256mb video card-which is better???

[Prophet2k]

Well, there both blisteringly fast cards.

You wont be dissapointed with either choice. Anyway, as ure mainly focusing on 3d work probably find the 6800 would be the faster of the couple? The ATi's seem to be a bit dodgy in open gl work on some systems and are a bit slower anyway, always have been, probably always will be :( For games, the x800 is probably the faster of 2, and by quite a margin in some games.

You also gotta check price and availability. Chances of getting an x800 in pci-e before xmas are... slim to none? And the 6800 is probably easy to get ahold of rite now. nvidia seem to have made up for the lack of cards whilst ati are still taking ALOT of backorders. And as for price, the 6800gt is surely a fair amount cheaper than the x800xt? The x800's seem to be coming in around 350£ from online stores, and the 6800 GTs around 270£

Proph.

[brudney]

in 3d apps both cards will have very similiar results... i guess it's a matter of personal preference now...
just keep in mind that there've always been some issues with maya/xsi + ati cards. i don't know what about the new cards though. i heard that they actually improved the drivers quite a bit, but i'm not sure if it's true. working in 3dsmax with ati cards is just fine as far as i know.
i'd go for gf6800gt but that's because i prefer nvidia.

[DanSilverman]

I would go with Nvidia, but that is just my personal preference. In any case, I would skip the GT cards and go for the Ultra cards. The have a faster GPU (without being overclocked) and a bit of a bigger pipeline overall.

[Knotter8]

If DX9.0 gaming would be you top priority : Ati Radeon X800XT PE

For sure shot OpenGL performance & stability : Nvidia Geforce 6800GT
But I see by your listing of the Ati card that you have a PCI-E mobo, right ?

PCI-E 6800GT's might be a bit rare to find...dunno for sure :shrug:

I'd suggest to get a good brand GT. They OC very well to 400/1100.
When just working in 3D apps I suggest to clock back to default though.

The money you save getting the GT instead of getting an Ultra is better
spent on extra RAM. In your studying years there's no need to blow money
on a Quadro nor the most expensive Geforce imho.

[Joril]

I've had better experiences with Nvidia than I have had with ATI.
Oh, and I confirm the OpenGL statement :)

[faridz7]

ok, so that's 4 ppl gunning for nvidia rather than ati then. Ill mostly be using 3dsmax and a lil bit of maya in the future. must be good at other programs too, no? thanks alot for the suggestions so far guys http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/smile.gif. thanks alot knotter bout the ram bit. I was looking to build a desktop me self come xmas (new sem starts jan), but then Dell had a pretty good xmas deal on one of their desktops and the difference in prices are just a £100. the desktop that i wanted to build didnt include speakers, a soundcard (creative etc) and it came up to bout £1100 with a 15 inch flat panel monitor, but with the dell its about £1200-ish with 5.1 speakers and a creative soundcard and a 17 inch flat panel, so i figured the dell would be a better deal and they only provide those two 256 video cards. I know branded pcs have all those pre-loaded stuff loaded into them, but i could always reinstall windows to have a brand new clean system.

[Prophet2k]

BTW i just noticed ure gunning for a GTO card, which if im correct is nothing more than a suped up 6800nu (non-ultra) as in its only 12pipes but with 256bit mem interface. If this is the fact, the ati will completely pwn the 6800. However the price diff would be, well, the 6800 GTO i was looking at is over 100quid cheaper than the x800xt.

Anyhow, before u buy the GTO version make sure u know what ure getting and its the one u want cos GTO and GT are different... ALOT different.

Proph.

[dotTom]

I used to be a die hard nVidia fan boy but recently got an Asus 256MB X800 XT PCI Express card for my workstation. The thing has dual DVI and goes like sh*t off a shovel. It also has to be said that I've had no driver hassles (being ATI expressed I was kind of expecting 'em). It runs Maya 6 and Half Life 2 just fine.

[Knotter8]

The 6800 GTO is indeed a bit of a bastard card, a non ultra with 256bits mem interface.
It was made for the OEM suppliers.
My personal suggestion is to NOT get an OEM pc. Build one yourself (or have it built by someone who knows how to) according to your exact instructions and save yourself alotta money doing so.

If you DO get an OEM pc though...I'd choose the X800XT over the GTO. Maybe do some searches on how to softmod that X800XT to a FireGL (Ati's workstation card).

[faridz7]

clearly still confused as to which one to get. went to the nvidia website and the GTO seems perfect for the job etc. Same goes to the ati one, but the difference is in the price..wooh, choices. http://cgtalk.com/images/smilies/shrug.gif
knotter, i was looking forward to building myself one but i figured Dell was offering a rather sweet deal (refer to post above if lost) . a question though:

The 6800 GTO is indeed a bit of a bastard card, a non ultra with 256bits mem interface.
It was made for the OEM suppliers.
does this mean if i choose to get the Dell system with the GTO, then it's not a good choice since its been made for the OEM supplier?

