[resolved] 6800XT vs. 7800GS (BFG OC)? [AGP]

[MalcolmCarmen]

First of all, I know the two cards offer drastically different performance -- but with a $100 difference. Here they are:

XFX 6800XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 8X
$130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150157

BFG Tech GeForce 7800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X
$230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143046

I've had trouble finding some good comparisons of these cards. The BFG 7800 is well-benchmarked and obviously a kick-ass AGP card for my aging system (2600+ OC'd to 3200+, 1gb pc4000), but the XTX 6800XT is not very well benched. I understand that the 6800XT is of lower clock than a vanilla 6800, but I literally can't find a benchmark with a card of matching clock speed or name.

I wanted to compare these cards side-by-side, so I tried to find their equivalents the best I could:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics....elx=33&model1=527&model2=545&chart=198 (both highlighted in blue)

Comparing the 6800XT to a GT is probably not a good idea; the XT has half the pipelines of the GT version >_<

Basically, I'd like the best bang-for-the-buck without going over $200 (although the BFG is pushing it, but it looks like a nice push). I generally play everything at 1280x1024, HL2, BF2, and Doom 3 from time-to-time -- maxing it out would be nice.

Despite the fear of going off topic, there is also this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141026

From the reviews it is unlockable (N40 core, I think?) -- I have a zalman 900-something all copper VGA sink, but I also value the lifetime warranty on the 2 cards mentioned earlier... is it a good idea to expect a positive gamble on this card to pay off with unlocking?

I just finished...raping... my radeon 9800 pro, and those lifetime warranties are looking pretty spiffy.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: MalcolmCarmen
First of all, I know the two cards offer drastically different performance -- but with a $100 difference. Here they are:

XFX 6800XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 8X
$130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150157

BFG Tech GeForce 7800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X
$230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143046

I've had trouble finding some good comparisons of these cards. The BFG 7800 is well-benchmarked and obviously a kick-ass AGP card for my aging system (2600+ OC'd to 3200+, 1gb pc4000), but the XTX 6800XT is not very well benched. I understand that the 6800XT is of lower clock than a vanilla 6800, but I literally can't find a benchmark with a card of matching clock speed or name.

I wanted to compare these cards side-by-side, so I tried to find their equivalents the best I could:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics....elx=33&model1=527&model2=545&chart=198 (both highlighted in blue)

Comparing the 6800XT to a GT is probably not a good idea; the XT has half the pipelines of the GT version >_<

Basically, I'd like the best bang-for-the-buck without going over $200 (although the BFG is pushing it, but it looks like a nice push). I generally play everything at 1280x1024, HL2, BF2, and Doom 3 from time-to-time -- maxing it out would be nice.Despite the fear of going off topic, there is also this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141026

From the reviews it is unlockable (N40 core, I think?) -- I have a zalman 900-something all copper VGA sink, but I also value the lifetime warranty on the 2 cards mentioned earlier... is it a good idea to expect a positive gamble on this card to pay off with unlocking?

I just finished...raping... my radeon 9800 pro, and those lifetime warranties are looking pretty spiffy.

With the 7800 the games you mentioned will be playable at 1280x1024 with all the eyecandy.

I don't think the 6800xt will unlock the full 16 pipes mabe 12 if your lucky.

I have a 7800gs BFG overclocked and it's been good to me

 

[Arkaign]

What resolutions are you going to be running at? A very good deal is actually the 7600GT, it will not only be much faster than a 6800XT, but it is also cooler, has SM3, uses less power, 256-bit memory, and so on. Look hard, you may be able to find one for $150ish hopefully.

Newegg only has one 7600GT, and it is $189

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150210

Still, it is probably the most video card that is justifiable with that setup. Happy gaming!

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
What resolutions are you going to be running at? A very good deal is actually the 7600GT, it will not only be much faster than a 6800XT, but it is also cooler, has SM3, uses less power, 256-bit memory, and so on. Look hard, you may be able to find one for $150ish hopefully.

Newegg only has one 7600GT, and it is $189

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150210

Still, it is probably the most video card that is justifiable with that setup. Happy gaming!

I was going to suggest this but there never in stock ... but your lucky buy it NOW

 

[Captante]

The 6800XT falls in between the 6600GT & 7600GS in performance which should make finding a comparision easier for you ... a 6800GT is very close to a 7800GS in many benchmarks & will smoke either of the first two cards. Also keep in mind that most 6800XT's cannot be unlocked because they use the NV42 core which has the additional pipelines laser-cut, not simply disabled in the BIOS.

The other cards to consider would be a 7600GT AGP if you can find one in stock...its cheaper & at default clockspeeds it will just about keep up with the 7800GS, also the X850XT is very fast too, often exceeding the 7600GT, albeit at somwhat lower image quality in many games because it doesn't support as many cutting-edge 3-d features.


Edit: I see that the XFX 7600GT is in stock at Newegg & I agree that its the best overall choice for you.

 

[MalcolmCarmen]

Thanks guys, the 7600GT does look like the best deal!

 

[Cooler]

For~$300 You can get a 1950pro agp that beats them both.

