POLL: What would you rather have??

[ironique]

Originally posted by: McArra

Can you play Farcry with HDR? oh no.....
Can you play SC CT with SM3.0? ouch

.... and I can tell you you are missing some great effects ...

True I cant play with any of those features, and the effects are lovely, as I've seen in some of the screenies posted in this forum (including the SC:CT screenies you posted!). Problem for me is, I just gotta have everything maxed out. My previous card was an 8500! So after forking out $470 for this baby, I just gotta have eveything maxed out (and have it running smoothly too)! Maybe it's something to do with the fact that I've been gaming with AA for the first time, as with the 8500, AA was out of the question! So maybe it's just me. But I believe anyone wanting solid SM3.0 performance with max settings should wait for next gen.

 

[McArra]

Yes, performance is not awesome, but yes as good as to be playable. Don't get me wrong, X800XT is very good, but I rather have some more effects than a few more fps. But that's just me. Great upgrade from 8500!

 

[christopherzombie]

I already have a 6800Ultra AGP, so I voted for the ATI AIW card. If the 6800U was PCI-E, things would be different.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well this depends on when you are upgrading.

If you are upgrading first thing next generation there is no reason not to get the ATI card. It is arguably faster just without the features. SM3 is nice and no one can argue that it is a bad feature; it just isn't widely implemented yet. But if you are upgrading next gen why do you care, you want the best framerate until you upgrade, future proofness is not a concern.

However if you do not plan on upgrading soon or at all next gen, the 6800U will be better because you can take advantage of a few more future features that the X800's cannot. Additionally a seperate PCI TV Capture card will always be better than an integrated one, especially since you can upgrade to a faster video card without losing TV support.

-Kevin

 

[VIAN]

ATI was right when they said that they didn't implement SM3 in current gen because of the cost to performance ratio. It wasn't worth the cost to put it in the chip.

... that was probably a lucky guess. lol. They just saw that they would get yields so horrible that making the chip bigger would be impossible.

 

[imverygifted]

i think ill jus stick w/ the ultra for now

 

[Avalon]

The AIW would more likely than not be more expensive. I'd take the 6800U.

 

[Matthias99]

If you dropped both cards in front of me and told me to pick one, I'd take the AIW X800XT. Of course, I'd turn around, sell it, and buy an X800XL or 6800GT (and a separate capture card if I wanted that). If I had to pick one and keep it, I'd take the 6800U, because I already have a video capture card, and the 6800U has SM3.0 (not worth all that much IMO, but if it's free...)

Frankly, in your case, I would sell both and buy a card that's way cheaper but almost as fast (like an X800XL or 6800GT).

 

[imverygifted]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
Frankly, in your case, I would sell both and buy a card that's way cheaper but almost as fast (like an X800XL or 6800GT).

ya, well i play games alot and even the mighty ultra has trouble pushing 1680x1050 w/ AA, AF, and details on full- also i want my CPU (FX-55) to really take advantage of my video card

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well then if you are truely using the specs you say you are then something is wrong or you didn't build the PC right. You are using the fastest processor on the market with one of the fastest GPU's on the market.

Neither the XT or the 850XT will bring your framerate up enough for playable. The last option you have is an SLI setup. However i still doubt that the Ultra is having as much trouble as you are saying.

-Kevin

 

[imverygifted]

well jus in hl2- but since i just recently got the FX-55 (last week upped from a 3200+) i noticed my FPS shoot through the roof (well never dropping a tad below 60) on the canals level at the 2xAA and trilinear filtering but jus for kicks i threw it up to 4xAA 8XAF and it was dropping to 30 thats in the water w/ the lil hydro boat- i know im not going to get the super performance at that settings on any system (except of course maybe sli), im jus looking for my best AGP option. but as far as something being wrong w/ my system it could be true but 3dmark03's 14000 and the lil sisandra tests dont reflect it

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Well then if you are truely using the specs you say you are then something is wrong or you didn't build the PC right. You are using the fastest processor on the market with one of the fastest GPU's on the market.

Neither the XT or the 850XT will bring your framerate up enough for playable. The last option you have is an SLI setup. However i still doubt that the Ultra is having as much trouble as you are saying.

-Kevin

1680x1050 WITH AA/AF most certainly will cause a little trouble with his setup in a game such as HL2. His only option is to go SLI (I'd recommend 6800GT SLI, as it's much cheaper than Ultra SLI and very close to its performance), or just wait for the next gen of cards to be launched (couple months). He built his PC just fine.

 

[imverygifted]

1680x1050 w/ AA & AF really is a killer for any single graphics card in hl2

 

[narcotic]

X800XT All-in-Wonder

But I really think that I'd be happy with either one, sorry, make it extremly happy.
So you shouldn't really worry about it too much.

 

[imverygifted]

wow the x800xt aiw really made a come back

 

[CraigRT]

AIW X800XT

I love those things

 

[bigfil]

i have the very same dilemma
i will probably get the aiw x800xt or something similiar
depends on the price at the time of purchase i suppose

 

[imported_Kensai]

x800 XT so I can save a PCI slot for something else.

 

[penceman]

I would get the All in Wonder X800XT without hesitation.

 

[imported_Noob]

I play a lot of HL2 and CSS so I would go with the X800 XT. Even the X800 Pro performs better in HL2 then the 6800 Ultra lol. I would be missing out on Far Cry HDR and Splinter Cell 3 SM 3.0 but oh well. I'll take performance over 2 games that have some extra IQ features. Plus better performing and looking AA and AF is what I want. And I'll see HDR when it's implemented into HL2.