know won't run at best settings on this card. Just to give a quick run down Guild Wars will run at max setting, AA 4x, 12890x1024. Also I can run World of Warcraft at max settings.

6800GT OC
Core 370 MHz
Mem 1000 MHz GDDR3 256MB
555 million vertices/sec setup
32.0GB/second memory bandwidth
Min PSU 300 watts

6600GT OC
Core 525 MHz
Mem 1050 Mhz GDDR3 128MB
393 million vertices/sec setup
16.8GB/second memory bandwidth
Min PSU 350 watts

So anyways to my point what are the significances of the differences in these stats for the cards and also what are the differences I didn't list and their significances. I assume the mem BW difference is because of the 128 vs 256 MB and that is the BFG had/has a 256MB version of the 6600GT OC that its mem BW would be the same as the 6800GT OC. Basically I am trying to understand why one would be better over the other. From a pure benchmark stand point based on the tomshardware list the 2 chipsets don't seem to be all that different in results to me.

Please help me to understand the differences between the cards and what those differences mean to current and even maybe near future games.

 

[Matarael]

Get the 6800GT. It's better. Too tired to be bothered to think.

 

[Superjed]

Take a looks at the below links. I would definetly get the 6800 GT.

http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2196
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2299&p=4

 

[gvblake22]

If you can afford the 6800GT, get that as it is MUUCH better, especially if you are running more than 1024x768 resolution with full AA and AF!

I've owned both the 6600GT and 6800GT and the 6800GT, without a doubt, is a much better card. The 6800GT has twice the memory capacity, twice the memory bit bandwidth, and twice the number of pixel pipelines. It does however require more power via an external power connector, so if you have a wak/old PSU, you might have to make sure it is powerful enough to run this card as the 6800GT is quite the power hog.

But I do have to ask, how much are you going to spend on the BFG 6800GT? The reason I ask is that you can get an eVGA 7800GT (the one with faster clocks and VIVO) for only $279 shipped after $20 mail in rebate. The 7800GT is a worthwhile upgrade from a 6800GT and at that price, it probably won't cost too much more than the 6800GT you were gonna get.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130256

 

[VinnyTAMU]

StoneRyno, it looks like you are looking for an AGP card based on the system in your sig. If this is the case I would really consider the 6600GT. The 6800GT is a great card, but why spend all that money on an aging APG platform. The 6600GT will be a huge difference from your 5700LE even at 128mb. So here is what I recommend:

1.) 6600GT
2.) 6800
3.) 6800GT

 

[gvblake22]

StoneRyno, it looks like you are looking for an AGP card based on the system in your sig. If this is the case I would really consider the 6600GT. The 6800GT is a great card, but why spend all that money on an aging APG platform. The 6600GT will be a huge difference from your 5700LE even at 128mb. So here is what I recommend:

1.) 6600GT
2.) 6800
3.) 6800GT

That's actually a good suggestion about not spending a lot of money on AGP. You won't be sorry with a 6600GT. And then when you upgradenext , you'll most likely be forced to PCI-Express (and probably DDR2 also), so just prepare yourself for that.

 

[FlailBoy]

StoneRyno, it looks like you are looking for an AGP card based on the system in your sig. If this is the case I would really consider the 6600GT. The 6800GT is a great card, but why spend all that money on an aging APG platform. The 6600GT will be a huge difference from your 5700LE even at 128mb. So here is what I recommend:

1.) 6600GT
2.) 6800
3.) 6800GT

Agreed. I was in the same position w/ my ti4800 (now in my second rig). Still a great card but not DX9 supported.

For somewhat less than the BFG, take a look at the Leadtek A6600GT TDH at zipzoomfly http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=323626

I still have some case cooling tweaks to do so I haven't done any benching; but I really like mine, the price is right, ships with a coupla' games, and free 2nd day shipping.

The only thing I grabbed off the driver disc was DX9.0c. I'm using the forceware driver (78.01, I think) and coolbits for my OC.

 

[chevro1et]

Another option (if you are trying to strtch the life of your AGP system) is the soon to be released 6800GS AGP. I am planning on ordering this card the day it is released (soon, I hope) to extend the life of my current rig. Benches within 1-3 FPS with the 6800GT, lower price, and supposedly based on the NV40 core, so maybe a chance to unlock pipes/shader.
I guess it just depends on when you are planning the BIG jump.
Cheers.

 

[Kiriakos]

The 6800GT is the best option no matter what.

1) You gain all the 3D power that the latest games needs.
2) Your current system will not ask anything more for 3 years at least.
3) You will not have to give away your old computer parts for the lowest prices, and spent lots of money just replacing everything for one PCI-E based system.
4) You will save time, money, and peace of mind, by don’t having to rebuild the system from the ground zero point.
5) The PCI-E its only the 23% of the market share, even today, the AGP its not Dead, and there is nothing bad about it for years .

From another point of view , the PCI-E is still an experiment, as ATI makes other solutions , NVIDIA plays with it , but there no common ground in anything.


I will not pay for their experiments, and the bottom line, who cares about the 3DM 5 scores , any way ?!! , as long the 6800GT is a very well tested product and works well, I do not care for the price.

Oh, not to say the problems with the chipsets of the PCI-E, and patches that comes every week about them.

I do not say that we have to stay in the past, but, if the future does not have something really worthy, from the past, it’s just an experiment.

And I do not do, experiments with hard earned cash.

 

[gvblake22]

5) The PCI-E its only the 23% of the market share, even today, the AGP its not Dead, and there is nothing bad about it for years .

From another point of view , the PCI-E is still an experiment, as ATI makes other solutions , NVIDIA plays with it , but there no common ground in anything.


