Geforce 6800 vs. Radeon X800 GTO

[imported_Finny]

Alright, I'm lookin into an upgrade from my GeForce 6200, and I've come across these two cards:

Geforce 6800:
Lower clock speeds, but can apparently have more pipes unlocked to equal 16/6. However, there's reports of a LOT of artifacting, so perhaps I could invest in an Arctic Cooling fan, if that would indeed help. However, it also has less memory, which kinda sucks, especially if I had any desire for any AA... (I wouldn't mind completely, but it would kinda suck)

Radeon X800 GTO:
Higher clocked, but less pipes, and no reports of unlockability on this card. 'Course, the higher clocks should help (And I might be able to OC a bit if I get a different cooler), and the extra memory is also appealing, not to mention the more efficient AA... Although I would probably wish I has SM3... But that's not probably too big of a loss.

So, thoughts? Suggestions?

Also, some other possibly important specs:

Athlon XP 2400+
1 gig of pc2700 ram

 

[Wentelteefje]

What price are they? 6800's are no guarantee on unlocking unfortunately... My guess would be the X800GTO... It's a very good overclocker... Wouldn't bother about SM 3.0 too...

EDIT: Any possibility of overclocking your 2400+ (it should do quite well...), because right now that's what will be holding you a bit back, with either of those cards...

 

[Malladine]

X800GTO is the faster card (it actually does have the same pipes as the 6800nu, even 1 more vertex iirc) and the better buy.

 

[imported_Finny]

I think they're almost the same, but the GTO is a tad more expensive ('bout 30 bucks more). 'Course, if I do get the GeForce 6800 (Vanilla, btw; not sure if I was clear on that), I'll probably invest in an aftermarket cooler to help reduce artifacting after unlocking the extra pipes, which would bring the cost back up anyway.

Although the same goes for the Radeon, since I'll want to make up for the lost pipe-unlockings. It sucks that they never made the GTO2 for AGP...

And yeah, I'm also a bit scared of the possibility of not being able to unlock pipes. Last I heard, the vanillas don't really OC that well, either.

BTW, what games do use SM3? It's not that it'll be a major point in my decision (Right now, speed = top priority), but I am a bit curious.

Anywho, here's the links to the cards I'm lookin at:
Radeon x800 GTO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102608
Geforce 6800: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202
That, or: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140067 (If the 1st one doesn't come back into stock for whatever reason)

'Course, if there are any other cards worthy of noting (Something under $200 preferably, although I certainly could go a little over budget), feel free to tell me!

Finally, yeah, I've tried to OC the XP before, but with little success (It would automatically underclock itself after a restart), and I really don't feel like attempting a hard-mod of the thing, since it's the only one I've got! However, I have found some decent guides on this sorta stuff, so I may look into some sort of modding later on, unless someone can teach me how to effectively OC this thing without having to mess with the chip itself...

 

[Wentelteefje]

About overclocking that AXP... Strange it resets itself after being overclocked... Did you use a software overclocking utility perhaps...? What's your mobo like?

IMO, the X800GTO is still the best bang for the buck sub $ 200... This might however change when the 6800GS makes it transition... It should be in retail channels already, so for this time, I would advise you to wait just a little more, and see what they are worth against each other...

On the PCI-e side of things, the X800GTO gets nicely beaten though... But it can be different for the AGP ones... Keep an eye out for it, is my best advice at the moment...

EDIT: I can think of Far Cry, Age of Empires 3, Earth 2160, Battle For Middle-Earth, Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow... S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will have it too probably, just like the whole slew of Unreal Engine 3 powered games, ES: Oblivion...

Don't worry too much about the UE3, it will probably be very scalable, just like the previous ones...

 

[imported_Finny]

'Bout the AXP- Yeah, it is a little wierd. It could just be that I'm a sucky OC'er, and that I'm a little paranoid 'bout messin up the processor, so I don't want to mess around too much... I've got a Biostar MC7 or something like that (Forgot the full name); it's got lots of tweaking options (voltages of the ram and processor, clocks, ram timings, etc.), but I'm not sure what to do with what to keep my system stable. If you've got any suggestions, then that'll be cool.

BTW, I'm running off of an upgraded HSF. It's not drastically better than stock, but it's a tad quieter, and a bit more efficient, if that means anything.

Also, so what exactly is the GS AGP supposed to retail at? I know the PCI-E versions are generally well-priced, but as AGP generally goes, it'll generally cost more than it's PCI-E brethren...

Oh, and I'm not too worried about UE3. All of the other UEs have been incredibly efficient in their coding, and I expect this one to be no different.

Anywho, thanks for all replies.