Asus 6800 v Gigabyte 6600GT (heatpipe) v Leadtek 6600GT - which to get?

[brainattack]

I would appreciate peoples opinions on which PCI-E graphics card I should get. I've read through all the related threads but still unable to decide. The choice is between Asus EN6800/TD/256MB for £137+delivery or the Gigabyte 6600GT 128MB PCI-E VIVO (with heatpipe) at £136 plus delivery. Final potential choice is Leadtek 6600GT-extreme 128MB at £146 no delivery (extreme is same price as non-extreme version).
I anticipate I'll be doing occasional gaming only. I expect to do no more than a mild-moderate overclock of these cards.

Performance is my main priority, but if this is pretty equal my main concerns are related to noise levels of the fan-cooled cards, and effectiveness of the cooling on the gigabyte card.

System is currently:

A-top Xblade with modular Hiper PSU 580W
Abit AN8 Ultra mobo
Athlon 939 3200 (venice)
1GB Corsair 3200c2pt
Hitachi Deskstar T780 80GB
Hitachi Deskstar T7250 160GB

Many thanks for advice.

 

[Tanclearas]

In my system, the Gigabyte runs roughly 15C hotter (both idle and load) than my Leadtek did. In SLI, the "master" card will run at around 100C (load). As for overclocking, you won't get too much out of the core, but that really is not a big issue. The 6600GT in general is more memory starved. In this respect, the Gigabyte is a good choice because it uses faster memory (1.6ns) that comes clocked at 1120 by default (same as the Leadtek Extreme model, IIRC).

Honestly though, I will admit that the Leadtek card that I had (the non-Extreme) was pretty quiet. Going to the Gigabyte model didn't really make the system much quieter.

 

[brainattack]

Thanks Tanclearas. I've seen you've posted temps under load of 85C. I presume you're having no problems with stability at these temps? Also what case cooling are you using?

Does anyone have any views on the 6800 v the gigabyte card? I've seen lots of FMs favouring the 6800 over 6600GT, but the benchmarks I've seen put them pretty equally. Would the extra RAM make much of a difference in the 6800?

 

[MADMAX23]

You should buy the Gigabyte 6600GT: The best for overclocking!!

 

[brainattack]

Originally posted by: MADMAX23
You should buy the Gigabyte 6600GT: The best for overclocking!!

Wish you'd not said that... I was just about to order the 6800!

 

[Tanclearas]

No stability problems. I have a Sonata case with a 120mm fan in the front and another in the back. The front fan pretty much blows directly between the cards.

I've wondered about the 6800 vs 6600GT issue as well. The benchmarks I've seen basically put them so close to each other that I wouldn't really think it to be worthwhile to spend more for a 6800.

 

[Rage1881]

lol the gigabyte isnt the best for overclocking... Youre oc will very with any card from any card.. The asus has that 1.6 mem and comes oced outta the box, i seen a few shootouts where its pitted against all other 6600gts and the maxium oc it attains is lower than the cards with 2.0 memory. From all the shootouts i see with these cards the chaintech and leadtek always come out on top for ocing.

 

[brainattack]

Had another look at the benchmarks on Tomshardware and here, and the 6800 seems to be consistently ahead, albeit only slightly. Since these cards are all the same price I ordered the 6800, but gotta wait till next week to get it now

Oh well, serves me right for being so indecisive.

Thanks for all the advice anyhow.

 

[Rock Hydra]

Originally posted by: brainattack
Had another look at the benchmarks on Tomshardware and here, and the 6800 seems to be consistently ahead, albeit only slightly. Since these cards are all the same price I ordered the 6800, but gotta wait till next week to get it now

Oh well, serves me right for being so indecisive.

Thanks for all the advice anyhow.

I think the 6800 will be more beneficial to you. If you're getting the AGP version, you can unlock the unused pipes and vertex shaters in it. If it's PCIe, then you're out of luck in that respect. I also believe that the 6800 will perform better in games in the future since it is 256 bit compared to the 6600GTs 128 bit bus. So, I'm thinking this 6800 will have a little more longevity.