Which is the better choice?

[Nodnarb]

I'm choosing a Christmas present for myself. How do the EVGA NU6800 and the EVGA 6600GT compare. I see the 6600GT uses DDR3 and the NU6800 only uses DDR. The GPU on the 6600GT is clocked much higher than the GPU on the NU6800. Both cards have 128MB Ram. I'm running a mobile XP2400 @ 2200Mhz. Help?

Thanks,

Nodnarb

 

[Cheesetogo]

It's a bit early to choose a card that your not going to buy for another month, seeing as the cards is likely to drop in price. To answer your question, the 6800 is about the same as the 6600gt, however you can unlock 8 pipes on the 6800, making it considerably faster.

 

[conlan]

the 6800NU is the better all-around choice.

It might be possible to unlock the 4 locked pipes and one shader (16 X 6) on the 6800, but it is not a certainty. I was only able to unlock the shader (12 X 6)


I'm still very happy with the performance boost over the 9800Pro it replaced.

 

[Nextman916]

6600gt>6800nu= some games maybe by 10 frames max.
6800nu OC'ed/stock pipes>6600gt overclocked.
6800 w/16pipes 6vp OC'ed>6600gt.

 

[Pete]

The 6800 is better from the start. The bonus is if you can unlock some extra pipes on the AGP part (no extra pipes to unlock on the PCIe one). It's worth a slight premium. Finally, a 6800 still draws less power than a 6600GT, which is nice (and maybe appropriate, considering your XP-M).

Look at these benchmarks. The 6800 keeps up with the 6600GT and occasionally far outpaces it, and that's a PCIe 6800, which actually has slower memory than the AGP version (600 vs. 700MHz effective, or 300 vs. 350MHz DDR). The 6800 has similar shader power, but has four times as many ROPs and more bandwidth, thus the occasional clear wins. The extra bandwidth helps most with AA.

FYI, you may want to go with a 256MB card in general, as more and more newer games are featuring high-res textures that can use more than 128MB (or that'll cause some swapping on 128MB cards, unless you lower the texture quality).

 

[jiffylube1024]

The 6800 as Pete says is faster from the start. Although the 6800 has GDDR1 (at 700 MHz stock speed I believe), it is on a 256-bit memory bus. The 6600GT has 1000MHz GDDR3 on a 128-bit memory bus - therefore it's equal to only 500 MHz DDR on a 256-bit bus (translation: 6800 actually has the faster memory interface ).

The 6800nu has 12 pipelines (some are unlockable to 16) while the 6600GT has 8 pipes.

The 6800nu is a faster card (about a 10-15% difference), and with unlocked pipes and overclocking it's even a bit faster still.

 

[Nodnarb]

I only have a 17" CRT (albeit a very high quality one), so I only play games at 1024x768. I'm not planning on upgrading my monitor anytime soon, so the 256MB frame buffer is not an issue with me. Is the 6800NU still my best bet?

 

[hans030390]

If it's AGP, the 6800nu has a chance to unlock some pipes in it, making it a much better card than the 6600gt.

either way, they're both good cards though.

 

[Pete]

256MB is independent of screen res. New games just use more and better textures, so you may benefit from the extra RAM without needing to be at 1600x1200 with 4xAA. It's worth considering if it's a matter of ~$20, which it may be, as the 6800 uses relatively slow memory.

Are you looking at an AGP card, and can you find a 6800 for the same price as a 6600GT? Then, definitely get the 6800. It's probably worth it even if it's $20-30 more. If you're looking at PCIe, well, those Xbit benches suggest a 6800 is still the best choice, despite RAM that's slightly slower than the AGP version.

 

[Machine350]

:thumbsup: Vote for the 6800.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Wait for the 6800GS. 12pp/5vs clocked at 425/1000 (256bit 256mb GDDR3).
Going to have an MSRP of $249 (6600GTs MSRP when it was released).

Its going to be released very soon, and i would recommend this card since you are buying one at christmas which is atleast 2 months away.

But if not, 6800nu by far.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
Wait for the 6800GS. 12pp/5vs clocked at 425/1000 (256bit 256mb GDDR3).
Going to have an MSRP of $249 (6600GTs MSRP when it was released).

If it goes for $250, unless the prices of the 7800 GT's increase (available for $300 after rebate) there wouldn't be any reason to purchase it.

 

[lifeguard1999]

$130 - 6600GT 128MB
$160 - 6800 128MB
$250 - 6800GS 256MB

You do the math.....

 

[JimmyH]

A $99 Leadtek 6800LE is what you want.

It'll unlock to a 12pipe 6800 ($160) and you just missed the refurbed 6800le deals on newegg. With your 2400+ system, don't spend more than necessary. $99 for a $160 card is sweet. Just keep eye on fatwallet hot deals forum when it'll show up again. By far the fastest 100bux AGP solution.

$99 6800LE