NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS 256MB

[D_o_S]

[page=Introduction]
NVIDIA 6800 GS

NVIDIA provided our test sample. Thank you.

The 6800 GS is NVIDIA’s latest product in the GeForce 6 series line up. Manufactured using a 110nm process, this new GPU features 12 pixel pipelines, 5 vertex pipelines, and a 256-bit memory interface. The reference clocks for this card are 425 MHz GPU and 1000 MHz GDDR3. Like most modern NVIDIA cards, this one too has a SLI connector, so you can pair up two 6800 GS in SLI.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/6800gstablet.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/6800gstableb.jpg)
As you can see from the table above, the 6800 GS has a higher GPU clock than the 6800 Ultra (which is not being manufactured anymore) by 25 MHz, albeit having less pixel pipes. However, the memory is backed down on the 6800 GS in comparison to the Ultra, this time by 50 MHz (100 MHz effectively).

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/6800gsslidet.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/6800gslideb.jpg)
[page=The card]
The card
The card that we received was the reference sample from NVIDIA.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/cardfrontt.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/cardfrontb.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/cardbackt.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/cardbackb.jpg)
At first glance, we can immediately point out some differences when compared to the 6800 Ultra. The one slot cooling solution pops right up. After closer inspection we also see that the voltage controlling circuitry is designed differently.

After removing the top plate, we can see the all-copper heatsink (smaller than the one of the 6800 Ultra), a blower that blows through the heatsink, and a piece of metal that cools the memory. This black piece of metal is similar to the memory cooler used on the 7800 series, except painted black.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/cardfant.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/cardfanb.jpg)

The blower is manufactured by Delta, and is rated at 0.36A
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/fant.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/fanb.jpg)

After removing the heatsink, we can proceed to take a look at the core and memory.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/coret.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/coreb.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/totalt.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/totalb.jpg)
One thing worth noticing is the actual writing on the core: it says GF-6800-GTS-G3-B1. It seems that NVIDIA was uncertain about the naming of the card until the very last moment.

The thermal paste used on the GPU seems to be of good quality (it is silver colored), but I would be more concerned with the thermal pads used as the TIM between the memory and the memory HSF. I think it would be much better if NVIDIA used the same thermal paste on the memory as it did on the GPU.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/hsft.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/hsfb.jpg)

Next comes a comparison of the 6800 GS and the 6800 Ultra:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/comparet.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/compareb.jpg)
From the picture we can see that the 6800 GS has 1 DVI port and 1 VGA port. I think that this is a shame, considering the fact that CRTs are slowly finding their way out of PC shops.

The one slot cooler can be considered both a benefit as well as a disadvantage. It will allow you to fit the card onto motherboards where there is no PCI or PCI-E slot after the PEG slot (small SFF systems), but it will not cool the card as well as the two slot cooler.

[Page=Installation, Overclocking & Test system]
Installation:
Installing the card was no sweat. After securing the 6800 GS and plugging in its 6 pin power connector, I proceeded to boot up the PC. All I had to do to get the card running was download the latest drivers from the NVIDIA website. As far as your PSU is concerned, NVIDIA claims that this card has a maximum power draw of 70W, so a 350W PSU is recommended for a single card setup, 420W for SLI. We used an Enermax EG-701 (600W) and everything ran without problems.

The card is quiet even when the fan spins at 100%, nothing like the 6800 Ultra at full blast.

Overclocking
Overclocking the card was a pleasure. The GPU ran without problems at 480 MHz (55 MHz increase) and the memory topped out at 1280 MHz (280 MHz increase). Temperatures rose to around 65 C on the GPU when under full load. Powerstrip was used to obtain these clocks, ATITool was used to scan for artifacts.

