Is the x800xt - pe worth it?

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Ceberae

Junior Member
Nov 5, 2004
17
0
0
Hello,

I am new to these forums and I am very eager to start building my new computer. So I popped in to these forums here because they always seemed to help me out in the past :)

This is my dilemma. First off, I live in Canada; so all of the prices are very high. The lowest I could find for the x800xt pe was $699 CAD or $579 USD. That's pretty steep for my liking, but I heard the performance was very good.

So I guess my question is: Should I get this card right now and stick with it for the next 2-3 years? Or should I wait till Christmas or Q1 2005 and get the mobos with the new nforce4 chipset in it and plop a pci-e card in it? Is there any point to get a pci-e card right now? Or will the technology at which the games ar at stay at what they are now. I don't care about benchmarks. I just want a card that will be able to run at 1024 x 768 with 4XAA - 8XAF or 64XAA - 8XAF very smoothly (over 24 average fps) for the next 2-3 years. If the platinum edition is the card that can do it, then I'll get it right off.

By the way - if it's any help, here are the parts I want to get.

cpu - Athlon 64 3500+ (Winchester)
cpu cooling - CoolerMaster Hyper6
ram - 1gig ocz dual channel pc 3200 ram
motherboard - MSI K8N Neo2
hdd - 80gb wd SATA drive
case - TT Tsunami Aluminum Case
psu - Probably a OCZ Powerstream 520W
I will probably also get an OCZ DDR Booster

Thank you for your time :D
 
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GreatBarracuda

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2004
1,135
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0
Hello and welcome to AnandTech. Being a Canadian, I know that prices are a little higher, generally in Canada. That rig you have assembled there is going to cost an arm and a leg! If you ask me, you don't really need an x800xt or a 6800. With 1 gig of RAM, Doom 3, Far Cry and almost all other games run pretty smooth. I myself don't get below 43 fps in Doom 3 and 37 fps in Far Cry and that's with 512mb. Currently, there are no games more graphics-intensive than these two. But that's just my opinion.
 
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Ceberae

Junior Member
Nov 5, 2004
17
0
0
That's what I was thinking originally... but what card do you have that runs far cry so smooth? I totally agree with the fact that there are "currently" no games more graphically intense than doom3 and far cry. But I just wanted to know if you had an estimate how long the x800xt pe should last me to run next gen games in the next 2-3 years smoothly at 1024 x 768 maybe even without AA and FA. Thank you for your reply :D I am greatly considering getting another card other than the x800xt pe, but it's so tempting :) Anybody have an opinion on the new pci-e cards that are coming out and if SLI is going to be any good or even worth the insane amounts of money? Thanks again.
 
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Ceberae

Junior Member
Nov 5, 2004
17
0
0
Sorry nevermind. Hehe... I didn't see the link pointing to your rig description. But any other open opinions on any of my questions posted in this topic are more than appreciated. Thank you.
 
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VIAN

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2003
6,575
1
0
hmm... 64XAA?:)

You'll be better off with an Nvidia card this round.

The 6800GT is a really good value

Athlon64 3200+ (754) or a Athlon64 2800+ if you are OCing
Nuthin beats thermalright cooling, just a suggestion.
I would get 1GB, it is definitely gonna be needed especially 2-3 years from now, don't get low latency RAM, just regular
ABIT KV8
get a Seagate HDD, less noise performance is similar if not better, SATA offers none to little performance difference, in other words, if it's cheaper get it if not, don't bother.
That Power supply might be Overkill, you might save yourself some bucks by giong to 480.
wouldn't bother with the booster.
 
J

jiffylube1024

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
7,430
0
71
Originally posted by: VIAN
hmm... 64XAA?:)

You'll be better off with an Nvidia card this round.

The 6800GT is a really good value

Athlon64 3200+ (754) or a Athlon64 2800+ if you are OCing
Nuthin beats thermalright cooling, just a suggestion.
I would get 1GB, it is definitely gonna be needed especially 2-3 years from now, don't get low latency RAM, just regular
ABIT KV8
get a Seagate HDD, less noise performance is similar if not better, SATA offers none to little performance difference, in other words, if it's cheaper get it if not, don't bother.
That Power supply might be Overkill, you might save yourself some bucks by giong to 480.
wouldn't bother with the booster.
Click to expand...

The 6800GT isn't really much cheaper than the X800's here in Canada though, usually going for $600-630.

The best I've seen is the Leadtek 6800GT for $580 at NCIX.

That's probably your best bet - get the GT and save close to $150 (with taxes).


Edit: Whoah - are you in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)?

If so, PCCanada has the Sapphire X800XT for $599 - best deal in Canada I've seen for an XT. It's the non-PE version, but there's only a marginal speed difference between the two, and the savings of $100 is well worth it!
 
Mrvile

Mrvile

Lifer
Oct 16, 2004
14,066
1
0
Kinda off the subject, but your 3500+ isn't really necessary. A 3200+ or 3000+ will do the job just fine, and the speed differences aren't noticeable. You also save another hundred bucks :)
 
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RealityTime

Senior member
Oct 18, 2004
665
0
0
I'm in Toronto myself. I paid $600 for my gt, of course that translates to $690 after the rotten pst & gst. :( so essentially, a gt costs $700 in Canada. Which is a mild disgrace considering a GT is $400 US and at the current great value of our Canadian dollar thats only $500 Canadian. So we pay a $200 premium God only knows why. If you are really willing to fork out for the x800xt pe, you can be confident you have the best card on the market. I wish now I had saved a bit more and gotten one :) But if you do want to go with a GT (ultras are impossible to find here) rest assured it is a beast of a card nonetheless. Try bigfootcomputers.com they are local in T.O. too around dundas & runnymede they may have/or be able to get an x800xtpe fairly quickly.
 
