6800 vs. 6600gt

[JNasci7906]

ok heres my newest dilemma. I want/need a new video card, I'm an nVidia buff so Im going with them, also Im strongly leaning towards the XFX brand b/c thats what i have now and its flawless. OK now heres the question....6800 with 128MB of DDR for $264 or the 6600GT with 128MB of DDR3 for 215.

question is, is the 6800 with standard ddr (non ddr3) still better than the 6600gt with ddr3? also i cant afford either of the 6800's gt or ultra version...400 is just too high lol thanks for yall help

nash

[kram 2.0]

The GeForce 6800 is made of a better core which gives it a very unnoticible but present performance over the GF6600GT. You probably can't tell the difference - it's up to the benchmark scores to discern any sort of performance differences. In case of your budget, you might consider the GeForce 6600GT.

kram

[fedz]

Yep - 6800 marginally better, 6600GT better value for money

:) fedz

[imbest123]

If you have the money, might as well go with the 6800. in todays games you wont notice a difference but in the future the 256-bit bus and 12 pipelines on the 6800 will really come in handy as opposed to a 128-bit bus and 8 pipelines. no matter which card you get, you get what you pay for, both are great cards :)

[gtrasi]

I thnk Geforce 6600GT is the best deal..and dont worry about performance..its surely wont beat 6800 in benchmarks but when it comes to game play, now and in the future, it will last for years.
Simply becuz todays hardware is way ahead of game developers.

Half Life 2 took 3/4 years to develop and its RUNS even on Geforce 4s!

[GraemeM]

go with the 6600GT. I believe the normal 6800 and 6800 Ultra(although a very good card) take 480+ watt power supply, two connections to it, and two PCI slots. The 6800GT is not like this however. I think the 6600GT is like the 6800GT (just not as good). I'd get the 6600GT

[JNasci7906]

yea the power supply would be a problem as i have a generic 350 watt....also im very budget conscious b/c of the thousands of dollars for freaking school grr...anyway ill prolly go with the 6600gt bc my 1 year anniversary wit my girl is coming up and im thinkin i can get her to split 200 bucks with me :) :) lol thanks guys


nash

*edit....whats the difference between ddr and ddr3?

[RedKangaroo]

DDR3 is just a newer faster RAM. In most cases though, you'd never notice the difference because the GPU isn't fast enough to be limited by the RAM. I have a 5700Ultra with DDR2 and it would still get smoked by a 6800 with older DDR1. I don't think either card will have problems staying well below the performance limit on DDR or DDR3.

[fedz]

GDDR3 is not faster, merely more energy efficient and runs cooler

:) fedz

[RedKangaroo]

Are you sure about that? I thought it was...

[cr4zy]

Gddr3 is better for overclocking because it does in fact run cooler but it has higher latency timings and therefore requires higher clock speeds. But, I would recommend getting the 6800 because that card is fairly good for overclocking and with the enhanced core will be better suited for future games. You can also unlock the full 16 pipelines which makes quite a good increase in fps. After all that your 6800 will begin looking more like a 6800GT but not quite.

[imbest123]

GDDR3 is not faster, merely more energy efficient and runs cooler

:) fedz
yep thats true :) its jsut that gddr3 can reach higher speeds. now that the power supply was mentioned i think the 6000 gt is sounding a bit more convining but if you want the most performance possible go with the 6800 (i think the psu requirement is only 350w).

[cr4zy]

I have heard of people with PSU's as 250 watts using the 6800 and they have not had trouble. Mine personally is 350 watts and I run my 6800 Oc'd to 380/800 perfectly. By the way, default is 325/700. (core/mem)

[fedz]

Welcome to PCMech!! I hope you enjoy your stay...

Gddr3 is better for overclocking because it does in fact run cooler but it has higher latency timings and therefore requires higher clock speeds.

Oooops I think you meant lower latency...
Anyway, there is GDDR3 which runs slower than DDR, so that's not necessarily true. 300MHz DDR is just as fast as 300MHz GDDR3 - there's absolutely no difference. Likewise, 320MHz DDR will perform better than 300MHz GDDR3.

You can also unlock the full 16 pipelines

False. This is only possible with 256MB 6800NU's (which are downclocked + crippled 6800GT's) and the success rate is very low. Unlocking pipes works with the 6800GTO though.
256MB 6800NU's are
a) very expensive
b) much less common than 128MB 6800NU's

6600GT also has the advantage of being SLi capable, and having a working purevideo processor.

:) fedz

[kram 2.0]

In any case, several manufactuerers, eVGA most particularily, were selling nVidia GeForce 6800 LE for 6800 NU prices - the LE versions are 12 rendering pixel pipelines at stock but four more can be unlocked. GeForce 6800 Ultra for GeForce 6800 prices. Big bargain, might you say - and the success rate is fairly high. That being said, there are always risks, such as voiding warranty and the software going corrupt.

kram

[fedz]

corrupt software eh?
sounds a little like microsoft's getting involved ;)

Again, this is only possible with the 256MB cards I think

:) fedz

[cr4zy]

I myself have not done anything with the piplelines on 6800(so maybe it is false that you cant do that) but i have read numerous post from people who bought regular 6800's and unlocked full 16 pipelines using rivasomething. So if I am mistaken sorry.

[cr4zy]

Oops, one more thing. The place where I read these posts is http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-202&depa=0