Test System
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="100" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon 64 3500+</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">DFI Lanparty nF4 SLI-DR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 512MB OCZ PC3200 EL CL 2 3-2-5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Video Card:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">NVIDIA 6800 GS, 6800 Ultra</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">2x WD Raptor RAID 0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Enermax EG-701</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2, Forceware 81.94</td>
</tr>
</table>

[page=3D Mark & Aquamark]
3D Mark
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmark01.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmark03.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmark05.gif
We can see that the 6800GS comes very close to the Ultra in all tests, especially when overclocked, the "missing" pipeline doesn't show to be much of a disadvantage.

Aquamark 3
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/aquamark3.gif
Overclocking seems to have done wonders in these benchmarks. The OCed card comes very close to its brother when anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering is turned off. When the test is run with 4xAA and 16xAF, the overclocked 6800GS has a 1050 point lead over the Ultra.
[page=3D Mark feature tests & Ragtroll]
3D Mark feature tests
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmarkf4.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmarkf5.gif
While the 6800 GS does better than Sapphire's X850XT PE in the single texturing test, cards manufactured by NVIDIA are left in the dust on the multi texturing benchmark.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmarkf6.gif
6800 Ultra wins hands down. Also worth noting is the fact that the overclock adds 20 frames in this scenario.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmarkf7.gif http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/3dmarkf8.gif

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/ragtroll.gif
Very even situation, the standard clocked 6800GS is a little behind compared to its opponents, but it makes up for it one overclocked, just crossing the finish line as number 1.

[page=UT2004 & Serious Sam-The second Encounter]
UT2004
Unreal Tournament 2004 results were obtained from an average of 3 time demos.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/ut2004.gif

Serious Sam-The second Encounter
Serious Sam was benchmarked using The Grand Cathedral Timedemo
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/serioussam.gif
In the low resolution test, the 6800 GS pulls upfront, but does not manage to keep its position in the high resolution benchmark.

[page=Doom 3, Half Life 2 & Far Cry]
Doom 3
Doom 3 was benchmarked using Timedemo 1.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/doom3.gif

Half life 2
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/hl2.gif
Interestingly, the 6800 GS manages to draw the most frames per second in the low resolution test, leaving behind the single ATi card in our benchmarks.

Far Cry
Far Cry was benchmarked using the Volcano timedemo.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/farcry.gif
Very even results between the 6800 GS and the 6800 Ultra.
[page= Call of Duty 2, FEAR & Battlefield 2]
Call of Duty 2
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/cod2.gif
Call of Duty 2 really seems to suit the 6800 GS. When overclocked, it manages to come first in both the low resolution test as well as the high resolution test.

F.E.A.R.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/fear.gif

Battlefield 2
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/6800gs/images/bf2.gif
Battlefield 2 draws our benchmarks to a close. Here, the 6800 GS comes in third.

[page=Value & Conclusion]
Value and conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
You should be able to find the 6800GS retail at about $200, which is fair, considering its performance</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Great overclocking on both core and memory
Silent fan
Copper heatsink
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Thermal pads between HSF and memory
Heatsink doesn't cope well with the heat produced.
</td></tr>
<tr><th>8.1</th>
<td>
NVIDIA is successfully filling all the gaps on today's market, offering solutions for both the masses as well as the few "exclusive" people. The 6800GS is aimed at people looking for a compromise between performance and money, and I think that it manages to fulfill its aims successfully. It manages to bring performance close to the 6800 Ultra, which is no longer being manufactured. The great overclocking potential is a welcome bonus.</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/recommended.gif</td></tr>
</table>

[mindaugas]

I wonder how that compares to Sapphire X800 GTO2 with 16pipes opened and OC'ed?! Performance in games and 3dmarks.

Point is that the price of both is now close, of course, with time 6800 gs will drop faster - interim product.

[jjcom]

The X850XT PE should give an idea of what a GTO2 would do, if it was clocked to 540/590

[spectre440]

I wonder how that compares to Sapphire X800 GTO2 with 16pipes opened and OC'ed?! Performance in games and 3dmarks.

