Maximum PC

Hey. Im thinkin about gettin me a new video card!! Im thinkin around the lines of maybe a Ati X800 XT or Geforce 6800 Utra GT. What do you all think would be a better card?


My system now:
Intel P4 3.2 w/HT
Intel D865PERC
1GB, 2x PC3200

either one would be good.

I agree w/keymaker. it mainly depends. monst people right now like to base their decisions on the video games (i.e Doom 3 and Half Life 2). Benchmarks say 6800 is the card for Doom 3 and x800 is the card for HL2. I'm going with the x800 but I see no problem in getting the 6800. Here's info from Tom's Hardware about Doom 3 and video cards:

http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040809/index.html

It mainly comes down the little things that you may be looking for. Maximum PC also had a review with the two cards and were basically at the same level. I think it was a couple months ago.

its me keymaker again. like i said before, both the geforce 6800 series cards and ATI radeon 800Xt cards are good which ever one you get, will be suitable for any current game.

to me i dont care if the geforce 6800 is more for doom 3 and the ATI card more for HLs. i dont give a rat's ass. both are great and if i buy either one, the videocard ill wil buy will be good for both games. imo

if i had the money i would get the 6800 ultra. the reason why is that nvidia has a better history with drivers than ati does and nvidias opengl drivers are good where as atis opengl drivers are only fair.

Yeah i was thinking X800xt because it only takes 1 pci slot.(is that correct)? But then iv been hearn alot about the 6800 and i was just wonderin if it has the upperhand. I'll be playin both half-life 2 and doom 3.
Both will be great games.

both perform equally well, it's not like there is really much difference between 50fps and 60fps unless you have the counter going. As for the GeForce taking up 2 slots, most of them are single slots, it just when you get into the highend 6800s that they spill over to the second slot so as to avoid melting . Finally, the GeForces seem to be about $100 cheaper than the x800s of equivilent model (assuming you can find either one )

I say ATI because A) Fanboy and B) More D3D games than OpenGL.

ATi, never had probs with them

my brother and friends have had lots of probs with nVidia

thought someone would pick it up, but no one did.

you said ultra gt. no such card as that. either ultra or gt, which one?

ati or nvidia, doesnt really matter to me. they're equal with each other (x800xt and 6800u). picture quality doesnt really matter, as i dont stop to look at the little details, while in game. just go with whichever one you want more.

Well for me it does Seriously i dont care if one is about 5fps faster or what ever. I am more interested in which one has the best picture quality.
I don't just play games on my computer. I watch movies and upload pictures from digital camaras on to it also.
And also im sorry about the ultra gt thing.... I meant ultra!

I would go with the 6800's as they are more future proof. No, not just because it has PS 3.0 but, also because there is a future possibility of using SLI. Either way, they're pretty much equal in terms of performance and picture quality at the moment.

I have a question of my own. As I tend to agree with all these "either one is good" plane of thought, I'm curious as to the picture quality of either of these side-by-side.

I'm leaning toward nVidia just because. Not very technical, huh? In the recent past, not only has ATI made a better card than nVidia, but their picture quality has been better IMO (and I guess many others). Mainly, I'm looking back at the 5700/9700 to FX5900/9800 card era. But now...

...we have two new powerful series of cards nailing the market's eye, and little has been shown about the quality. I've only seen screenshots being looked at hard right after the 6800 and x800 hit the streets and the 6800's problems in FarCry. But since then, it's gone to Frame-rate wars again. I'm not a Doom3 fan at all, but still a screen shot comparing the two would be beneficial to me...I'm not an Frame rate fan if none of ya have noted that before.

Are they that close to each other in quality, or are they just not taking that into account? Basically, I'm going to choose the one with this in mind and would like reputable input on this major decision (and in this house, $450 IS a major decision).

I think this is why I really can't make up my mind. I want a new videocard but for $450 to $500 it better make me happy so, I end up asking several questions and always doubting whether or not what I had just picked is the right choice. This whole video card and specific game alliance thing is downright dreadful for the computer gaming community.

I've been noticing that at all the video game stores, Best Buy, Ebgames, Gamestop, etc. their computer games sections are pushed to the back and getting smaller by the minute. I just don't understand...

As you read the replies you'll notice that no one actually has one of the cards and some are basing their choices on past cards. Not every video card is the same. It seems to me that everyone here that would choose the 6800u are saying they would buy it because the 6800u is less expensive. Also it seems that you say that the x800xt is faster but they are basicly the same in picture quality? Well why get the 6800u then?