two 6800 Ultra or one 8600 GTS

[HiddenStupid]

two 6800 Ultra (SLi) or one 8600 GTS? (256mb)

edit: no price evolve. only speed and frame rates

[Darren]

two 6800 Ultra (SLi) or one 8600 GTS? (256mb)

In terms of performance and price the 8600GTS. But I would buy neither, the 8600GTS is averagely slow in comparison the other cards that are similarly priced such as the 8800 GS, 9600GT, and 2900 Pro.

What is your budget, how long does the card have to last you, and what type of games will you be playing?

[Pinchy]

I'd say if you already have the 6800's....keep them until you can buy something like an 8800/38*0.

Unless of course...you want it for HD playback.

If you don't have either of them, I would do what Darren said and save just a bit more for a card that is a lot faster.

[newtekie1]

Whichever option is cheapest.

[wolf]

ATi HD3850 or Nvidia 8800GS/9600GT are about the same price as a 8600GTS and whip it like the family pig.

having said that ive owned an nvidia 6800 ultra and i wouldhave sold my soul for SLi at the time, if you can cheaply enough get your hands on 2 - 512 mb models, then do itt, oldschool powerhouse ftw!

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

skip all a dem deh and get a 8800GS

[HiddenStupid]

I currently have X850XT..... buying a 2nd machine with dual card support. Was gonna get another X850XT and experience crossfire but turns out that I'm i'm not loyal to ATi..... I switch side to Nvidia now due to ovious reason..... driver.

- cannot set max setting in RFonline..blue screen. official game forum mod says conflict with ati driver

- when installing ati driver.... always says windows logo did not pass

- latest driver when enable tray.. white square apear.... disable then good

- many more cannot remember


want to experience Nvidia.... and want to experience their SLi.... want to have dual cards but dont want to spin much money.... I can get two 6800 Ultra for under 120 usd. Right now want to know if two 6800 Ultra will surpass 8600 GTS. jus want to spin under 120 usd. I am 90% getting two 6800 Ultra to experience SLi and to experience Nvidia.

note:
I only play crap games.... asians (mostly koreans) free2play brainlessly grind festival mmo with item mall that currupts pvp and within the game itself and ilegal gold buyers/farmers and botters are a mess as well. I dont usually play mainstream fps games.

I like asian's art style. currently waitinf for requim www.playrequiem.com and Rohan www.playrohan.com and for the real deal.... Aion! Aion will change the history of koreans brainlessly grind festival! plus awesome graphic! cry engine! when Aion come sout that is when I will upgrad emy graphic card for the super high end card.... but for now I just want to experience dual 6800 Ultra in Sli for fun.... but if one 8600 GTS is faster.... I might get that.

[niko084]

8600GTS > 6800Ulta SLI
9600GT-HD3850-8800GS Would be MUCH better and near the same price...

Considering any of those cards will next to match or beat 8600GTS SLI
Also they will use less power and create less heat :)

[Solaris17]

well frame rate wise the 8600GTS wouldnt kill the 6800's in sli....but the frams would be slightely higher with the GTS.....and if you volt modded the GTS or even oc'd it it would kill the ultras.

here.....this link shows u a direct comparison...even with a theoretical sli config button to show you what the bandwidth etc would run at then...i did find awhile back a direct 6800 sli vs an 8600 reveiw dont remember were now though...but the 8600 was slightely faster.


http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=182&card2=512#

[Azazel]

9600gt ftw ..emm i played rf online fine with ati....back when it was p2p

[HiddenStupid]

9600gt ftw ..emm i played rf online fine with ati....back when it was p2p

did you play it on maximum setting on 1280x1024 resolution everything all eneble at the games setting option? it alaways give me blue screen..... then went to the forum.... learned that many have the same problem with ati cards.... mods there said ati driver have conflict with the game and will fix it in future something something like that.... but anyway I dont play RFonline now. just that knowing and experiecing ati driver problem myself make sme want to switch to nvidia.

[choppy]

considering the games you play, just get whichever is cheaper. i think the 8600gt which will be ok too

[Azazel]

emm ya..everything was on max...i had a x1300 pro 256 mb at the time....same resoloution aswell.
i wasent aware of the problem....emm the game quality went down the drain when it went f2p...

[JrRacinFan]

8600GTS, if the option to buy another in the future for SLi.

[Darren]

mods there said ati driver have conflict with the game and will fix it in future something something like that.

ATI and Nvidia don't usually make games specific drivers, which mean any driver issues, are most probably with the game's dodgy coding. It's easy for the game's developers to blame ATI to pass the blame on and not take full responsibility for their crappy coding. I've used both ATI and Nvida over the years and I've never had driver issues playing games with either manufacturer. There has only been a few times such as Crysis and Fear that provoked ATI to release hot fixes, but they were usually to increase performance rather than fix blue screen errors. If you're avoiding ATI cards due to a bad experience with one particular game with dodgy coding it's only going to disadvantage you as you will miss out on good deals.

