Switch: Motivation and Result

[lopri]

Has anyone been lucky enough to have his/her hands on both these nVidia's and ATI's latest and greatest? I'd like to hear some first-hand experience. If you owned one of them, and later switched to the other, please illustrate your experience: Why you made the decision & How successful it has been.


Example 1) GT to Pro
Motive I expected a huge perfomance leap from 6800GT since it was a replacement of my old 9800XT but the improvement felt marginal. I thought I'd give another try for X800Pro.
Result Unsuccessful. Performance wasn't just impressive, just like 6800GT. and I ended up paying %15 restocking fee, plus 2 round-trip shipping. Wasted money for nothing.

Example 2) Pro to GT
Motive Picked up a X800Pro since it's built on the tried and true R300 architecture. However, later I found out the 6800GT overclocks well up to 6800Ultra speed - why refuse free perfomance gain?
Result Unsuccessful. My 6800GT doesn't overclock well at all and I found the drivers aren't quite mature yet. (artifacts, etc.)

Although scenarios above are totally fictitious, I'm sure there are people that made a switch between X800Pro and 6800GT. And I thought such first-hand experiences would enlighten many potential buyers, including myself, of those two products. I encourage many owners of the both products to submit their experiences. Obviously the more people report, the better information we can share.

lop

 

[lopri]

Bump

 

[vshah]

good idea, hope this gets some responses. i think general grievous had both. and maybe canaim. not sure though

-Vivan

 

[Ronin]

Short answer? I have both and the 6800 stays in my primary machine all the time. End of story, no second thoughts.

 

[Ackmed]

I have had both.

My X800 Pro scores 10.5k, and my 6800 GT scored 10.6k in 3dmark2003 4.7, and 61.72's used. MSI K8N Neo Plat, 3400+, 2x512 HyperX PC4000, whole system stock. I dont know why my results were so close, all other reviews Ive seen showed the GT to be around 500-1000 points faster. All I have is the GT Link, you're going to have to take my word on the X800 Pro score, as I dont have the card anymore, and didnt save the link.

2001 was a little more lopsided. 23.8k for the X800 Pro, and 22.7k for the 6800 GT. All the different test scores are very close, exept the Nature one. The Pro has almost 30 more fps in that test.

Benchmark session result
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp2.030422-1633)
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
Card name: RADEON X800 PRO
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6451 (English)

Detailed info dir:
C:\Program Files\BenchemAll\result\2004.07.01.14.55.44.\

-----------------------------------------------------------
Far Cry

Using Max settings.
Map: Fort Demo: BenchemallDefaultDemo

640x480 not selected
800x600 not selected
1024x768
run# 0: Average FPS: 65.52

1280x1024 not selected
1600x1200 not selected


-----------------------------------------------------------
Unreal Tournament 2004

Max details settings. 640x480 is not selected
800x600 is not selected
1024x768 144.66 fps botmatch (dm-rankin: 211.71 fps, as-convoy: 80.58 fps, br-colossus: 141.69 fps )
1280x1024 is not selected
1600x1024 is not selected

Benchmark session result
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp2.030422-1633)
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6172 (English)

Detailed info dir:
C:\Program Files\BenchemAll\result\2004.07.16.23.31.05.\

-----------------------------------------------------------
Far Cry

Using Max settings.
Map: Fort Demo: BenchemallDefaultDemo

640x480 not selected
800x600 not selected
1024x768
run# 0: Average FPS: 70.57

1280x1024 not selected
1600x1200 not selected


-----------------------------------------------------------
Unreal Tournament 2004

Max details settings. 640x480 is not selected
800x600 is not selected
1024x768 151.82 fps botmatch (dm-rankin: 220.81 fps, as-convoy: 84.57 fps, br-colossus: 150.09 fps )
1280x1024 is not selected
1600x1024 is not selected

I had the 4.6's on the X800 Pro then, and still the 61.72's on the GT (just ran those tests). The Farcry results are strike me a little off, I dont have the 1.2 patch, or DX9.0c installed. Generally the X800 Pro is faster than the GT, but not in my results. I would have to say that is because the low res, and no AA/AF.

I REALLY wish I had selected a higher res, but that was the default, and I just ran it with the X800 Pro. Nothing I can do about it now. It doesnt show the whole picture though, for either card.

I traded my card with Bar81, he now has my X800 Pro. Perhaps he did some tests with the 6800GT before sending to me. I would have done some more tests, but the trade happened so fast. He posted the problems BFG has with his resolution for his LCD, and I sent him a PM about a trade. The next day the deal was done, and my card was in the mail. So I didnt really have any time to, I just did these because.

The reason I traded was because of Danger Den's new waterblock for the 6800 series. Im big into watercooling.. and they were not making a ATi version any time soon. It cools the ram, and GPU. The only other block I have seen that for is one by Aquq-Computer, which I like a lot. However, they were using aluminum for the block, and DD used copper. I consider this round of cards basically dead even, with the GT generally being a little faster than the Pro, and the XT/PE generally being a little faster than the Ultra. So the little things like this matter to me. If DD would have made a block like it for the Pro, I would have kept it.

One annoying thing with this card so far for me is, the size. My chipset waterblock was in the way of the heatsink, and I had to cut two fins off of the heatsink for it to fight. I have a MSI K8N Neo, I imagine this is going to be a problem for anyone with an aftermarket heatsink/fan combo. My waterblock isnt even very big, but was still in the way. The 939 version of this board has a fan on top of the heatsink, my bet it a 6800 GT/Ultra wont fit without some modification to the heatsink.

Its also a lot hotter than my X800 Pro, by about 20c idle, and 25c full load. My case temp went up about 3-4c too. That should be taken care of once I put a waterblock on it though. Overall I am happy with the card, I just wish nVidia would release some official drivers. I dont like the beta game they play.

 

[lopri]

Ackmed: It was a good read - your experience. Thanks!

Anyone else?

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: vshah
good idea, hope this gets some responses. i think general grievous had both. and maybe canaim. not sure though

-Vivan

GG does... tho it's an XT & Gt...

as for me, i sold one of my x800s and am waiting on a GT, but i'm about to leave on a 2 week vacation, so i won't have much time to compare the 2 till i get back

 

[jim1976]

Originally posted by: CaiNaM

Originally posted by: vshah
good idea, hope this gets some responses. i think general grievous had both. and maybe canaim. not sure though

-Vivan

GG does... tho it's an XT & Gt...

as for me, i sold one of my x800s and am waiting on a GT, but i'm about to leave on a 2 week vacation, so i won't have much time to compare the 2 till i get back

You maniac :beer:

I'd luv to see your results on this. I'm itchy on getting one of them and I want your opinion on this