Cant decide on which 6800gt to get

RiversCuomo · June 2005

I have been debating with myself on which 6800gt to get for about the past 3 weeks. It has come down to 2, the eVGA 6800gt VS the Leadtek 6800gt

Thanks for any suggestions

TheSmJ · June 2005

I'd get the eVGA, cause I've delt with getting my card replaced my them before, and it was a painless procedure. I don't know much about Leadtek, but I've always heard great things about eVGA, which is why I went with them.

madmat · June 2005

Have you considered BFG? They offer the superior warranty (dunno about Leadtek but eVGA offers just a single year) with a full lifetime warranty on their cards.

They might cost more, I know, but in the end as I always say, the warranty makes it worth it.

Madball · June 2005

I've had two 6800gt's. One was a Leadtek and the other a XFX. Both cards died after about two months. I don't know the exact cause of the deaths, but it seemed like heat related to me. After the second one I bought a ATI X800XL. It gives me very similar performance and runs much cooler than the 6800gt's. I recomend looking at an ATI card.

Mt_Goat · June 2005

Madball wrote:

I've had two 6800gt's. One was a Leadtek and the other a XFX. Both cards died after about two months. I don't know the exact cause of the deaths, but it seemed like heat related to me. After the second one I bought a ATI X800XL. It gives me very similar performance and runs much cooler than the 6800gt's. I recomend looking at an ATI card.

I agree witht he X800XL choice. I have been trying to hold back but decided to jump in after the above post. Not only do they run cooler (lots cooler) but they don't put near as much drain on your PSU as well. More juice available means better stability overall.

madmat · June 2005

Yeah, maybe a couple of months from now someone will hack the X800's so they can do SLI too...

GrayFox · June 2005

Ati has ali its called cross fire its not out yet but amd zone has a preview of it and they have had it up there since yesterday.http://www.amdzone.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=137&page=1

Mt_Goat · June 2005

Yes Matt,

So no hacking will be required and an X800XL will make an excellent slave cared in the future. But in the mean time it is nice to not need a power connector on a high end vid card that also isn't capable of cooking eggs.;) Just imagine a dual core Prescott w/ 2 6800GT's in SLI = "How would you like those eggs sir? Scrambled or over easy?"

madmat · June 2005

Oh you're so funny I simply forgot to laugh, and rivers, I hope you plan on trashing that NV based mobo in a couple of months because in order to run Crossfire you're not going to do it on the mobo you're buying...Shall we say, good money after bad?

Xyphus · June 2005

I just ordered the Leadtek 6800GT myself. After reading several reviews and checking into the card. It seems that the Leadtek card uses the same cooling solution as the Ultra. Every review I read said that it was a breeze to clock the GT to the Ultra speeds and the card didn't break a sweat. No extra voltage or cooling required. I think even nVnews gave it a positive review... So, after all the positive feedback I went ahead and pulled out the 'ol credit card... I should have mine by this Friday... (it will be taking the place of my ATI 9800 Pro (which was flashed to be an XT). The ATI card will then move into my spare PC, and my wife will then inherit the GeForce4TI4600 that currenly resides there...

(her old GeForce2GTS will probably be donated to my brother.. he's still using a first gen TnT card...)

**EDIT** I just noticed that you're getting the PCI-E version.. I went with AGP to stay compatible with the hardware I currently have... I won't be able to jump to the 64Bit platform for a while yet.. Most likely not until early next year... So, YMMV, but I would think the reviews would hold true no matter which interface was used...

GrayFox · June 2005

mtgoat wrote:

Yes Matt,

So no hacking will be required and an X800XL will make an excellent slave cared in the future. But in the mean time it is nice to not need a power connector on a high end vid card that also isn't capable of cooking eggs.;) Just imagine a dual core Prescott w/ 2 6800GT's in SLI = "How would you like those eggs sir? Scrambled or over easy?"

Thats more then eggs thats a steak :P

RiversCuomo · June 2005

madmat wrote:

Oh you're so funny I simply forgot to laugh, and rivers, I hope you plan on trashing that NV based mobo in a couple of months because in order to run Crossfire you're not going to do it on the mobo you're buying...Shall we say, good money after bad?

That doesn't sound too bad, I was looking for any excuse to get a different mobo instead. Which motherboard would you suggest then? (939)

Medlock · June 2005

Xyphus wrote:

So, YMMV, but I would think the reviews would hold true no matter which interface was used...

What's YMMV mean?

I'm looking to buy a 6800GT soon as well.
I like the XFX and eVGA because of the single-slot cooling solutions. That leadtek has a monster cooler on it though. looks like it would easily be able to overclock past Ultra speeds. But then again a nv5 silencer could do that better I guess.
/me shrugs

Mt_Goat · June 2005

madmat wrote:

Oh you're so funny I simply forgot to laugh, and rivers, I hope you plan on trashing that NV based mobo in a couple of months because in order to run Crossfire you're not going to do it on the mobo you're buying...Shall we say, good money after bad?

Oh common Matt. Did I get yer goat?

Ooops, another pun.

Sorry, but I couldn't pass up the open shot.

Mt_Goat · June 2005

RiversCuomo wrote:

That doesn't sound too bad, I was looking for any excuse to get a different mobo instead. Which motherboard would you suggest then? (939)

Rivers,

I'm sorry but I lost track of which way you were going before I jumped in here. What boaed were you looking at last?

And how much do you want to spend? How long would you want to keep it?

madmat · June 2005

I could tell you where to put the goat, X800 and all, but I won't. Now as to what mobo you should get, they simply don't exist...yet. Looks like you'll have a bit more waiting to do.

