Radeon X800 or GeForce 6800? Unbiased opinions please

[General Lee]

Its upgrade time & I can't decide which one to get. Does one card have any advantages over the other?

I checked out pricegrabber.com & I can get either one for about $250.

[kram 2.0]

Neither - you're not going to see a big enough difference to justify the cost. Out of the two though, either of them would work fine.

kram

[catacon]

If you look at the stats, the X800 seems better to me. I would go with that.

6800 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202

X800 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102561

The brands are different, but that shouldn't matter.

[kram 2.0]

If you look at the stats, the X800 seems better to me. I would go with that.

6800 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202

X800 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102561

The brands are different, but that shouldn't matter.
Keep in mind that the Radeon X800's PCI-Express version floats around the 200 USD category. The AGP version uses the Rialto Bridge and is priced around 250 USD. The flipside is that the Radeon X800 AGP has VIVO.

kram

[General Lee]

Neither - you're not going to see a big enough difference to justify the cost. Out of the two though, either of them would work fine.

kram

Do you mean neither card is worth getting or that neither one is better than the other?

Here are the two I am considering:
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=5323796
http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__MSI_Radeon_X800_Pro_RX800PRO_TD256E_Video_Card,__6717835

These are all PCI-express. Here is one with VIVO (what is that?).
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=5049953
kram, do you dislike PCI-express?

[Force Flow]

Nothing wrong with PCI-E. He's just pointing out that the PCI-E version is a bit more expensive.

[kram 2.0]

kram, do you dislike PCI-express?
It's not a dislike. Your current GPU is a Radeon 9800 Pro, which only comes in the AGP flavor. Naturally, I presumed it would be a better idea to go AGP since you mentioned this as a simple "upgrade". You will not be able to use PCI-Express in a AGP8X slot.

My first post was in regards to whether it really is worth upgrading - my answer is no. If you really feel the need to, either of the graphics cards would do - they are both good. Appologies for the confusion.

kram

[WarmMachineME]

Well, I'm not as well versed as I should be, or as much as some of the others around here certainly. But, I'll throw this out there anyway.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have heard it said that the Nvidia cards are somewhat more forward looking in that they support a newer version of shader technology. So, depending on how long you'd like to go before you upgrade again, you might want to go with a Geforce.

In the end though, I'm with kram on the fact that your 9800 Pro isn't ready for retirement. Unless you just have the extra money you'd like to spend or you're a perfectionist about your performance, I'd say wait for the 7000 series cards to hit the mass market and come down in price - or ATI's equivalent that I'm sure is soon to come if it isn't unvieled already.

[Jaggannath]

Haven't you already asked this in a different forum General Lee?? If you need it for BF2, which I think was what you were asking, then prolly go the X800.

[General Lee]

Haven't you already asked this in a different forum General Lee?? If you need it for BF2, which I think was what you were asking, then prolly go the X800.

No - the BF2 question in the gaming forum asks whether more RAM or a new video card would improve my BF2 experience more. This thread is asking which video card is better than the other & has nothing to do with RAM. OK?

I am leaning towards the X800 since I prefer ATI cards & its a bit less expensive than the 6800.

Kram, my mobo has an AGP slot & a PCIe slot so I just figured I'd go for PCIe since it is the new thing & its not too expensive...

[kram 2.0]

Kram, my mobo has an AGP slot & a PCIe slot so I just figured I'd go for PCIe since it is the new thing & its not too expensive...
If you are talking about the MSI Neo3 motherboard, your only choice is AGP. The board has a PCI slot (working at the 1x speed), but not a PCI-Express (16x speed) slot as part of the specs. In fact, I believe there are no nForce3 PCI-E motherboards out there - that's what made nForce4 so appealing.

kram

[General Lee]

If you are talking about the MSI Neo3 motherboard, your only choice is AGP. The board has a PCI slot (working at the 1x speed), but not a PCI-Express (16x speed) slot as part of the specs. In fact, I believe there are no nForce3 PCI-E motherboards out there - that's what made nForce4 so appealing.

kram

I am holding the users guide to my MSI K8N Neo3 motherboard which features the "NVIDIA nForce 4 chipset". Guess they realized the problem & made one eh? I definitely have an AGP & a PCIe slot...

[glc]

Easily the biggest feature of the MSI K8N Neo3-F is its support for 8xAGP videocards. The AGR slot, as MSI likes to call it, runs through the PCI Express bus although MSI does not state exactly how quickly data travels (I'd guess it's PCI express x2 - but don't quote me on that).

