GeForce 6600 gt agp VS GeForce 6800 vanilla

Dufrane

Senior member
May 7, 2002
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I have been looking at old articles on anand and am I correct in saying that the geforce 6600gt performs better than the vanilla 6800 eventhough it have less pipes?
 

paladiin

Member
Oct 23, 2001
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Some tests have the 6600gt on top, others the 6800nu. It's safe to say that in general, at average settings, the two cards are "pretty close". The 6800nu does start to pull ahead at higher resolutions and settings, but at that point, you're approaching unplayable frame rates anyway, so it's not a huge deal.

However, the 6800nu does have some important advantages over the 6600GT for the enthusiast. Using RivaTuner, additional vertex and pixel pipes can potentially be unlocked. If the user is lucky, 16/6 is possible, which is what both the 6800GT and 6800U use (although at higher clock speeds than the 6800 is capable of). With pipes unlocked, the 6800nu enjoys a much larger performance lead over the 6600GT.

And while I haven't seen many reviews on it, the 6800nu seems to have a greater overclocking potential than the 6600GT.

We haven't heard a whole lot about the 6600GT because a) they are yet to hit the market in big numbers from all manufacturers, b) they are in many cases significantly over the $199 MSRP, and c) there have been several excellent deals on the 6800nu in the last few weeks, making the 6800nu a better buy.

Once the 6600GT AGP is in full force at $199 and the deals on the 6800nu end, there will likely be a lot of buzz about the 6600GT.
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
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I think the 6800 is a way better card... it's a little more money, but I still think it might be better value...
 

Pete

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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6800 appears to be faster where it counts (with AA+AF), it appears to use less power, and it offers the chance to unlock an extra quad. Win-win-win from a gamer's perspective, IMO. The 6600GT offers other perks, to be fair (dual DVI, supposedly more video acceleration, typically cheaper).

Other sites show the 6800 in a slightly better light, AFAIK. That may just be down to differences in games tested and systems used.
 

perillo34

Senior member
Sep 15, 2004
287
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you know I almost bought 6600gt but the price difference btwn it and a vanilla is negligble for the performance increase, go with nu, I know I did.
 

Staz

Senior member
Jan 27, 2000
447
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At the current inflated 6600GT prices, I would opt for a 6800. Once the 6600GT prices fall back to or below the $199 MSRP, then the story will change as I don't see the 6800 falling that much. For around a $20-$40 difference, get the 6800. But once that difference increases to $50+, time to opt for the 6600GT as it's a better bang for the buck.
 

GamesMasta

Member
Oct 2, 2004
31
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ive been contemplating about buying either a 6600 GT AGP or 6800. ive come to the conclusion that 6800, overall is the better card. now im confused about what kind of 6800 to get, any suggestons? theres like a nu or a bfg oc or something. any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
 

mdahc

Senior member
Oct 9, 2004
571
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If you're getting the card solely for gaming and 3D power, then the 6800 standard would probably be your best bet because of the aforementioned reasons. However, if you're looking for hardware HDTV encoding support, HDTV output, and/or hardware MPEG2 decoding in addition to 3D gaming power, then the 6600 GT makes more sense since nVIDIA still has yet to produce a fix to enable the 6800 series' onboard video processor.

______________________________________________
AMD Athlon64 3200+ (s939, Winchester core) @ 2.2GHz
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
1GB OCZ DDR466 Rev. 3 @ 2.5, 4, 4, 10; 2.8V
single WD 36.7GB Raptor
Sony DDU1612 DVD-ROM
eVGA Geforce 6600 GT (AGP 8x)
Sony CPD-E540/B 21" Trinitron
Antec NeoPower 480W PSU
Lian-Li PC-V1000 case
 

Spike

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
6,770
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Originally posted by: mdahc
If you're getting the card solely for gaming and 3D power, then the 6800 standard would probably be your best bet because of the aforementioned reasons. However, if you're looking for hardware HDTV encoding support, HDTV output, and/or hardware MPEG2 decoding in addition to 3D gaming power, then the 6600 GT makes more sense since nVIDIA still has yet to produce a fix to enable the 6800 series' onboard video processor.

Supposedly they will have a fix on drivers released on Dec 20th. I am not holding my breath, but it does show they think it can be fixed. I say get a BFG 6800 nu, that way you have a little bit of OC out of the box. I believe it also comes with far cry, though I could be wrong.

-spike

 

mdahc

Senior member
Oct 9, 2004
571
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Yeah, I hope so. I plan on building another machine next year once SATA2 Raptors surface. I'd like to get at least one PCIe 6800 standard or GT with an SLI motherboard and maybe another one later in the year. However, since I also use my machine for watching DVD's on my HDTV and considering that Blu-Ray and/or HD DVD's are just around the corner, I really prefer the working onboard video processor.
 

GamesMasta

Member
Oct 2, 2004
31
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Originally posted by: Spike
Originally posted by: mdahc
If you're getting the card solely for gaming and 3D power, then the 6800 standard would probably be your best bet because of the aforementioned reasons. However, if you're looking for hardware HDTV encoding support, HDTV output, and/or hardware MPEG2 decoding in addition to 3D gaming power, then the 6600 GT makes more sense since nVIDIA still has yet to produce a fix to enable the 6800 series' onboard video processor.

Supposedly they will have a fix on drivers released on Dec 20th. I am not holding my breath, but it does show they think it can be fixed. I say get a BFG 6800 nu, that way you have a little bit of OC out of the box. I believe it also comes with far cry, though I could be wrong.

-spike

what does the "nu" mean in BFG 6800 nu? is that the Ultra OC?
 

Ryland

Platinum Member
Aug 9, 2001
2,810
13
81
I ordered the Leadtek 6800NU because it supposedly is much quieter than the dual fanned BFG monster :)

The rest of my computer is quiet and the BFG that was in it for 5 minutes was WAY too loud!