The Holiday Stop Gap: GeForce 6800 GS
by Derek Wilson on November 7, 2005 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
SLI and Antialiasing
SLI can end up nearly doubling performance in some cases. In those cases we will see two 6800 GS cards deliver performance on par with a single 7800 GTX. But much more of the time we will see only a modest performance gain from SLI. Since one 7800 GTX costs about the same as two 6800 GS cards, we have to strongly recommend against going with 6800 GS SLI. If performance is desired and the money is there, the 7800 GTX is the better buy by a long shot.
The memory bandwidth of the 6800 GS makes antialiasing possible on most games at 1280x1024 and below. At higher resolutions, AA performance might not be where we would like. Games like Half-Life 2 will certainly run fine on a 6800 GS with AA enabled at 1600x1200. But the SC:CT and BF2 tests we ran show that the 6800 GS just doesn't have what it takes to make 1600x1200 with 4xAA a reality.
SLI can end up nearly doubling performance in some cases. In those cases we will see two 6800 GS cards deliver performance on par with a single 7800 GTX. But much more of the time we will see only a modest performance gain from SLI. Since one 7800 GTX costs about the same as two 6800 GS cards, we have to strongly recommend against going with 6800 GS SLI. If performance is desired and the money is there, the 7800 GTX is the better buy by a long shot.
The memory bandwidth of the 6800 GS makes antialiasing possible on most games at 1280x1024 and below. At higher resolutions, AA performance might not be where we would like. Games like Half-Life 2 will certainly run fine on a 6800 GS with AA enabled at 1600x1200. But the SC:CT and BF2 tests we ran show that the 6800 GS just doesn't have what it takes to make 1600x1200 with 4xAA a reality.
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rqle - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
it not lack of information, it's helping us fight company from paper launches etc. To me having a great tech website stands behind us is much better then us doing it alone.But if you like you can check out the x1000 series review and compare it to the 6600GT/6800GT if like as well. So really no harm done to you or other as well.
rqle - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
it not lack of information, it's helping us fight company from paper launches etc. To me having a great tech website stands behind us is much better then us doing it alone.But if you like you can check out the x1000 series review and compare it to the 6600GT/6800GT if like as well. So really no harm done to you or other as well.
hoppa - Tuesday, November 8, 2005 - link
I come here so I can get all my tech information in one place, not so I can get it in two.hectorsm - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
Bias implies that you ignores the facts for the purpose of justiying your point of view. Not sure how your comments apply to this article regarding the lack of X1600 parts. Are you suggesting the lack of X1600 is a lie?Anyway the whole pupose of these type of articles is to show both the good and the bad of these products regardless of who's feelings get hurt.
bob661 - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
What did they leave out?ElJefe - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
I never see anything about image clarity, 2d clarity, analog and digital text differences, color rendition etc.i could give a rat's ass if it has 10 frames difference for this or that, however, if the card doesnt look good visually for people who like detail and their eyes, what's the point?
i am critizing the general trend for video card reviews. The only mention of image quality even in a 3d game was with the Crossfire review compared to SLI done this past month. It said that the sli looked fuzzier. How can everyone be happy with nice frames when the thing looks fuzziER and i put a stress on ER because even this ati all in wonder 9800 pro has fuzziness in it compared to the matrox 550 pci card that is along side it for 2d production type of work (and for writing papers/book).
Just had to vent. I doubt it will be responded to though as to add this would require a lot more work. People say sometimes: it should be the same with dvi to an lcd... i dont use lcd, because it is inferior still to my thousand dollar Mitsubishi 22 inch monitor for gaming and for 2d stuff. So... yeah. thats about it. at .21-.24 dot pitch (center measurement to outer measurement) you see the difference with graphic cards. LCD's dont have the dot pitch yet it seems, so maybe that is why it isnt noticed as much.
just some thoughts.
the card looks nice though. I just havent trusted Nvidia for 2d graphics cards ever.
Hercules versions of cards had the best 2d I have seen, too bad they got swallowed up.
NFS4 - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=14-...">In stock RIGHT NOW SHIPPING TODAY from NewEgg for $209ViRGE - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
$209? That's a bit nuts, this may very well be a sub-$200 card by Christmas time.deathwalker - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
Nuts? Wait..did we read the same review? This card performs nearly identical to the 6800gt priced at near $300 at most places. I would say $209 plus $5 shipping is a pretty decent deal for this kind of performance compared to other cards on the market.ViRGE - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
No, I mean nuts in that they could have easily sold it for near the $250 MSRP. It's nuts that all of a sudden today 6800GT performance can be had for a hair over $200.