Please, compare these two vid cards... which is better?

[homestarmy]

Which is a better overall card of these two, specs for the specific cards are linked below.

x800

6800

The x800 has more pipes at 12, 42MHz faster core clock, but slower memory speed and less memory.

The 6800 has only 8 pipes, slower core clock, but 300MHz faster memory and 128MB more.

Which would perform better? I can't seem to find charts that compare these two specifically.

I personally bought the MSI x800, because it is quiet and fit my needs. A friend is probably going to buy the other card very soon. I figure for the money difference they are very close and you might as well go with the x800 for quietness (it is extremely quiet) and less power consumption, though the 6800 would be better if you need dual DVI.

So would the 128MB difference really matter, or only in certain circumstances? Would the difference in pipes be big enough to make up for the memory gap in speed? Is there a formula that I should be considering? Additionally, does the OpenGL 1.5 vs 2.0 make a difference and how?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Munky]

The difference between OGL 1.5 and 2.0 is mostly from a developer's perspective. As far as the end user is concerned, the difference is insignificant. Also, both of these cards work on a 256-bit memory bus, so their memory clocks should be sufficient for their gpu. At stock clocks the x800 would definitely be faster in most if not all benches - it's about the same performance as a 12 pipe 6800. Also, most x800 cards have 2ns mem, which can often be overclocked to 900+ mhz. However, the x800 uses an r430 core, so it does not have much overclocking headroom there. If the 6800xt can overclock to about 500mhz, then it could catch up to the x800.

As far a mem size goes, 256mb may or may not be an advantage on these cards, depending on the game and what settings you use. Generally, if a game is run at settings that require more mem, it also requires a faster gpu to process all the data. If the gpu is not fast enough, then the extra mem would be useless.

 

[homestarmy]

But the 6800 is already running at 500MHz memory. Links above give specs.

Here they are as well:

x800
core - 392 MHz
memory - 700MHz
256-bit
12 pipes

6800
core - 350 MHz
memory - 1000MHz
256-bit
8 pipes

 

[aka1nas]

That 6800 Xtreme is weak as it only has 8 pipes. The 6600GT is also an 8 pipe card, but runs the GPU at 5000Mhz versus the 350Mhz of this card. The 6800Xtreme has a wider memory bus and more RAM, but with the core being so weak I don't think you would notice much.

Just to put it in perspective, a regular 6800 is 12 pipes@325Mhz with a 256-bit memory interface and it still has trouble beating a 6600GT until you get to higher resolutions with AA/AF.

The x800 card isn't terrible for that price, though I might recommend a 7600GS as they are going for about the same on newegg and are 12 pipes@400Mhz.

 

[homestarmy]

So you really think the extra 50 MHz and four pipes of the 7600GS will make up for the 128-bit difference and 100MHz (200MHz DDR) memory difference?

 

[aka1nas]

From what I saw with the 6800/6600GT the extra memory bus width won't be very noticeable as the cards are too slow to play resolutions + features that would require it. Ditto with the RAM speed.

The only other upside over the X800 is that the 7600GS has SM3 support, though I wouldn't base my purchase solely on that.

 

[akshayt]

how about 68000GS/GT/ULTRA?

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: akshayt
how about 68000GS/GT/ULTRA?

Compared to what?

 

[homestarmy]

Keeping it under $100.

Any benchmarks comparing these or something close?

 

[Munky]

There's this article -
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/hard.../2006/test_powercolor_radeon_x1900_gt/

Compare the x800 performance to 6600gt performance. And then account for the 6800xt being slower than a 6600gt. If I were looking for a pci-e card for under $100, I'd get the 7600gs. It's the fastest card that can be found in retail for ~$100 these days.

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
Which is a better overall card of these two, specs for the specific cards are linked below.

x800

6800

The x800 has more pipes at 12, 42MHz faster core clock, but slower memory speed and less memory.

The 6800 has only 8 pipes, slower core clock, but 300MHz faster memory and 128MB more.

Which would perform better? I can't seem to find charts that compare these two specifically.

I personally bought the MSI x800, because it is quiet and fit my needs. A friend is probably going to buy the other card very soon. I figure for the money difference they are very close and you might as well go with the x800 for quietness (it is extremely quiet) and less power consumption, though the 6800 would be better if you need dual DVI.

So would the 128MB difference really matter, or only in certain circumstances? Would the difference in pipes be big enough to make up for the memory gap in speed? Is there a formula that I should be considering? Additionally, does the OpenGL 1.5 vs 2.0 make a difference and how?

Thanks for your input!

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=359&card2=48