LeadTek 6800 and eVGA 6800 Ultra Extreme: New GeForce on the Block

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• gordon151 - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  [q]ATI Radeon X800 XT: $540
  ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition: $?[/q]
  
  The X800 XT == X800 XT PE with respect to your prices.

• deathwalker - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  The use of ATI catalyst 4.X drivers has proven to be a real thorn in the side of ATI card owners(in my opinion). I have a 9700Pro and the use of any catalyst driver above 3.9 results in a 3-5% performance hit regardless of the benchmark I use for measurement. I wonder if the resulting compatibility issues resolved in the 4.X series is worth the tradeoff in performance. ATI needs to remain focused on performance issues also in there driver releases. I have been a long time ATI fan (since the release of the 8500)..but..this article clearly indicates that Nvidia is in the process of or already has put a trump card on the table with the 6800 series of VGA cards that ATI needs to respond to.

• RyanVM - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  How did the X800 XT come out ahead of the XT-PE by 10fps in the Homeworld 2 16x12 4xAA/8xAF test?

• Warder45 - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  Derek, do you really think a fall refresh line is comeing this year? The spring line has barely shown up, let alone the low end ATI cards haven't really been introduced. Seems like that would be a big waste of money for ATI and Nvidia to release refreshes before the current line has market penetration.

• Slikkster - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  All I can say is that it's about time, Nvidia, that you've closed the gap on ATI. I'm looking forward to 2 6800 UE's SLI'd on a pci express board. heheh

• DerekWilson - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  sorry, to answer the resolution and connection questions:
  
  Viewsonic P95f+ using analog. When necessary (with the 6800 U and 6800 UE) we used a DVI to analog adapter.

• DerekWilson - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  Things would have looked different if we had gone with MSRP ... things will also look different in a couple months when the fall refresh line comes out.
  
  We didn't feel it was fair to use MSRP because people can't find these cards for MSRP right now. In a month or two, that may or may not be different. And in a month or two, we may take another look at performance and value.
  
  But, as we indicated in the article, the value graphs should really be more of a guide than a definition. If that makes any sense :-)

• at80eighty - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  gotta agree with Shinei, this bunch DEFINITELY makes me wanna shift from my trusty Ti4200 *sniff* : p ... and umm no, im no fanboy; was seriously considering the X800XT, but the tests make me think the 6800GT is worth my money...
  
  btw Derek...what monitor + connection were you using for these tests?
  
  /also - the value graphs: - great idea!...something i've come to expect from you guys now : P Keep up the good work!
  
  

• trexpesto - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  whoops thought I was just logging in - um - nice article.
  
  I've seen newegg testing the waters with 9800 Pro 256MB for $223.00. Once I could believe it was a mistake, twice tho seems like real sampling to see when they should be lowering the price. There's just so many models out there, given a 10$ spacing, it's like prices are shored up from the bottom. Anyways, picked one up, but I let them sweat for a half hour first. ;)
  
  

• Pumpkinierre - Friday, July 9, 2004 - link

  In homeworld2 test the X800XT 1t 1600x1200 goes up in speed when you switch on 4xAA and 8xAF and beats the PE!