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Ceberae

Junior Member
Nov 5, 2004
17
0
0
My message just got an error message, so here's a short version.

The socket 939 cpus have mobos with 4 slots for ram; socket 754 mobos only have 3 slots for ram - that is why I was considering a 3500+ (I read a topic on another forum how a person OCed his winchester 3500+ to 3.1ghz). I have also found an "ATI" direct x800xt pe for $699 and a sapphire x800xt platinum for $695. What should I do? I'm very strongly considering getting a 6800gt now that you guys mentioned it. Thank you for your time.
 
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RealityTime

Senior member
Oct 18, 2004
665
0
0
Originally posted by: Ceberae
My message just got an error message, so here's a short version.

The socket 939 cpus have mobos with 4 slots for ram; socket 754 mobos only have 3 slots for ram - that is why I was considering a 3500+ (I read a topic on another forum how a person OCed his winchester 3500+ to 3.1ghz). I have also found an "ATI" direct x800xt pe for $699 and a sapphire x800xt platinum for $695. What should I do? I'm very strongly considering getting a 6800gt now that you guys mentioned it. Thank you for your time.
Click to expand...


Brother if you can get the x800xt pe for $700 canadian like you said its well worth it $800 after taxes its just 100 more than a 6800gt up here, but the xtpe is a much better card. It's the best card currently on the market.
 
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VIAN

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2003
6,575
1
0
stop spitting your lies, the 6800 Ultra is the best card. You might be able to OC the GT to Ultra.

What type of Cooling did he use to OC it to 3.1GHz. Keep in mind that not all processors will scale equally.
 
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Marsumane

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2004
1,171
0
0
Around 95% of people have oced their gt's to ultra or even ABOVE ultra speeds. I reccomend saving your money and getting the GT and ocing that to ultra speeds.
-BTW, 6800u = x800xtpe (they both win some, lose some. but in the end, they pretty much even out)
 
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nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Originally posted by: VIAN
stop spitting your lies, the 6800 Ultra is the best card. You might be able to OC the GT to Ultra.

What type of Cooling did he use to OC it to 3.1GHz. Keep in mind that not all processors will scale equally.
Click to expand...

While I agree with and for me the 6800Ultra is the best card, of those two (6800U/X800XT PE) there's really no "loser". They perform fairly close to another and each offers features the others doesn't have.

The games you play and features you want should decide this one. I personally like having the option for SM3, and to me that outweighs the the value of the extra frames on some games that take advantage of the XTs 24 bit. (as the frames are already high enough anyway on these cards)
 
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Ceberae

Junior Member
Nov 5, 2004
17
0
0
I still have one question remaining... Should I get an agp card, or wait to get the PCI-Express mobos that come out later on? Will pci-e offer a HUGE performance boost? Thanks.
 
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nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
0
0
Originally posted by: Ceberae
I still have one question remaining... Should I get an agp card, or wait to get the PCI-Express mobos that come out later on? Will pci-e offer a HUGE performance boost? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I don't think PCIE offers any performance boost.
 
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RealityTime

Senior member
Oct 18, 2004
665
0
0
Originally posted by: VIAN
stop spitting your lies, the 6800 Ultra is the best card. You might be able to OC the GT to Ultra.

What type of Cooling did he use to OC it to 3.1GHz. Keep in mind that not all processors will scale equally.
Click to expand...


xtpe is better
 
V

VIAN

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2003
6,575
1
0
While I agree with and for me the 6800Ultra is the best card, of those two (6800U/X800XT PE) there's really no "loser". They perform fairly close to another and each offers features the others doesn't have.

The games you play and features you want should decide this one. I personally like having the option for SM3, and to me that outweighs the the value of the extra frames on some games that take advantage of the XTs 24 bit. (as the frames are already high enough anyway on these cards)
Click to expand...
I also agree that they perform similar, BUT overall, I think the 6800 is a better card even in the performance arena. It's by little sometimes, but the X800 dips lower than the 6800 in tests where the oponent benefits from the benchmark.
 
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Cawchy87

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2004
5,104
2
81
Watch ncix.com carfully. Sometimes the put on surprise specials. The last one had an x800 xt for 599.99.

Good luck!
 
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Dustswirl

Senior member
May 30, 2002
282
0
0
NCIX are running short of 6800GTs and every high end videocard... and they're not restocking fast enough! add to this that prices (on videocards that is) fluctuate esp for the BFG 6800GT...( i canceled my order after 23 days of waiting and false promises)
One videocard that caught my attention (and could be interesting for you) is the CELESTICA RADEON GOLD EDITION X800 PRO "only" 527 $ (aren't "home" made products supposed to be cheaper???) i know it's a pro but hey that's a good price...

Btw ncix is very slow in updating their prices (esp CPU) so here's a better option, if you don't have it already, (just compare cpu prices...) that i hope will help!

cheers :)
 
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caz67

Golden Member
Jan 4, 2004
1,369
0
0
Go with the 6800GT and overclock it . IMO there really is no need to buy a X800XT.
 
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VIAN

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2003
6,575
1
0
Some things have changed since I last saw the benchies. XT vs Ultra is very similar and depends on what you bench.

But what is still true is that the 6800GT is the card to get and ATI has no competition vs that card. The Pro is just a shadow.

GT has great value, because not only does it beat the Pro, hopefully it still does, but most importantly it has the potential to become an Ultra and that's where the value lies.
 
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WA261

Diamond Member
Aug 28, 2001
4,631
0
0
YES, it is worth it. Dont go for one of the vivo you have to flash. YOu can only get to the stock XT settings...Get the real deal then oc the hell out of it. I am at 678/630 with my XT/PE
 
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