GeForce 6800 Non-Ultra

[Flip-Mode]

I see that the 6800 NU is selling for 280$ and its suggested price by Nvidia is 299, thats only 50-60 more then the 9800Pro but how does the card perform?
Is it better? Worse?
It does have 12 pipe-lines and is using 256-bit for the memory while the X800 NP is only 128-bit...
Any ideas? I haven't found a single review on this card and no compersions.

 

[Viper2004]

The 6800nu will own any 9800pro or 9800xt or 5950. Its just a hell of alot better.

 

[L>MS]

I just got my 6800 installed a few hours ago... and all I can really say is that I am damn impressed. I can run Far Cry at 1280x1024 in pretty much max settings (everything top besides anti-aliasing and anisotropic).

 

[3line]

The 6800nu will own any 9800pro or 9800xt or 5950. Its just a hell of alot better.

Actually, no. The 6800nu ows so long as FSAA/Aniso are turned off. Once those enter in the equation, the 6800 drops down to marginal superiority over the 9800pro/xt. In some benchmarks, I've seen the 6800 slower! (1600x1200 w/4xFSAA/8xAniso)

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_6800_performance_and_overclocking/default.asp

There's another one comparing it to the radeon 9800 series, but I can't find it at the moment. I'm 100% sure that the 9800xt beat this card out in a couple of benches.

Bottom line: if you have a 5950 or a 9800, it's probably not worth it to upgrade to a 6800nu.

Ok, found it: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/gffx/nv40-3-p2.html

 

[Albuquerque]

Also, there currently is no x800np and no announced plans to make one. All three of the announced X800 series cards all come with a 256bit memory bus.

 

[Jarlaxe]

Consider this

Actually, no. The 6800nu ows so long as FSAA/Aniso are turned off. Once those enter in the equation, the 6800 drops down to marginal superiority over the 9800pro/xt. In some benchmarks, I've seen the 6800 slower! (1600x1200 w/4xFSAA/8xAniso)

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_6800_performance_and_overclocking/default.asp

There's another one comparing it to the radeon 9800 series, but I can't find it at the moment. I'm 100% sure that the 9800xt beat this card out in a couple of benches.

Bottom line: if you have a 5950 or a 9800, it's probably not worth it to upgrade to a 6800nu.

Ok, found it: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/gffx/nv40-3-p2.html

Well, it still shows that the 6800 beats the 9800xt in every benchmark besides maybe 1 where the XT beats it by 2 frames. Also the 6800 is only $300 now, while the 9800XT is still over $400. Why would anyone want to buy a more expensive card for less performance? You also have to not that the 6800 line is very recent and does not have any good optimized drivers officially released for it. Once those drivers get in + DirectX 9.0c with SM 3.0 you will further see the *** kicking the 6800(nu) delivers to the 9800XT and 9800 PRO. I heard a rumor that there was a bios hack for 6800(nu) that opened up all 16 pipes?? Is this true anyone have the info?

 

[3line]

Well, it still shows that the 6800 beats the 9800xt in every benchmark besides maybe 1 where the XT beats it by 2 frames. Also the 6800 is only $300 now, while the 9800XT is still over $400. Why would anyone want to buy a more expensive card for less performance? You also have to not that the 6800 line is very recent and does not have any good optimized drivers officially released for it. Once those drivers get in + DirectX 9.0c with SM 3.0 you will further see the *** kicking the 6800(nu) delivers to the 9800XT and 9800 PRO. I heard a rumor that there was a bios hack for 6800(nu) that opened up all 16 pipes?? Is this true anyone have the info?

You can buy a 9800pro for under 200 bucks, and for a simple firmware mod, you have an XT. Woopee. Personally, I'd prefer to pay 200 bucks for a good performing card vs. a card that performs marginally better (when FSAA/AF are pushed to quality levels) but costs 50% more.

But of course, I'm a cheap *******.

 

[Nandro]

This is a quote from the conclusion of the digit-life

"Besides, ATI has no new card within USD 300, while RADEON 9800 XT is much more expensive even now. There are some RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB that are sold at about USD 280-290, but the appearance of 6800 in bulk sale will be the death of them too.