I will not pay for their experiments, and the bottom line, who cares about the 3DM 5 scores , any way ?!! , as long the 6800GT is a very well tested product and works well, I do not care for the price.

Oh, not to say the problems with the chipsets of the PCI-E, and patches that comes every week about them.

I do not say that we have to stay in the past, but, if the future does not have something really worthy, from the past, it’s just an experiment.

And I do not do, experiments with hard earned cash.

Why do you say PCI-Express is just an experiment?
If it is, then why are we not seeing AGP versions of nVidia's 7 series cards? Or what about ATI's X1xxx series cards?
PCI-Express is definately not an experiment, it is the future whether you like it or not. Just like DDR2.
I will agree, that AGP is not dead, but it is definately dying. There is absolutely no performance benefit by going from AGP to PCI-Express, it's all about being future proof for new motherboards, processors, video cards, and even add-on cards.

 

[VinnyTAMU]

Well aside form the AGP/PCI-E debate, one other reason you might want to consider the 6600GT over the 6800GT is that overclocked the 6800GT might be bottlenecked by your XP Athlon system. Where as the 6600GT with a good overclock should work nicely. That is just my thinking, and let me know if I am wrong.

 

[Kiriakos]

Well aside form the AGP/PCI-E debate, one other reason you might want to consider the 6600GT over the 6800GT is that overclocked the 6800GT might be bottlenecked by your XP Athlon system. Where as the 6600GT with a good overclock should work nicely. That is just my thinking, and let me know if I am wrong.

How about the I875 , does the 6800GT holds it horses with it ?

 

[VinnyTAMU]

How about the I875 , does the 6800GT holds it horses with it ?

I am guessing that you are talking about the mobo in your sig. If you tell me your 3DMark05 scores you can compare them with mine. I have the I865PE and as my sig shows I got the card to run pretty good Just over 6100 at its max overclock.

Also this was with my 630 @ 3.9 GHz

 

[Kiriakos]

I see .....

You do not speak about specs, just of plane numbers.
Well that’s not a performance indicator.

The 3DM 5k creates a mass of graphics , and was originally planed, that NON of the modern GPU’s will be able to render them .

Now what I got as scores with the 6800GT, was almost 5K at default, and 5.5K by ocing only the core . (425-1000) .

The rest of the system was at default , as I had a power saving issue with the card, and I was trying to troubleshoot it .

I am 35 years old Tech , computers builder and networks.

 

[starrwsn]

the 6800gt is a lot better. Go with that if you cant afford the next step up, 7800gt.

 

[KillrBuckeye]

Well aside form the AGP/PCI-E debate, one other reason you might want to consider the 6600GT over the 6800GT is that overclocked the 6800GT might be bottlenecked by your XP Athlon system. Where as the 6600GT with a good overclock should work nicely. That is just my thinking, and let me know if I am wrong.

This is an excellent point, and I can share some personal experience. Before I upgraded to socket 939, I was using my 6800GT 128MB in my socket A system (2100+ @ 172x13.5 = 2.32 GHz), and I was very disappointed with the performance in 3D games. Games like HL2 and Doom3 were running below 40 FPS regardless of resolution/detail settings, so the bottleneck was definitely CPU/memory bandwidth. When I put this same video card in my socket 939 system, my framerates improved dramatically to around ~70 FPS running 1280x960, medium/high detail settings.

So, I have to disagree with Kiriakos when he states that "Your current system will not ask anything more for 3 years at least [with a 6800GT]." It's just a matter of time before your 200 MHz FSB is just not enough to run the latest games with decent framerates. The memory bandwidth on socket A systems is just too limited, and all the power of the 6800GT would be wasted. Note that my 6800GT is a rare "hybrid" version that contains the 6800GT GPU and only 128 MB of GDDR1 video memory. Its performance is sandwiched between a 6600GT 128MB and a 6800GT 256MB. So the fact that this card was severely bottlenecked on my socket A should suggest to you that a 6800GT is just not worth it, unless you plan to get a socket 939 AGP solution in the future.

My suggestion: go with a 6600GT if you absolutely need a temporary boost in 3D gaming performance, although I'm warning you that you shouldn't expect too much. As I already stated, most of today's games will start to be limited by the outdated socket A architecture.

 

[StoneRyno]

So far I'm still not 100% sure which to get each posts has offered help so far in the decision process. Let me give a run down of my plans.

I don't intend on building a new system the uses PCIe for quite some time. Mainly because of 64bit cpus and such are relatively new and we are not quite there yet as this being the norm. MS just did a XP 64bit recently and we are still waiting on the windows vista or whatever will be their true 64bit OS that replaces xp/xp pro and win2k users. So I am thinking that it probably will be at least a year or 2 before I concider building a new system that will utilizes all these new technologies. So in the mean time I am able to play the sims 2 and guild wars at max settings at 1280x1024 (cept 8x AA on guild wars over kills and there is a noticable frame rate drop visually appearing slow/choppy a bit) on my current setup. If I ever buy any newer games in the time I am waiting to go 64bit and PCIe that I want to play I don't think the 5700LE will be able to handle them and is mainly why I am thinking of getting a new card.

I only used BFG as reference since my roomate has a 6800GT from BFG. I miss having built in temperature monitoring that I had on my older geforce card from leadtek. I was rather shocked when I got the leadtek 5700LE that it didn't have temp sensors. This was another reason why I refered to the BFG one because I know it has the temp sensors. But any ways.

Enough rambling there I also wanted to point out I am thinking of getting some better RAM and I will have a thread up for it in a bit after I post this.