 

[MalcolmCarmen]

Yeah, I was looking over a tomshardware article that claimed the X1950 PRO would soon come out and be as cheap as the 7600GT... but for $300, I'll have to pass, unless anyone forsees it coming down in a month or so :X

edit: and to add, it seems like the price I have to pay for nice AGP performance is notably more than pcie... cry. I'll stick with 7600GT

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: MalcolmCarmen
Yeah, I was looking over a tomshardware article that claimed the X1950 PRO would soon come out and be as cheap as the 7600GT... but for $300, I'll have to pass, unless anyone forsees it coming down in a month or so :X

Although I've seen a couple X1950 Pro AGP's supposedly available, from what I understand it won't be released officially until somtime around the first of the year & then it may well command an inflated pricetag ... if you are going to spend anything more then the 7600GT AGP costs, you really should be considering moving to PCIe instead because for +/- $220 you can snag an inexpensive NForce 4 mb & PCIe 7600GT instead.

 

[MalcolmCarmen]

Yeah, I just realized that the 6800XT, in all its relative crappiness, is the same price as its PCIe counterpart. The 7600GT AGP is $40 more than the pcie version. It drives me crazy to think of spending more, so I suspect I will wait to see what happens with the ATI card, or I'll just get the XT. After all, I'm mostly replacing my radeon 9800 pro that I killed -- at least with the XT, the card will work better in linux, and I will get better performance overall (than I'm used to).

I've got a lot of money in the piggy bank, but I'm not going to blow it until I get a real job, and I'm quite the bang-for-the-buck whore :>

Putting this in my queue of things to decide on later:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...B52-1036&SRCCODE=YAHOODF&CMP=SPC-YAHOO

 

[Captante]

If you really want to save money, I suggest having a look at the FS/FT forum here on AT ... earlier tonight I saw a 6800GT selling for $100 shipped & 6600GT's can be had for $60 too.

 

[Stumps]

I got a reasonble boost from my BFG 7800GS OC when I recently replaced my Asus 6800GT.

 

[Pugnate]

My younger bro has the 6800XT and we overclocked it up to its ass and it runs superbly.

 

[MalcolmCarmen]

Sorry for bumping my old thread, but I just wanted to follow up.

Being a paranoid person, I went to eBay instead of here (hey, that rip-off sticky scares people like me!)

I found a 6800 ultra named as a "6800ultra", so not many people noticed it. However, being the smart person I am, I didn't confirm my bid, so someone lucky got it for $90. Luckily, the person had a second one, and I got it via buy it now for $100 (I sort of arranged for that deal).

Obviously, the 6800 ultra kicks the butt of my 6800xt/gs thoughts. The X800 series (GTO, XL, etc.) can still hold in, but cost significantly more (we're talking about AGP here).

In short, if you need an AGP upgrade, just camp out on ebay for a good deal on a 6800GT/Ultra or X800 GTO (or better).

I didn't expect the results I got... I play on a 21in monitor and 1280x1024 is my favorite resolution. CS:S's VST won't go below 80FPS with maxed out AA/AF, etc. I did not expect to be able to play with full HDR on, but I can! It gets down in the unhealthy 40FPS range in CS_MILITIA a lot, but it works fine! This is quite the upgrade from a R9800 Pro, and relatively damn cheap.

Off to install BF2

 

[Captante]

Looks like you got a great deal to me ... the difference in performance between a 6800 Ultra & 7800GS is very small, based on all the objective tests I've seen (ie: not submitted by somone needing to justify a buying decision) & you should be very satisfied with the performance boost.

Edit: I do need to correct you about one thing though ... the odds of getting scammed on E-Bay are considerably higher then on AT FS/FT in my experience.

 

[tuteja1986]

X1950pro agp beats the living crap out of 6800XT and 7800GS.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/pow..._radeon_x1950_pro_agp_review/page9.asp

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
X1950pro agp beats the living crap out of 6800XT and 7800GS.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/pow..._radeon_x1950_pro_agp_review/page9.asp

No surprise there ... anybody have these in stock yet?

 

[Stumps]

I recently upgraded my Asus 6800GT to a BFG 7800GS OC, the upgrade was a reasonable one at stock speeds, how ever I was able to overclock my 7800GS from 400/1250 to 550/1350 which increased performance upto 7800GT - 7900GS levels.

I get 15400 in 3dmark03, and 7500 in 3dmark05, my rig is as follows

A64 3000+@2.87Ghz skt 754
GA-K8NS PRO
1GB DDR400
BFG 7800GS@550/1350
250GB Maxtor SATA2 x 2 Raid 0

 

[akshayt]

even 7600gt has 128bit memory interface while 6800xt may have 256bit, both have sm3. 6800xt should compete a 6600GT or beat it.

 

[Stumps]

Originally posted by: akshayt
even 7600gt has 128bit memory interface while 6800xt may have 256bit, both have sm3. 6800xt should compete a 6600GT or beat it.

but you fail to realise that a 7600GT will even smoke a 6800GT...it's 128bit memory bus is irrevant with such a high memory clock speed.

the 6800XT is BARELY faster than a 6600GT.

the differences between a 7600GT and 7800GS are very little, even when overclocked, but there is more to choose from brand wise with the 7800GS.

A lot of 7800GS are now based on the G71 core so despite have less pipelines than a 7800GT or 7900GS they overclock very well and usually have no problems reaching those performance levels....unless you go for the big daddy of all AGP cards...the Gainward 7800GS+ 512MB...it's pretty much a full 7900GT with slightly lower core/memory clocks....but they overclock like a devil.