In any case it should be faster than competing PCIe/AGPe boards where the ersatz AGP slot (often called AGPexpress) runs through the standard PCI bus.

Unfortunately though, the videocard you wish to use must be pre-approved by MSI otherwise it will not function in the motherboard. PCstats test Asus X800 XT PE videocard would not run with the K8N Neo3-F motherboard but a MSI GeForce 4 Ti4800 worked just fine. The list is rather large, but requiring a pre-approved videocard ultimately defeats the purpose of the AGR slot.

-----------------------------------------

So, yes, you can use either. Due to the compatibility issues, I'd recommend a true PCI-Express video card.

You will need a proper ATX 2.0 power supply with a 24 pin connector to handle a PCI-E video card, especially a power-hungry one, factor that into your decision if you are running an older 20 pin unit. Dual +12v rail units are preferred. If you don't want to do this, go for a higher power AGP card, but make sure it's on the MSI approved list.

http://www.msi.com.tw/html/products/mainboard/testreport_pdf/7135/vga.pdf

[General Lee]

Easily the biggest feature of the MSI K8N Neo3-F is its support for 8xAGP videocards. The AGR slot, as MSI likes to call it, runs through the PCI Express bus although MSI does not state exactly how quickly data travels (I'd guess it's PCI express x2 - but don't quote me on that).

In any case it should be faster than competing PCIe/AGPe boards where the ersatz AGP slot (often called AGPexpress) runs through the standard PCI bus.

Unfortunately though, the videocard you wish to use must be pre-approved by MSI otherwise it will not function in the motherboard. PCstats test Asus X800 XT PE videocard would not run with the K8N Neo3-F motherboard but a MSI GeForce 4 Ti4800 worked just fine. The list is rather large, but requiring a pre-approved videocard ultimately defeats the purpose of the AGR slot.

-----------------------------------------

So, yes, you can use either. Due to the compatibility issues, I'd recommend a true PCI-Express video card.

You will need a proper ATX 2.0 power supply with a 24 pin connector to handle a PCI-E video card, especially a power-hungry one, factor that into your decision if you are running an older 20 pin unit. Dual +12v rail units are preferred. If you don't want to do this, go for a higher power AGP card, but make sure it's on the MSI approved list.

http://www.msi.com.tw/html/products/mainboard/testreport_pdf/7135/vga.pdf

OK, I'm a bit confused. Will this card work for me or not?
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321946
I see the X800 chipset listed on the test report but most of that stuff is greek to me... :confused:
Also, I have a 420W Thermaltake PSU - that should have plenty of juice to run an X800 right?

[Tin]

If you choose to use an AGP card for your board, check on MSIs website to make sure its compatable. Some video cards arent compatable with the AGR slot, so its best to make sure instead of taking a crapshoot.

[General Lee]

If you choose to use an AGP card for your board, check on MSIs website to make sure its compatable. Some video cards arent compatable with the AGR slot, so its best to make sure instead of taking a crapshoot.

I got the PCI-express one so am I OK?

Funny my 9800 Pro is not on the list of cards that works with my mobo but it seems to work fine. I didn't even know about a list of 'approved cards' for MSI mobos until last week. :eek:

I am going to install my new X800 tonight (just got it from zipzoomfly an hour ago) so I have my fingers crossed that it will work...

[Tin]

I got the PCI-express one so am I OK?
looking good from here :).

[maynoth]

Usually ATI is Faster and Cheaper (aka the Best Bang For Your Buck) , but Nvidia has better driver support and updates. I use ATI myself and would recommend their products over Nvidia due to price, but if you want a new driver to upgrade and tweak every other week I would go with Nvidia.

[RazorDX]

I've looked at the comparisons, and when it comes to 3DMark scores and FPS tests in games, they are virtually identical. Although, the ATI is cheaper. I'd say it's all preference. I personally will be getting an nVidia 6600GT soon... it's more than enough horsepower for me. I'm upgrading from a 9600 Pro... so yeah, you know I'm going to be happy enough with it.

[General Lee]

Just wanted to let you guys know that my new x800 seems to be working fine. Last night in BF2 I was getting 60-80 FPS & it would drop to around 40 or so with lots of action. This is a MASSIVE improvement from my earlier framerates.

The particular card I got has a nifty 'copper tube' heatspreader thingy over the GPU & the RAM which is pretty cool. It adds some heft to the card & inspires confidence in its ability to consume astounding numbers of polygons without breaking a sweat. ;)

[Jaggannath]

Nice, glad to hear you're happy with it General Lee... thanks for the feedback, too few people post to tell us how they went