The 200 chipset is the chipset that supports Crossfire but as of yet I've seen exactly one mobo based on it (by Saphire I think) and it was a single pci-e slot based board that's as of yet still vaporware...it was supposed to launch sometime this month but seeings as it was announced like 6 months ago and now ATI drops this bombshell with the new multi GPU stuff they might ditch the single slot version for a dual slot version.

The board I'm refering to though will likely cost an arm and a leg as it's bundled with a custom Danger Den waterblock set for the NB and the power mosfets...makes me wonder if ATI saved their heat issues for the chipset.

RiversCuomo · June 2005

mtgoat wrote:

Rivers,

I'm sorry but I lost track of which way you were going before I jumped in here. What boaed were you looking at last? And how much do you want to spend? How long would you want to keep it?

I was planning on getting the DFI Lanparty Ultra-d. Budget is not too big of an issue right now, the money just keeps rolling in

Only thing i have to pay for is car insurance, the rest of my paycheck goes towards the computer im planning to build....which i cant wait any longer! I would like to keep the motherboard for a good time. At least a year, but if not thats alright. I've got all the money I need now and would really like to make a purchase very very soon...

Medlock · June 2005

RiversCuomo wrote:

I was planning on getting the DFI Lanparty Ultra-d. Budget is not too big of an issue right now, the money just keeps rolling in Only thing i have to pay for is car insurance, the rest of my paycheck goes towards the computer im planning to build....which i cant wait any longer! I would like to keep the motherboard for a good time. At least a year, but if not thats alright. I've got all the money I need now and would really like to make a purchase very very soon...

Well, since you're rich you might shoot for this SLi board. It's identical to the Ultra-D but it supports SLi (and comes with the adaptor). You might also want to wait for the dual-core athlons to come out.

Xyphus · June 2005

TheGr81 wrote:

What's YMMV mean?

I'm looking to buy a 6800GT soon as well.
I like the XFX and eVGA because of the single-slot cooling solutions. That leadtek has a monster cooler on it though. looks like it would easily be able to overclock past Ultra speeds. But then again a nv5 silencer could do that better I guess.
/me shrugs

YMMV = Your Milage May Vary (you may get more or less than the same as another)

As for the cooler on the Leadtek card, it more or less makes the card a 2-slot solution, just like the Ultra. (Which is no biggie for me since I have an ATI 9800 Pro/XT with the VGA Silencer 3 on it.. Which makes it a 2-slot solution as well...)

I've been thinking of the Silencer 5, but I think I'll try the card with the monster HSF that comes with it first.. See how it goes before I decide to replace the cooling...

Mt_Goat · June 2005

RiversCuomo wrote:

I was planning on getting the DFI Lanparty Ultra-d. Budget is not too big of an issue right now, the money just keeps rolling in Only thing i have to pay for is car insurance, the rest of my paycheck goes towards the computer im planning to build....which i cant wait any longer! I would like to keep the motherboard for a good time. At least a year, but if not thats alright. I've got all the money I need now and would really like to make a purchase very very soon...

Thanks for reminding me.;) Too much going on here. I would suggest to stay on track with the same board and that way you will get you most of what you want as far as hardware and if and when you decide on a new board the transition will be easier.

I knew ATI had something up their sleeve when I got my system and decided then that I would hold off on the multi GPU idea till all the cards were turned. Then it will be a case of the best by virtue will win as I really have no product allegiance either way. I just go with what works best in my price range when I buy. Get a good CPU, memory, PSU and the basic esentials that will stay with you now and you will have a much easier time later to transition.

RiversCuomo · June 2005

Im starting to look into the ATI x800xl. How is the manufactured cooling on it?

GrayFox · June 2005

Bad very little headroom for overclocking with stock on the xl (they wanted to keep people from hitting x800xt speeds)

RiversCuomo · June 2005

So i should put a nv silencer on it? The x800xl's arent a whole lot less powerful than the 6800gt's are they?

Madball · June 2005

I don't really notice much difference between my old 6800gt's and my x800xl. I have the x800xl running at a modest overclock of about 20mhz memory and core with no problems. I haven't tried to find its limit. The x800xl is much more stable than the 6800gt.

Mt_Goat · June 2005

RiversCuomo wrote:

So i should put a nv silencer on it? The x800xl's arent a whole lot less powerful than the 6800gt's are they?

They are basicly in a tie and flip flop as to which is better by app. If you put a Zallman on one you could most likely get some good clocks out of it. I personally quit overclocking GPU's after realizing you don't get that much more real life performance but it is still nice to place w/ the benchies from time to time. With the cost of these things anymore I just don't risk it for day to day.

RiversCuomo · June 2005

I wasnt really worried about overclocking it. Someone just said that it gets really hot and that the stock cooling wasnt all that good. I would just put that(nv 5) on there for better cooling. I agree on the whole overclocking the GPU's, it just doesnt seem worth it.

GrayFox · June 2005

It is for me

unlocking all my pipes and overclocking my x800pro has made a noticeable diffrence in hl2 and css.

Mt_Goat · June 2005

GrayFox wrote:

It is for me
unlocking all my pipes and overclocking my x800pro has made a noticeable diffrence in hl2 and css.

Well that's a different story w/ unlocking the other 4 pipes. But that's what ya get for having broken pipes in the first place.

Rivers,
I wouldn't even worry about it. It doesn't really run that hot at all. I had the ATI tray tool on it in the begininng and was getting 42C @ stock speed. That's lees than most peoples CPU's @ idle.

Madball · June 2005

My x800xl is running at 45C idle, and high 50's during a game. My 6800gt's ran about 55+C idle, over 70C during a game.

RiversCuomo · June 2005

Ok, good info. Thanks for all the help!

RiversCuomo · June 2005

Im beginning to look at the 6800gt's again. The eVGA 6800gt is currently on sale at newegg, making it about 50 bucks more than the x800xl.

Cant decide on which 6800gt to get

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