n00b nVIDIA buyer

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DullesGuy

Member
Jul 12, 2004
54
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Today I decided that I'm going to give nVIDIA's GeForce 6800 Ultra (AGP) a chance. I've been buying ATi for pretty much ten years and have been happy with them until recently when I discovered that the Radeon X800 XT PE (Platinum Edition) is pretty much not available anywhere.

I noticed while shopping for the 6800 Ultra that I do not see a true "nVIDIA" brand. Is this typical of nVIDIA? All I see is pretty much "XFX", "BFG Technologies" and "eVGA" brands. I prefer having the true brand of any video card I buy (had a BAD experience with Sapphire), but I'm wondering does nVIDIA only makes the VPU, memory, etc. and leaves the other parts to other manufacturers? Be nice, I'm new to nVIDIA.

Also, anyone know how the X800 XT PE performs with the Sapphire, Asus, etc. brands as well as the pure ATi brand? Any articles with benchmarks, advice, etc. is appreciated with either card. I just don't want to make a mistake with a card I'm going to be stuck with and be totally unhappy. BTW, MY MOTHERBOARD DOES NOT HAVE PCI-EXPRESS. So, please no recommendations to that.

Thanks so much!

EDIT: Is the 6800 Ultra Extreme AGP? If so, please answer the above questions about that card too.
 
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Painman

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2000
3,728
29
86
I'll answer your first question, yes nVidia only makes chips and reference cards, other companies make the retail product.
 
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CHfan4ever

Diamond Member
Oct 1, 2004
3,290
0
0
Im owning a XFX and got no issues at all.

Lots of people here got a BFG and also have not much problems.

Yes me too, i always trusted orignal brand name, but with nvidia, u have to choose between different names.

DONT CHOOSE ASUS tho, its not good, they mix ttheir number to screw people around.

Everything else XFX,BFG,Leadetk seem very good.

I got a friend who got a saphire( ati x800 ) and got problems with saphire, So me in my book saphire are crap :)

Hope this can help
 
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DullesGuy

Member
Jul 12, 2004
54
0
0
Originally posted by: ifesfor
I got a friend who got a saphire( ati x800 ) and got problems with saphire, So me in my book saphire are crap :)

Hope this can help
Click to expand...

THANK YOU SO MUCH! That truly helped me there. ;-)
 
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DaveBC

Senior member
Mar 18, 2004
526
0
0
Got a PNY 6800GT it rocks. Previously had a a pair of 9700 pro's one from ATi and one from
Saphirre. The one from ATI was a replacement for the one from Saphirre.
 
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zakee00

Golden Member
Dec 23, 2004
1,949
0
0
DO_NOT_GET XFX OR ASUS!!! period. everything else is ok though. xfx and asus are very hit-or-miss as far as quality goes.
pick whichever has the best bundle, at a price that hits a sweetspot. but dont take a gamble with an xfx, HORRIBLE tech support also. if you dont trust me, just search around the forums. btw, 6800UE is non-exisistant. 6800u is the highest end for now.

heres some links to good cards:
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-130-196&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-143-021&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-122-196&depa=0

another thing you might want to consider: getting a 6800GT and overclocking it to an ultra. saves you $100, and 99.9% of 6800GTs can reach ultra speeds easily. 6800GTs are _exactly_ the same as ultra's, except for the cooling, and extra molex connector (not needed at all really).
good luck, feel free to PM me if you ahve any more questions
Nick

EDIT: i was wrong: http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=256-A8-N346-AX
i have no idea where you could find one though. the difference is 40MHz more core speed, and 100 (200DDR)MHz more memory speed. THIS might actually make use of the extra molex connector heh
 
Gamingphreek

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
0
81
DO_NOT_GET XFX OR ASUS!!! period. everything else is ok though. xfx and asus are very hit-or-miss as far as quality goes.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about. Asus is one of the best out there. They go well beyond the reference design to improve the product. They only rename the name of their cards like V9999 Ultra. Not so hard to remember there. Their tech support may not be as good as they are the largest manf in the world, but it certainly isn't bad.

XFX on the other hand is kinda a hit or miss.

If you have the money Asus (High quality, complete disregard for reference design, $$), Leadtek (Very high end, includes huge fans, and OCs well above most others), and MSI (Used to have cheap capacitors but everything seems fine now) are the best out there. FOllowed by EVGA, (I like the step up program a lot), BFG, eh Gigabyte isn't bad.

-Kevin
 
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zakee00

Golden Member
Dec 23, 2004
1,949
0
0
hm, ive heard something about asus putting out a 6800gt that was actually a 6800 vanilla with unlocked pipes or someting. i did notice theyre kewl cooler for the v9999 ultra though :thumbsup:. guess no manufactuer is perfect.
 