Like I said before the 6800 Ultra was hot 3-4 years ago and a below average card would outperform it today, the 8600GTS isn't fantastic either and is snail slow compared to other cards priced similar.

Recommendation: ATI 3850, 3870, 2900 Pro/XT, Nvidia 8800 GS/GT, 9600 GT or better

[Tech9]

i would take 2 6800's and overclock them, and i bet that they would whoop 8600gts's ass

[niko084]

i would take 2 6800's and overclock them, and i bet that they would whoop 8600gts's ass

You should probably do some research before you say such incredibly silly things...
6800Ultra SLI 3dmark06- 5810 -Average
8600GTS 3dmark06- 7435 -Average

6800Ultra SLI 3dmark06- 6466 - Record
8600GTS 3dmark06 - 8983 - Record

Sp as you see even the average 8600GTS overclock beats the record 6800Ultra SLI

And thats "JUST" a benchmark, let alone what games are going to perform like on better more advanced hardware, especially anything newer that was designed around cards much like the 8600...

6800Ulta's don't stand a chance against a 8600GTS, even overclocked 6800's will barely scrape the performance of a single factory clocked 8600gts.

[Solaris17]

i would take 2 6800's and overclock them, and i bet that they would whoop 8600gts's ass

i dont really see that happening i had an 8600GT that would destroy a GTS.....and the ultras cant beat a gts stock clocked....any 8600GT/ or GTS alike even non overclocked would storm troop 6800's in sli

[JrRacinFan]

To back you on that Sol, my 8600GT with a very very mild overclock beats 2 6800's in SLi in 3dM06.

[HiddenStupid]

as i scan I see most bring up 3dmark bench.... was gonna ask if anyone still actually have 6800 ultra and have real bench on games and not 3dmark..... then it jus came up..... tomshardware!

6800 ultra sli shows battlefield 2142 has 33.8
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_sli2007.html?modelx=33&model1=867&model2=817&chart=337



8600 GTS 256mb shows battlefield 2142 has 28.8
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=854&model2=854&chart=277











wow prey even shows greater frame rates difference

6800 ultra sli 42.3
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_sli2007.html?modelx=33&model1=867&model2=817&chart=361

8600 gts 256mb 32.1
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=1058&model2=854&chart=301

[wolf]

i would back the oldschool powerhouse if it werent for the fact that a 8600GT is dirt cheap and overclocks like mad! i got a single one to 6666 - 06'3dmarks.

and then theres the fact that SLi isnt usefull in ALOT of games and applications....

my timeless SLi advice is that one faster card is ALWAYS better than 2 slower ones, even if combined they win, its still not worth it unless the pricing is fantastic.

e.g. 50$ for 2x6800U and 100$ for 1x8600GT

[Darren]

HiddenStupid, you just benchmarked two old games, how would the 6800Ultra SLI perform on newer games? Also two 6800 Ultra's cost more than the 8600GTS is it wise investing in old technology at a higher price, thirdly your going to need an SLI capable motherboard at an additional cost.

Why not SLI the 8600GTS?

[HiddenStupid]

HiddenStupid, you just benchmarked two old games, how would the 6800Ultra SLI perform on newer games? Also two 6800 Ultra's cost more than the 8600GTS is it wise investing in old technology at a higher price, thirdly your going to need an SLI capable motherboard at an additional cost.

Why not SLI the 8600GTS?

oh yeah now that you mention it..... yeah it make sense. 6800 ultra sli is superior on older games. I tried seeing on oblivion and heres the result:

6800 ultra sli on oblivion 9.5
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_sli2007.html?modelx=33&model1=867&model2=817&chart=356

8600 GTS on oblivion 16.2
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=859&model2=854&chart=296




overall 6800 ultra sli are superior on games like doom 3, battlefield 2 ect.... but inferior on heavy games like oblivion.

but the games I play now is not heavy..... in my shoes 6800 ultra sli suits me.... but yeah it might be better deals...... will continue studying.

ps. but having 2 top of the top cards of yesterdays nvidia is like.... king! big boy on campus of elementry! 6th grade.... the highest grade in school.

[JrRacinFan]

Hidden, 6800 Ultras in SLI would be worth it ONLY if you already own one of them and can pickup a second one for pennies compared to the 8600GTS.

[niko084]

I also wouldn't give Tomshardware much in the area of confidence... I have seen quite a few very poor and inaccurate looking reviews.

Although I will not doubt the ability of a set of 6800ultra's out performing a 8600gts in some old outdated game, the design is different.
But I don't think it would be nearly as much as it seems from those reviews.

Friend of mine has SLI 6800Ultra's and could barely play Bioshock at mostly low settings 1680x1050.
Where as my 2600xt played it great at medium settings 1680x1050.

[WhiteLotus]

i would go for the one card