Point is that the price of both is now close, of course, with time 6800 gs will drop faster - interim product.


yes, but the GTO2 wont (at least as far as i know...) be available on AGP interconnect.
and the 6800GS will.

which is good news for all of us who are still using ye olde AGP interconnect and cant really afford a complete new system just to get a new graphics card...

[mindaugas]

yes, but the GTO2 wont (at least as far as i know...) be available on AGP interconnect.
and the 6800GS will.

which is good news for all of us who are still using ye olde AGP interconnect and cant really afford a complete new system just to get a new graphics card...

I don't have such a problem: using ASRock 939 SataII mobo with ULi chipset, which has both PCI-E and AGP slots directly working with the chip without any intermediary interconnections. Check the review here on techpowerup - a mobo really worth an interest, especially considering its range of features and price - 60-80$.

Russians compared 6800 GS with GTO2 (http://www.overclockers.ru/lab/20692.shtml) - cards are very close in performance, especially OC'ed. 6800GS is doing slightly better in nominal frequencies and in most of the cases OC'ed. Yet it again appears that in some of the games ATI is doing better than NVIDIA, which is typical for these games (Half-Life 2, Far Cry).

I'd say 6800GS is perhaps the choice now with a very tiny margin:
- faster nominally
- OC potential of both cards is always a lottery, yet GTO2 is a higher risk area, since you're juggling with bios'es and voiding warranty.

So, if the price doesn't differ much - 6800GS; if the difference is more considerable - the cheaper one.

Now, question remains, which of the 6800GS models is worth the buck? (highest quality and OC potential)

[spectre440]

probably the XFX ones, that's my hunch at least....

[wazzledoozle]

I would take a 6800GT over a 6800GS

[spectre440]

I would take a 6800GT over a 6800GS

too bad its more expensive.
and they dont make them any more. at least for AGP interconnect...

[HookeyStreet]

I would take a 6800GT over a 6800GS

I dont know about that m8, check out this review that compares both cards:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/292/1/

The XFX 6800GS (xxx edition I think) seems to outperform the 6800GT :eek:

[spectre440]

how about a review of the "new"-ish 6800GS for AGP?

seems they've finally hit the stores, and not pre-orders...

[Pelham Manor Cats]

I want to upgrade to a better video card.

What I have:
Dell Dimension 8200
1 gig memory
Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4600 video card
Windows XP Home - SP2
Intel Processor

I was looking at the the card you reviewed:

XFX GeForce 6800GS 256MB.

It gets confusing because there are so many different video cards called 6800GS.

One has HD-TV x16 which I assume is better than the one that has no HD-TV and is 4x/8x.

If you can help me decide which one to get, it would be helpful if you could give me the actual number of it as well as the name.
Someone already told me to get the 6800GS, but never said which one.

Thank you

[BIOHazard87]

not confusing at all:


no HD-TV and is 4x/8x. = AGP.
One has HD-TV x16 = PCI-E (PCI-Express)

[HookeyStreet]

I want to upgrade to a better video card.

What I have:
Dell Dimension 8200
1 gig memory
Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4600 video card
Windows XP Home - SP2
Intel Processor

I was looking at the the card you reviewed:

XFX GeForce 6800GS 256MB.

It gets confusing because there are so many different video cards called 6800GS.

One has HD-TV x16 which I assume is better than the one that has no HD-TV and is 4x/8x.

If you can help me decide which one to get, it would be helpful if you could give me the actual number of it as well as the name.
Someone already told me to get the 6800GS, but never said which one.

Thank you

By the sounds of it you need a GeFORCE 6800GS AGP card. If you live in the UK either of these would suit your needs:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/6800_Series.html

[Solaris17]

actually i just did a quick chek it it seems the 8200 doesnt even have an agp slot just 5 pci.

[HookeyStreet]

actually i just did a quick chek it it seems the 8200 doesnt even have an agp slot just 5 pci.

OMG hes got a problem then :o

[spectre440]

OMG hes got a problem then :o

lol, that's putting it mildly. very mildly....

hehehe...

[xGordox]

i want one, i love msi nx6800gs