Someone Please Help Me Quick, I'm In A Hurry.

[userofcomputer]

My father maybe orders a new system (the one seen in my sig) tomorrow, and I haven't still settled for the Asus X800XL (the other choices aren't set in stone either).

The options are: (These were just the cheapest of their kind here in Sweden)
Prices are Swedish converted to US Dollars.


1. Asus X800XL (256MB version) - 393 USD

Pros:
I've heard good thing about Asus and their SmartDoctor utility, though I'm uncertain why it would be better than any other tool, like ATi Tool or ATi Tray Tools.

Fares well in Source Engine

Newer (1 year old)

Draws less power, which means less heat.

Cheaper

Cons:
Worse de-interlacing quality (and overall worse video quality?) according to this article here at AnandTech.com. (Though I'm not sure about the real impact when playing DVD, XviD DivX, other Mpeg formats.

Bad TV-Out quality according to this article at Viperlair.com.

Worse than other X800XL cards (?) according to this article from SweClockers.com (I know it's in Swedish but you can look at the pictures). How can this be, I though all X800XL cards were the same except for additional features, or do they have like different memory?


2. Asus 6800GT - 430 USD

Pros:
Fares better in a whole bunch of games like Doom 3, F.E.A.R., and if I have got it right NVIDIA:s performance in OpenGL based games is overall better than ATi. Though I don't know how many future games will be OpenGL based (BTW what is OpenGL??)

Better de-interlacing quality, (and overall better video quality?)

Cons:
Older (2 years)

Draws more power, which means more heat. Also needs a PSU with a PCI-e connector, which adds another 20 USD or so to the cost.

More expensive


Well that pretty much sums it up I think.
Help would be much appreciated, as time is running out.

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: userofcomputer

My father maybe orders a new system (the one seen in my sig) tomorrow, and I haven't still settled for the Asus X800XL (the other choices aren't set in stone either).

The options are: (These were just the cheapest of their kind here in Sweden)
Prices are Swedish converted to US Dollars.


1. Asus X800XL (256MB version) - 393 USD

Pros:
I've heard good thing about Asus and their SmartDoctor utility, though I'm uncertain why it would be better than any other tool, like ATi Tool or ATi Tray Tools.

Fares well in Source Engine

Newer (1 year old)

Draws less power, which means less heat.

Cheaper

Cons:
Worse de-interlacing quality (and overall worse video quality?) according to this article here at AnandTech.com. (Though I'm not sure about the real impact when playing DVD, XviD DivX, other Mpeg formats.

Bad TV-Out quality according to this article at Viperlair.com.

Worse than other X800XL cards (?) according to this article from SweClockers.com (I know it's in Swedish but you can look at the pictures). How can this be, I though all X800XL cards were the same except for additional features, or do they have like different memory?


2. Asus 6800GT - 430 USD

Pros:
Fares better in a whole bunch of games like Doom 3, F.E.A.R., and if I have got it right NVIDIA:s performance in OpenGL based games is overall better than ATi. Though I don't know how many future games will be OpenGL based (BTW what is OpenGL??)

Better de-interlacing quality, (and overall better video quality?)

Cons:
Older (2 years)

Draws more power, which means more heat. Also needs a PSU with a PCI-e connector, which adds another 20 USD or so to the cost.

More expensive


Well that pretty much sums it up I think.
Help would be much appreciated, as time is running out.

6800 GT at stock will probably be faster, but the 800XL is a fast peice of hardware, you can overclock it like a mad man and beat the 6800GT. To each his own really, I really like the 6800 series but I also enjoy the better IQ ATI gives.

 

[Rage187]

I'd get the 6800GT as well if they are pretty much the same price.

 

[userofcomputer]

Originally posted by: Rage187
I'd get the 6800GT as well if they are pretty much the same price.

37 USD difference (still here in Sweden)

EDIT: Plus like 20 USD for more expensive PSU, which sums up to like +57 USD total. I'm not going to upgrade, so the more expensive PSU can't be counted as an investment in the future.

 

[hans030390]

6800gt, both great cards, about same price, 6800gt has Sm3 though.

If Sm3 doesnt matter to you, it really doesnt matter what you pick out of the two.

 

[userofcomputer]

Ok, thanks, but I'm still wondering why the Asus X800XL is a few fps slower in ALL games compared to other X800XL:s?

 

[Dribble]

6800GT is consistently a bit faster then the X800XL (including the source engine games), and is a lot faster in any GL game, and is more future proof. For similar money buy the GT but each to there own, X800XL is still a decient card. Both o/c by a similar amount.

The asus X800XL will be just as fast as any other X800XL with the same core and memory clocks.

 

[userofcomputer]

Well, in the test they did I can clearly see that the Asus X800XL is a few fps behind the other X800XL:s, especially the GeCube.

I don't think 2 more fps warrant an additional 20 USD (still here in Sweden) for the GeCube X800XL, I'm only curious why the difference exist.

 

[Dribble]

Something's up in that review - it's more like 10fps in several cases. I suppose it's possible that the asus card has problems with it's bios or something but I'd be suprised as asus are normally pretty reliable. Don't know how else such large differences are possible on two cards using same core and memory clocks - ati has already specified the design so all the manufacturers have to do is follow it and put their own sticker on top.

Might be worth avoiding the asus card to be on the safe side (or at least check out some other reviews).

 

[videoclone]

both Cards will be fine ... both cards will play all games ^___^ Nice system by the way very good value for money parts. But maybe a X800GTO would be a cheaper option but not that much slower and with the extra money you can get a 3400+

 

[Parkre]

...which means more heat...

...more heat....

...more heat...




I think you are forgetting that winter is right around the corner. And computers make excellent heaters. Especially an older CRT moniter. That's how I kept my room warm when my roommates refused to turn up the heat.

 

[userofcomputer]

Winter in Sweden, brrr... -15F

But computers are bad heaters, because the heat pump we have reaching 530 ft down into the bed-rock gives 3 times more heat than the energy i put in.