Thus, the low-end 6800 line looks perfect today, while the high-end one is approximately equal to its rival. Much will depend on the prices. "

So obviously after all those tests that the 9800XT wins on maybe a few the overall consensus is that the 6800NU is going to eventually kill it off. There is no reason to buy the 9800XT.

 

[3line]

So obviously after all those tests that the 9800XT wins on maybe a few the overall consensus is that the 6800NU is going to eventually kill it off. There is no reason to buy the 9800XT.

Of course not (I was the one who started the "why are the 9800xts so damn expensive" thread, after all), but as I have written, what about the 200 buck Pro modded to XT?

You basically get a marginally inferior card for 1/3 less price. That's nothing to scoff at.

 

[Jarlaxe]

Not really

Its not exactly marginally better IMO. In some benches the 6800nu beat the 9800Xt by 33%. Whatever though, point being that for 300 you get a card that performs a lot (or if you want to say"Marginally") better than a card tht is over 400. Also by modding the 9800Pro you still run the risk of instabilities, heat problems. Where as spend a little more and ensure that you get a good card that has 12 pipes compared to 8 and which can possibly be modded into a 16pipe. Not to mention that you can still overclock the 6800nu too.

 

[3line]

All these figures are 1024x768 w/4xFSAA/8xAF

6800 increase over the 9800XT:

Serious Sam: +41.5%
RtCW: +29.4%
Code Creatures: +20.4%
UT2003: -5.3%
Unreal II: +6.3%
Tomb Raider: AoD: +6.1%
Far Cry: +17.4%
Call of Duty: +41.6%
Half Life 2: -2.3%
Painkiller: +19.0%

Only on Serious Sam, RtCW, and CoD are the performance figures truly remarkable. Unfortunately, the frame rates tested for those games are easily past the 100 and even 200 marks. For everything else, the performance increase is decent or (yes, I'll say it) marginal. In some cases, it's even less.

I'm not saying that the 9800 is whupping the 6800 in performance or anything. It's just not getting "owned" left and right, and in my opinion the 9800pro modded to XT is still a viable option for a price-conscious buyer.

 

[deception``]

A 9800 Pro modded simply is not a fair comparison, at least if it's the 128MB 9800 pro which MOST (but not all) do in fact own. The 9800XT will always pull ahead of the 9800 Pro because that extra 128MB of ram helps it keep framerates up when you increase the IQ such as AA/AF.

Also I think that I should add that the 6xxx series is more "future proof" than the 9800 series. Sure, the differences on CURRENT games may not be as significant as one would like, but this very well could all change in the near future. And don't forget PS 3.0 as a viable factor, either.

 

[3line]

A 9800 Pro modded simply is not a fair comparison, at least if it's the 128MB 9800 pro which MOST (but not all) do in fact own. The 9800XT will always pull ahead of the 9800 Pro because that extra 128MB of ram helps it keep framerates up when you increase the IQ such as AA/AF.

Also I think that I should add that the 6xxx series is more "future proof" than the 9800 series. Sure, the differences on CURRENT games may not be as significant as one would like, but this very well could all change in the near future. And don't forget PS 3.0 as a viable factor, either.

1. As to your first point, that extra memory doesn't have too much of a difference except at extreme resolutions like 1600x1200. For up to 1280 128 is sufficient memory.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-13.html#unreal_tournament_2003

As you can clearly see, the 256mb version gets 77.4 fps opposed to 75.8 of the 128mb version @ 1024x768 w/4xFSAA/8xAF

2. I think someone's said it here before. By the time games become all DX10 and PS3.0, the 6800 will be rather slow for those games. The first generation tech is always outclassed when the new features get "serious."


I'll reiterate. I don't think that the 6800np is a bad card. The performance gains are real;I just don't think they warrant the extra hundred bucks or a 50% increase in cost. Just looking at the games I would play, 100 bucks would not be worth it to get +20% fps in Far Cry and basically no improvement in Ut2k3 & HL2.

 

[L>MS]

With my 6800nu OC'ed to 365/795 I get a 9600 in 3dmark03 build340. I have an EVGA/

 

[Flip-Mode]

Thanks for the help guys, I think I'll pay the extra 50$ and get the 6800NU.