6800GT

[Tchami]

Hi,

I'm upgrading my system and am planning to buy an Nvidia 6800 GT graphics card, but I am unsure as to which manufacturer I should choose.

I've found these cards to be available in Denmark:

AOpen Aeolus 6800GT-DV256

Club-3D GeForce 6800 GT

Leadtek WinFast A400 GT TDH

MSI NX6800GT-TD256

XFX Geforce 6800 GT

Point of View GeForce 6800 GT

SPARKLE SP AG40GPT

Asus V9999GE/TD/128MB, GeForce 6800GT, 128MB GDDR3, Dual DVI, TV-Out

Asus V9999GE/TD/256MB, GeForce 6800, 256MB GDDR3, Dual DVI, TV-Out (Not a GT card I know)

CHAINTECH NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800GT

At the moment I have an Asus GeForce 2 GTS 64MB which I've been happy with, and I've got the impression that Asus' graphics cards usually are very good, but unfortunately it doesn't seem as if Asus has an 6800GT 256MB version available, at least in Denmark.

Any thoughts on what would be my best deal?

Ohh, and btw. I'm buying a Athlon 64 3500+ and either an ASUS A8V Deluxe or MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum motherboard if that is any help in helping me

 

[Manzelle]

Try and find the Gainward Golden Sample...

 

[Tchami]

Well, that doesn't seem to be available in Denmark :/

 

[canadianpsycho]

I'd pick Gainward or BFG.... After that, check some reviews, or pick the one with the nicest bundle. Leadteks are pretty decent I hear.

 

[hugobomber]

i like leadteks heatsink. its very nice, but takes up 2 slots.

 

[darXoul]

Originally posted by: Tchami
Well, that doesn't seem to be available in Denmark :/

Really? It's available in Poland. Check a few stores, somehow I find it hard to believe that the card is unavailable in your country.
However, I wouldn't recommend it anyway since it's LOUD.

I would definitely choose Leadtek. Good, relatively quiet cooling, solid brand known for great IQ, decent price (at least in Poland). The rest are pretty much reference cards - nothing exciting, except for:
- Asus that plays some stupid games with customers (GT with half memory, vanilla 6800 with GT-specs...) produced nice-looking but loud cards. Besides, they are quite expensive considering the pitiful fact that none of them is a "real", full value GT.
- MSI cards feature nice, copper cooling but it's not too efficient in case of high MHz rates so it's not that great for GT/Ultra cards (fine for 6800s, and silent at low setting).

My vote clearly goes to Leadtek.

 

[joecool]

does it really matter? i got the pny, the cooling solution is ok, i can oc it to ultra levels ... go with whatever you can find in stock!

 

[Tchami]

I managed to find the Gainward Golden Sample GT card so now I've narrowed my list down to these:

BFG 6800 GT OC (not sure this is available in Denmark, but it seems like a good choice)
Gainward Golden Sample 6800GT (Is it really this loud?)
MSI MicroStar GF 6800 GT
Leadtek WinFast A400 GT TDH (Seems like a good choice as well, but it's supposed to take up two slots because of the heatsink?)

Best pick of these?

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Who cares? They're all the exact same. Buy the cheapest one, get an NV 5 VGA Silencer and you have the highest overclocking + quietest GT available.

Only thing I would think plays any kind of role, other than price, is the bundle. Some cards come with great software/game bundles and others come with basically nothing but a driver CD.

 

[Acanthus]

Leadtek has a history of the best 2d quality and very good cooling solutions.

<= leadtek fanboi

Sincerely, leadtek has never let me down.

 

[Bateluer]

Gainward or BFG.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Gainward or BFG.

Leadtek and EVGA are nice too.

 

[Tchami]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Who cares? They're all the exact same. Buy the cheapest one, get an NV 5 VGA Silencer and you have the highest overclocking + quietest GT available.

> HeroOfPellinor:
I'm going for a Zalman Reserator 1 for my system plus a waterblock for the graphics card. That should ensure no noise as well + it should be overclockable

> Everyone:
I guess what it comes down to in the end is the availability, price and bundle as they all seems to be pretty much the same. I just hoped for some golden answer
I'll go for BFG, Leadtek or Gainward.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Gainward or BFG.

Leadtek and EVGA are nice too.

True, but BFG has a great warranty and Gainward puts an amazing cooling solution with a lot of options on theirs.

Leadtek and eVGA are great cards, but they don't differ themselves from the pack enough IMO.

I still may end up getting an eVGA over the gainward because its in stock, but I hope that doesn't happen. I really want the cooling solution of the gainward.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Bateluer

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Gainward or BFG.

Leadtek and EVGA are nice too.

True, but BFG has a great warranty and Gainward puts an amazing cooling solution with a lot of options on theirs.

Leadtek and eVGA are great cards, but they don't differ themselves from the pack enough IMO.

I still may end up getting an eVGA over the gainward because its in stock, but I hope that doesn't happen. I really want the cooling solution of the gainward.

425/1.18 OC here on my EVGA @ 52C/60C for temps. im sure i can go higher, havnt tried yet.

 

[Tchami]

As far as I understand the incentive to buy Gainward is the cooling solution which allows for heavy OCing, but doesn't that GPU fan means a lot of noise? Anyways, I'm not planning on using a fan but rather a watercooling solution (Zalman reserator 1) for both graphics card and cpu. That should allow for OCing and no noise no matter what graphics card I decide to buy which will be BFG, Gainward or Leadtek.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Tchami

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Who cares? They're all the exact same. Buy the cheapest one, get an NV 5 VGA Silencer and you have the highest overclocking + quietest GT available.

> HeroOfPellinor:
I'm going for a Zalman Reserator 1 for my system plus a waterblock for the graphics card. That should ensure no noise as well + it should be overclockable

Hmm. Make sure it can handle the 6800GT and FX CPU. Especially if you're going to OC both.

 

[Paladin]

How's the noise on the evga 6800GT? That one seems available, it's tougher to find the others. does it take up a PCI slot (not really an issue, I don't have anything in 1).

 

[Paladin]

actually, Monarch has both the Evga and Gainward. which one has the lower noise on the fans?

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: KevinC
How's the noise on the evga 6800GT? That one seems available, it's tougher to find the others. does it take up a PCI slot (not really an issue, I don't have anything in 1).

noise isnt bad IMO. doesnt take up a PCI slot.

 

[imported_Salvatore]

MSI NX6800GT-TD256

XFX Geforce 6800 GT

CHAINTECH NVIDIA GEFORCE 6800GT

I would say any of those, or whatever is cheapest.

 

[Travis6586]

I don't know how bad the noise is on the other cards, but as for the eVGA 6800 GT, the noise is louder than my GeForce 2 MX-440, but not too bad. I suspect all of the 6800 GT cards are going to be a little noisy, but as long as they're not unbearable, its all good. I'm happy with the eVGA 6800 GT. It overclocks to Ultra levels and takes up only one slot. Runs everything "smooth as buttah".

 

[nitromullet]

For what it's worth. I had to RMA an eVGA card after a month. The card wasn't OC'ed, just started artifacting one day after playing Doom3 for a few hours. Before that it worked great, but went downhill fast after it started acting up. Not sure if this is a sign of something with eVGA or just a fluke. I have also read about a longtime forum member having really high temps with the BFG 6800GT stock cooler, which was subsequently fixed with the installation of a NV Silencer 5.

 

[imported_mbentz16]

I've got the LeadTek so of course that would be my advice. Quieter than the rest, OCs easily to Ultra levels, and it comes with one of the best bundles including Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow.

 

[BFG10K]

MSI has good cooling and game bundles.