Cerb

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
NVidia makes absolutely NOTHING. Neither does ATI (ATI sells and supports Sapphire cards that meet their own specs, though).
They design, test, and sell the main GPU, and bridge chip, if any. The rest is up to the manufacturer.
Performance differs only with RAM used, and is typically by less than any machine or review method's margin of error.

I'd personally go with BFG or Leadtek.
Never had a Leadtek problem outside of Newegg's 30-day RMA limit :), so don't know about their support, but the parts are excellent.
I've heard nothing but good stuff for eVGA and BFG, as well, here, and my next card will be a BFG unless there is a really good deal on a Leadtek :).
Note that Gainward might be seen less and less in the USA (can't find article right now).
 
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DemonNeno

Junior Member
Jan 11, 2005
10
0
0
Leadtek has absolutely AWESOME support! When my 128mb Ti4200 took a dump a year after buying it, they replaced it for free. After finding artifacts with the new board sent to me 4-6months later, they "upgraded" me to a 5600 128mb. Slower, but it's the thought that counts IMO. The 4200 at that point wasn't worth what the 5600 ($160 compared to 4200 at $88) was selling for. Although the disgraceful 5600 still resides in my computer, I intend on choosing Leadtek for my GF6 desires. Albatron makes some awesome boards, as well. Usually great OCers with out of the ordinary cooling devices.
 
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otispunkmeyer

Lifer
Jun 14, 2003
10,442
0
0
Originally posted by: DullesGuy
Originally posted by: ifesfor
I got a friend who got a saphire( ati x800 ) and got problems with saphire, So me in my book saphire are crap :)

Hope this can help
Click to expand...

THANK YOU SO MUCH! That truly helped me there. ;-)
Click to expand...


yes my mate also has a x800xt pe and in the UK he got it for a good price of £364 new. in the US i know it converts into a bigger number though.

his card will jus produce random artifacts in games after 10mins, in HL2 characters had what looked like strings attached to their limbs like puppets. big triangle textures from parts of the citadel jus popped in every now and then....and planet side becomes a blaze of flurecent colours!

he seems to think its a problem with the x800xt pe only as one of his freinds also has the same problem

both bought SAPPHIRE X800XT PE's
 
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otispunkmeyer

Lifer
Jun 14, 2003
10,442
0
0
Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
DO_NOT_GET XFX OR ASUS!!! period. everything else is ok though. xfx and asus are very hit-or-miss as far as quality goes.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about. Asus is one of the best out there. They go well beyond the reference design to improve the product. They only rename the name of their cards like V9999 Ultra. Not so hard to remember there. Their tech support may not be as good as they are the largest manf in the world, but it certainly isn't bad.

XFX on the other hand is kinda a hit or miss.

If you have the money Asus (High quality, complete disregard for reference design, $$), Leadtek (Very high end, includes huge fans, and OCs well above most others), and MSI (Used to have cheap capacitors but everything seems fine now) are the best out there. FOllowed by EVGA, (I like the step up program a lot), BFG, eh Gigabyte isn't bad.

-Kevin
Click to expand...


hmmm so what about a 12pipe 6800 non ultra with 256mb of GDDR3, selling for more than a 6800GT (which the 6800gt would totally own)

and what about the 6800GT equipped with only 128mb of DDR

it really does look like some one in ASUS got things mixed up
 
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zakee00

Golden Member
Dec 23, 2004
1,949
0
0
Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
DO_NOT_GET XFX OR ASUS!!! period. everything else is ok though. xfx and asus are very hit-or-miss as far as quality goes.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about. Asus is one of the best out there. They go well beyond the reference design to improve the product. They only rename the name of their cards like V9999 Ultra. Not so hard to remember there. Their tech support may not be as good as they are the largest manf in the world, but it certainly isn't bad.

XFX on the other hand is kinda a hit or miss.

If you have the money Asus (High quality, complete disregard for reference design, $$), Leadtek (Very high end, includes huge fans, and OCs well above most others), and MSI (Used to have cheap capacitors but everything seems fine now) are the best out there. FOllowed by EVGA, (I like the step up program a lot), BFG, eh Gigabyte isn't bad.

-Kevin
Click to expand...


hmmm so what about a 12pipe 6800 non ultra with 256mb of GDDR3, selling for more than a 6800GT (which the 6800gt would totally own)

and what about the 6800GT equipped with only 128mb of DDR

it really does look like some one in ASUS got things mixed up
Click to expand...

ah, thats what i was refering to. thanks, i forgot exactly what it was.
 
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housecat

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
1,426
0
0
Originally posted by: zerocool84
yea but their "V9999GT" is only $330, i think its priced right
Click to expand...

i was just about to put that.

its not a ripoff by asus, its only a ripoff if you expect 256mb and you are buying one that says 128MB..

its pretty clear, and i dont think its trickery.

you'd have to be a real dumbass to order that card, get it, then be like OMFG ITS A TRICK DEWD!
 
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