[Knotter8]

^ Sure, the GTO is probably a good card. But it's a bit of a marketing trick imo. Lotsa ppl 'think' they're getting a pc with a videocard like a real retail GT ; that is clearly NOT the case ; it's the non ultra core on the 256bits mem interface. A real GT costs more than a non ultra for a reason even if that non ultra provides mem bandwidth like the GT's.

So imho it's a bit sour they try to make average Joe believe he's getting near identical GT performance (which is not the case) on basically a souped up non ultra at a pricepoint probably in the middle between a non ultra and GT.

My advise would be either the X800XT or a real GT, no in-between solution like the GTO. My videocard motto : either do something right or don't do it at all.

Good luck choosing :thumbsup:

[Prophet2k]

My videocard motto : either do something right or don't do it at all.

Good luck choosing :thumbsup:

Fully in agreement here mate. The GTO card looks just as knotter says. Itll be a good card, but its more a marketing ploy than a technological break thru such as the 'GT'/'Ultra' or 'XT' cards are. The x800xt is one of the best cards on the market to date. Where you see ultra high performace at ubah res and details aa/af you might not get even half the performance from the GTO.

And for building a PC. Its an experience, its fun, and everything goes in only one hole and only one way round so its kinda straightforward. There plenty of help available if ure a tad worried but its like all things techy, gotta try it once ;D And the savings ull make, can u say 1000 on a custom pc = 1500 - 1700 for a similar spec dell pc..

Proph.

[lots]

Why is the choice between a X800XT and a 6800 GTO?

Seems kind of uneven in performances here. The GTO, from what I gather, is a slightly faster 6800NU (Non-Ultra) Which places it between the Geforce 6800 and the Geforce 6800GT. However the 6800GT is much better due to the 16 pipes. The 6800GTO only has 12.

So if you want to know which is faster. The X800XT is faster than the 6800GTO, but its because they are not of equal class.

In any case, I think you should be considering cards of equal standings. The X800XT or the 6800GT. They go for about the same and are hitting about the same performance mark.

[faridz7]

yups, building a pc won't be a problem for me. the price factor is another major issue i guess. the dell system looks like a sweet deal seeing the fact that it gives me a 5.1 speakers, a good creative soundcard and a 17inch flat panel monitor and if i do choose the nvidia card, itll come up to £1212 and if i do build a pc, with a 15 inch flat panel, no speakers and no soundcard (relying on the motherboard one) it'll come up to around £1100-ish..so i hope you guys can see where i'm going with this.

then again, im not saying that i'm not gonna take you guys' advices into consideration. loads of ppl have been saying building one is much better and all, which i agree too. Anyways, i guess at the end of the day i've to weight my options and look through everything again.

for the current moment the status is lol, just making sure:
a) if getting the nvidia one, get the GT not the GTO
b) the ATI one is more powerful..

[dotTom]

Why is the choice between a X800XT and a 6800 GTO?

Seems kind of uneven in performances here. The GTO, from what I gather, is a slightly faster 6800NU (Non-Ultra) Which places it between the Geforce 6800 and the Geforce 6800GT. However the 6800GT is much better due to the 16 pipes. The 6800GTO only has 12.

So if you want to know which is faster. The X800XT is faster than the 6800GTO, but its because they are not of equal class.

In any case, I think you should be considering cards of equal standings. The X800XT or the 6800GT. They go for about the same and are hitting about the same performance mark.
The X800 XT rocks, another killer feature in its favour is that (and I can only speak for the PCI Express version), it's a single slot solution and doesn't have a leaf blower attached. It's also very quite. I honestly can barely tell when the fan kicks in.

[Knotter8]

Heh ! I found the exact 6800GTO specs :

http://www.beyond3d.com/misc/chipcomp/?view=boarddetails&id=172

So, yes it is a souped up 6800 non-ultra ; 12 pixel pipelines & 5 vertex pipelines and clocked at
350 mhz for the core and 900 for the memory.

A real GT has 16 pixelpipelines & 6 vertex pipelines and it's factory clocked at 350 mhz for the
core ( BFG clocks at 375 out-of-the-box and Gainward's golden sample GT is @ 400 )

Remember, vertex pipelines means raw geometry pushing power. This is imo an essential difference between a GTO and a GT. The pixel pipeline difference matters more to hardcore
gamers than 3D modelers/animators.
Most GT's easily clock to 400 for the core very stable. Card's like my Gainward GT even clock 400 within warranty. A GT's default memory clock is 1000 but DDR3 does 1100 with zero problems.

Imho that GTO spec sheet proves that the Dell deal is a whole lot less sweat than Dell wants customers to believe.

A soundcard and 5.1 speakers can always be bought later, seperately.

[lots]

The X800 XT and the 6800GT should give you about the same performance (each will have strengths in some apps and weaknesses in others) But the differences should be fairly negligable in most cases. Doom3 and HL2 are the exception (Nvidia = doom3 ATi = HL2) But from all else i've seen they come out about even in everything else.

[faridz7]

A soundcard and 5.1 speakers can always be bought later, seperately
will take you up on that knotter..

now, slightly gearing towards the nvidia GT and building myself a system

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.