Refurbished GPU???
- Thread starter JoeJ615
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JoeJ615 said:
I don't know if you can flash a 6800nu to a 6800GT but I think you can OC it to 6800GT speeds.
dhw is right SM 3.0 is DirectX. It is DX9.0c. The X800 Pro is DX9.0b.
I also wouldn't say that SM 3.0 is "vital" but it definitely enhances your gaming and visual experience and in the end isn't that why you want to upgrade your GPU? In the upcoming year and this fall, more and more games will use SM 3.0 and this time you can definitely see a visual difference where as with the Far Cry patch it was more performance.
Also, the X800 Pro is not as troublesome as bee's. I know people with X800 Pro and they don't have the types of problems bee has been describing on these forums for a long time. It could be just his configuration...who knows?
But you have to ask yourself...what kind of games do you want to play? Not just now or yesterday but also tomorrow. If you want to AOE3 or HL2:Aftermath in all it's glory you should opt for the 6800nu because it has SM 3.0. It might give you a lower performance (fps) than a X800 Pro but you have to give some to take some. If you can flash a 6800nu to a "real" 6800GT then get it. If not then you really have to weigh your options.
But look at this before you decide:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec/partners/shadermodel30_NVIDIA.mspx
so basically you're saying as far as pure performance the X800 Pro will play the next gen games better as far as smooth frame rates on higher settings .. but as far as getting all the eye candy i would be better off with the 6800nu even though i may end up with some lag and low frame rates in future games on higher settings?
Mr. Switch
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OK, IÂ’ll give you the skinny on this.
I have a GeForce 6800NU and it does pretty well. The result of it only having 128MB of VRAM is really my only gripe about it. Because it doesn't have 256MB of RAM, you can't jack up Anisotropic Filtering to the max, because the more you do that the more texture memory you use up. ItÂ’s the same story with Anti-Aliasing.
As far as the 6800NU being flashed to a 6800GT....
The 6800NU AGP is really a 6800 Ultra with slower core clock speeds, 128MB of DDR RAM instead of 256MB of DDR3, its clocked at 700MHz instead of 1.something GHz (and no matter what ramsinks you use, you won't get the RAM frequencies that high because DDR1 is really, REALLY hot) and it has 4 locked pipelines and 1 locked vertex unit. Its cheaper to manufacture 1 type of product and branch off that, than to make 5 different types of products.
With RivaTuner, you can easily unlock those 4 pipelines and the extra vertex unit, but the chances of it being successful w/o artifacts is slim. And unless you OC to the max before you unlock the pipes and units, your fps increase might be 10fps.
In the long run, itÂ’s not worth it.
Now as far SM 3.0, itÂ’s your call. Valve announced that the ATI X-series cards with SM 2.0b will be able to run it on high with HDR like the Geforce 6-series. In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the Radeon X800Â’s can run the game maxed out like the GeForce 6-series thanks to a recent patch. Far Cry has HDR, but will only work on SM 3.0 cards. BF2 has support for SM 3.0 that increases the shadow quality, but then again, the shadows look like trash, so they would be off anyway.
The X800 Pro, because of its higher clock speeds, and more memory, performs better than the 6800NU in most everything except OpenGL titles. My 6800 has trouble with HL2, but I think that may have been a motherboard issue, I havenÂ’t tried it with my new motherboard, but IÂ’ll see what happens later. My 6800NU can run any game (with the Exception of Fear and BF2) on the highest. Far Cry at 1280x1024 maxed with 2xAA and 8xAF is truly a religious experience. Doom 3 at 1600x1200 is immaculate, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory with HDR, Soft Shadows, and Parallax mapping is Immortal.
So, if you wan better framerates today, get the X800 Pro, but if you want more flexibility tomorrow, get a 256MB 6800NU or GT (depending on the price)
I have a GeForce 6800NU and it does pretty well. The result of it only having 128MB of VRAM is really my only gripe about it. Because it doesn't have 256MB of RAM, you can't jack up Anisotropic Filtering to the max, because the more you do that the more texture memory you use up. ItÂ’s the same story with Anti-Aliasing.
As far as the 6800NU being flashed to a 6800GT....
The 6800NU AGP is really a 6800 Ultra with slower core clock speeds, 128MB of DDR RAM instead of 256MB of DDR3, its clocked at 700MHz instead of 1.something GHz (and no matter what ramsinks you use, you won't get the RAM frequencies that high because DDR1 is really, REALLY hot) and it has 4 locked pipelines and 1 locked vertex unit. Its cheaper to manufacture 1 type of product and branch off that, than to make 5 different types of products.
With RivaTuner, you can easily unlock those 4 pipelines and the extra vertex unit, but the chances of it being successful w/o artifacts is slim. And unless you OC to the max before you unlock the pipes and units, your fps increase might be 10fps.
In the long run, itÂ’s not worth it.
Now as far SM 3.0, itÂ’s your call. Valve announced that the ATI X-series cards with SM 2.0b will be able to run it on high with HDR like the Geforce 6-series. In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, the Radeon X800Â’s can run the game maxed out like the GeForce 6-series thanks to a recent patch. Far Cry has HDR, but will only work on SM 3.0 cards. BF2 has support for SM 3.0 that increases the shadow quality, but then again, the shadows look like trash, so they would be off anyway.
The X800 Pro, because of its higher clock speeds, and more memory, performs better than the 6800NU in most everything except OpenGL titles. My 6800 has trouble with HL2, but I think that may have been a motherboard issue, I havenÂ’t tried it with my new motherboard, but IÂ’ll see what happens later. My 6800NU can run any game (with the Exception of Fear and BF2) on the highest. Far Cry at 1280x1024 maxed with 2xAA and 8xAF is truly a religious experience. Doom 3 at 1600x1200 is immaculate, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory with HDR, Soft Shadows, and Parallax mapping is Immortal.
So, if you wan better framerates today, get the X800 Pro, but if you want more flexibility tomorrow, get a 256MB 6800NU or GT (depending on the price)
would love to get a 256MB 6800nu but i cant find one lol .. every 6800nu i've seen is 128MB ... and i would love to get a 6800GT but it's a full $100 out of my price range, i've even considered the 6600GT as an option BUT it's a 128MB memory interface compared to the 6800nu and X800 Pro at 256MB memory interface and im sure that plus 4 less pipelines just wouldnt make it a good option Ok so i think i got the relevance of SM 3.0 but can someone give me the skinny on what the ACTUAL performance difference is between 128MB DDR and 256MB DDR3? is it the ability to crank up the AA and AF? or possibly even the ability to run some titles in the near future? (as in a year or 2 because i dont upgrade often lol)
GeForce 6800 256MB PCIE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122207
Here is the deal: I dont think there are any 256MB AGP versions, but there are 256MB PCIE versions.
There is a leadtek 6800 GT for $295 with a $20 mail in rebate on Newegg right now. So it would come out to $275 if u can afford that
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122209
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122207
Here is the deal: I dont think there are any 256MB AGP versions, but there are 256MB PCIE versions.
There is a leadtek 6800 GT for $295 with a $20 mail in rebate on Newegg right now. So it would come out to $275 if u can afford that
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122209
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