-
Competitor rules
Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.
x850xt or 6800gs?
- Thread starter Foxor`
- Start date
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 27 Sep 2004
- Posts
- 25,821
- Location
- Glasgow
At stock I'd definitely go with the X850XT, it (or rather the X800XT PE) was designed to compete with the 6800ultra which is faster than the 6800gs(replacing the 6800gt, more or less). After overclocking there may not be much difference in performance but the X850XT still has 16 pipelines to the 6800gs' 12. Basically it all comes down to the X850XT is the better card although not Shader Model 3.0 compliant.
Associate
- Joined
- 15 Nov 2002
- Posts
- 447
I've got the same decision to make... but can't decide whether its worth going for the shadermodel 3 compliant 6800GS or the marginally better performing x850 XT. Is there a huge difference in IQ between the 2 cards?
Associate
- Joined
- 15 Nov 2002
- Posts
- 447
I went for the 6800 GS. Seems the x850 is a bit quicker generally but there's not much in it. I couldn't really decide between the two so just went for nVidia because I bought ATi last time.
It wouldn't be surprised if the IQ is slightly better on ATi cards... it was when i went from ti4200 to radeon 9700.
It wouldn't be surprised if the IQ is slightly better on ATi cards... it was when i went from ti4200 to radeon 9700.
p4radox said:
I have a X850XT and it does support HDR through SM2.0b simply set all parameters for maxium quality and you will have HDR enabled automatically in Far Cry if you have downloaded the 1.3 patch of the game. Image quality is stunning in my opinon at 1280x1024. Try it and see. I'm sure others will say it is not as good as SM3 HDR but I have no frame of reference to comment.
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=201&type=expert&pid=7
Far Cry 1.3 patch can be downloaded from here.
http://www.ubi.com/US/Downloads/Info.aspx?dlId=691
Go on and see the difference, and don't regret your purchase for current games.
Last edited:
I'd try and look for a second hand 6800 ultra, just as fast as the x850xt pe and supports sm3.0. allthough sm3.0 isn't really that evident in games at the moment by the end of the year most games will probably be using the most of it.
my clocked x850xt (6400 3d05) is slightly better in sm2.0 tests them my bro's stock 6800 ultra (6200 3d05) and is a fair bit better then the 6800gs (4800 3d05), which supposidly doesn't clock that well. So it just depends if you want the best of the games out at the moment or want to lack abit now and boast sm3.0 support in the future or if you can get a 6800 ultra then have the best of both worlds.
my clocked x850xt (6400 3d05) is slightly better in sm2.0 tests them my bro's stock 6800 ultra (6200 3d05) and is a fair bit better then the 6800gs (4800 3d05), which supposidly doesn't clock that well. So it just depends if you want the best of the games out at the moment or want to lack abit now and boast sm3.0 support in the future or if you can get a 6800 ultra then have the best of both worlds.
blackbull said:
I have Patch 1.3, and everything is already set to max. But it's definitely not HDR. Even when you have an SM3 card you have to enable it with the r_HDRendering 7 command in the console. With an 850 the closest you can get is 'paradise' mode. So I'm not sure what you've managed.
Could you post screenshots?
HDR is ONLY supported in Far Cry via SM3.0. You can use SM2.0b rendering path, but not HDR.
You simply can't have HDR in Far Cry on ATI hardware prior to the x1800 range.
Other games, however, support HDR on earlier ATI chipsets (e.g. HL2).
You simply can't have HDR in Far Cry on ATI hardware prior to the x1800 range.
Other games, however, support HDR on earlier ATI chipsets (e.g. HL2).
Q, do you want to buy a card new and play games in 2.5+year old extentions, if so buy a Ati X800/850.
Q, Or do you want to play games in dx9c / s.m 3.0 / p.s 3.0 and hdr, even if some will be a few fps slower than above cards as they are working harder showing new functions (you can turn settings down if you really wanted, least you DO have a choice).
Remember this is Feb 2006 and dx9c came out with sp2 for xp in aug 2004 and nvidia 6000 series were paper launched in april 2004 with all above new extentions, and yes Farcry 1.3 patch was 1st game to show p.s 3.0 / s.m 3.0, and HDR (had to use console to turn on) and was considered beta to the patch.
Q, Or do you want to play games in dx9c / s.m 3.0 / p.s 3.0 and hdr, even if some will be a few fps slower than above cards as they are working harder showing new functions (you can turn settings down if you really wanted, least you DO have a choice).
Remember this is Feb 2006 and dx9c came out with sp2 for xp in aug 2004 and nvidia 6000 series were paper launched in april 2004 with all above new extentions, and yes Farcry 1.3 patch was 1st game to show p.s 3.0 / s.m 3.0, and HDR (had to use console to turn on) and was considered beta to the patch.
HangTime said:
What can I say but whoops!! Sorry to p4radox for the misinformation, I have been mislead.
I wish I could remember where I read that it was automatically enabled if you maxed everything (it was in the last week as well.) As for IQ, (thats image quality not my intelligence quotient!) it still looks stunning to me but as I said my only frame of reference was a X600 pro before on 1028x768 medium settings.
Last edited:
. Well we can both agree that it looks stunning, fantastic game. 
Hi there
In performance terms - The X850 XT is the quicker card than a 6800 GS, but the overclocked 6800 GS is not much slower but the X850 XT still beats it.
At the moment the X850 XT's are bargins on PCI-E so go for one, though the OcUK 6800 GS is also a bargain too.
If its AGP X850 XT still wins and OcUK stock arrives early next week.
In performance terms - The X850 XT is the quicker card than a 6800 GS, but the overclocked 6800 GS is not much slower but the X850 XT still beats it.
At the moment the X850 XT's are bargins on PCI-E so go for one, though the OcUK 6800 GS is also a bargain too.
If its AGP X850 XT still wins and OcUK stock arrives early next week.
Yip but the ati shows you games the way they looked 2.5years ago not even got dx9c, be totally dumb to buy a dx9b card today, its only faster cause its running dx9b and lesser extentions. 
well im of to blow up my 6800U agp Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
well im of to blow up my 6800U agp Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee