Is $499 a good deal for an 6800 Ultra?

[deldd]

Ok , I've been looking to get a GT or an Ultra. Almost none of the retailers sale the Ultras for the original MSRP. But yesterday I came across an eVGA 6800 Ultra @ Monarch for $499 with free shipping. The cheapest I found anywhere else that's reputable (or not for that matter) is $549, unless you count circuit city which never has them in stock.

So my question is, is this a good deal or should I wait?


Just for anyone who wanted to know, it is no longer $499 @ Monarch it is now $533, but I have the price locked in with their price quote system.

 

[Killrose]

Find a good 6800GT manufacture that has: A better than average cooling solution for both GPU/mem and that has been reported on by actual purchasers to have 1.6ns ram (or the capabilities to do 1100MHz DDR at least).

You could easily save over $100 and have something @Ultra speeds, or damn close to care about. It has also been shown that some of the GT bios's have faster timmings then the Ultra and are clock for clock actually faster.

 

[deldd]

That's what I was thinking at first.

 

[drifter106]

You may want to look at this.
BFG has a lifetime warranty. The prices of the gt have gone up somewhat over the past couple of weeks. I have seen them as low as $389. Performance wise the gt does as well as the ultra. Ultra benches a little better than the gt. I recently purchased the BFG ultra o/c for $419. Probably won't notice anything significant gains (ultra vs gt) but the thing I wanted was the lifetime warranty. I have heard the BFG is excellent with warranty service.

Good Luck!!

 

[Zebo]

can't believe these cards have not come down since introduction. In fact they've gone up. Worth it? nah it has a poor price to performance ratio over both the vanilla 6800 and GT. Problem is, to play 16x12, $500 or overclcoking is the only game in town. if I had to do it over I'd get a vanilla 6800 from outpost for $250 and softnod attempt GT/Ultra core levels with it albeit less mem speed. I bought GT for full retail plus tax before softmod was realized.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Killrose
Find a good 6800GT manufacture that has: A better than average cooling solution for both GPU/mem and that has been reported on by actual purchasers to have 1.6ns ram (or the capabilities to do 1100MHz DDR at least).

You could easily save over $100 and have something @Ultra speeds, or damn close to care about. It has also been shown that some of the GT bios's have faster timmings then the Ultra and are clock for clock actually faster.

This is an OK solution if you like to gamble with $400, I can't afford to lose it if I OC the card and it dies.

If I needed the extra 10% of performance that Ultra speed provides, I'd rather spend $100 extra on it and have it warranted by the manufacturer.

deldd- there's no "free lunch", and that is a fair price for the 6800U.

 

[James3shin]

I agree with Rollo, if you want ultra speeds and have the cash, then by all means get t3h Ultrazorz. A gt ocing to ultra is pretty common i suppose, but having a ultra without an oc is a pretty nice peace of mind.

 

[drifter106]

from what i have read with the o/c of the 6800 its really a toss of the coin... some pipes will open and then its a win/win but some people take a deep breathe and sigh...i would rather pay the extra $60 and have a definite... from the benches i have seen the vanilla is ok but doesnt stay with the gt or the ultra...

I agree with Zebo, they have gone up, seems like just a few weeks ago the gt could be had for around $390

don't think your really going to notice any significant gains in real world between the gt and the ultra, even though the ultra is o/c some...only in benches

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: drifter106
from what i have read with the o/c of the 6800 its really a toss of the coin... some pipes will open and then its a win/win but some people take a deep breathe and sigh...i would rather pay the extra $60 and have a definite... from the benches i have seen the vanilla is ok but doesnt stay with the gt or the ultra...

I agree with Zebo, they have gone up, seems like just a few weeks ago the gt could be had for around $390

don't think your really going to notice any significant gains in real world between the gt and the ultra, even though the ultra is o/c some...only in benches

No offense Drifter, but you're thinking of the 6800NU.

The 6800GT is the same card as the U, just clocked 350/1000 instead of 400/1100. (although the RAM is slower usually as well)

 

[drifter106]

yes it is, I was referring to the benches that were done on xbit...same card higher speeds, different prices...BFG just takes them a little further, but as consumers we are faced with chosing to buy a 6800, 6800gt, or a 6800ultra

by the way, no offense taken rollo, glad you clarified my statement for the veiwers