NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT Roundup
Introduction
After a series of materials on video cards based on the GeForce 6800GT chips was published, we started receiving simply tons of letters of the same contents which can ve interpreted with one phrase/question/exclamation/yell "Which one on earth is better?!". Frankly, we often ask ourselves this question because manufacturers started experimenting with whatever clock speeds and combinations to their utmost and more than enough. And all this feast is going on on two platforms!
We already noted that nowadays the PCI-Express ideology is being actively introduced into the mass consciousness. Presentation of new solutions, astounding results at quite affordable price, the very atmosphere of new technologies and progress which is so dear to our heart - everyone plays own toys. Some turn ecstatic on seeing a brand-new car, to others a new designer's collection makes their mouths water, and we are ready for varied whatever deeds for the sake of upgrading our systems. The PCI-Express, and SLI, SM 3.0, as well as other novelties are able bringing you so much joy and making you build fine prospects when you imagine that this "cool thing" is there on your table at home and you can fully enjoy all those miracles which as far back as a few months ago agitated imagination of fanciers enviously watching photos and graphs in reviews.
However, SLI is no more than future prospects, but what are we having now? Lucky owners of AGP-systems who are not planning to migrate to the PCI-Express in the near future - what are prospects for them in terms of upgrading the video system?
As we promised, we decided to facilitate the hard choice between the good and better options. We are presenting all video cards based on the GeForce 6800GT video chip tested by us for your judgment, and giving you a roundup of all the advantages and shortcomings of each card so that you could make your own choice from the numerous list which matches your taste, wallet and demands.
Needless to say, we'll place a special accent on the overclocking potential of each video card, and will give you information on the temperature coefficients for each solution as the operating speed of the card goes up.
So, to begin with, we are presenting all today's heroes. Some of them are already known to you from our previous reviews, and some others, e.g., Reference NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT (AGP) and Reference NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT PCI-E, Gigabyte GeForce 6800GT, and ASUS V9999 Gamer Edition will be tested for the first time and examined in detail.
First off, bringing in the GeForce 6800GT specifications:
| Video cards |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6800Ultra |
| Code name |
NV40 |
NV40 |
| Process technology |
0,13 |
0,13 |
| Q-ty of transistors |
222 mln |
222 mln |
| Memory bus |
256-bit (GDDR3) |
256-bit (GDDR3) |
| Bus |
AGP 4x / 8x |
AGP 4x / 8x |
| Memory |
256Mb |
256Mb |
| Chip clock speed |
350 MHz |
400 MHz |
| Memory speed |
500 MHz (1000 GDDR3) |
550 MHz (1100 GDDR3) |
| Video memory access time |
GDDR3 2.0 ns |
GDDR 1.6 ns |
| Q-ty of Vertex Pipelines |
6 |
6 |
| Q-ty of pixel pipelines |
16 |
16 |
And more detailed specifications of boards not taking part in this material, because not all of them are identical in the operating speeds, and some of them offer even more essential differences:
| Video cards |
Chip |
Core/Mem |
Mem type |
PC/VC |
Interface |
| GeForce 6800GT NVIDIA Reference |
NV40 |
350/1000DDR3 |
256-bit 2 ns |
16/6 |
AGP 4x / 8x |
| Leadtek A400GT |
NV40 |
350/1000DDR3 |
256-bit 2 ns |
16/6 |
AGP 4x / 8x |
| Galaxy Glacier GeForce 6800GT |
NV40 |
370/1000DDR3 |
256-bit 2 ns |
16/6 |
AGP 4x / 8x |
| Gainward GeForce 6800GT Golden Sample |
NV40 |
400/1100DDR3 |
256-bit 2 ns |
16/6 |
AGP 4x / 8x |
| Gigabyte GeForce 6800GT |
NV40 |
350/1000DDR3 |
256-bit 2 ns |
16/6 |
AGP 4x / 8x |
| ASUS V9999 GE |
NV40 |
350/1000DDR3 |
256-bit 2 ns |
12/5 |
AGP 4x / 8x |
| NVIDIA Reference GeForce 6800GT PCI-E |
NV45 |
350/1000DDR3 |
256-bit 2 ns |
16/6 |
PCI-Express x16 |
Now let's take a closer look at each of the participants of today's contest and start with the reference card NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT having the AGP-interface.
 |
Top Stories: |
 |
 |
|
MoBo:
| |
|
|
VGA Card:
|
|
|
|
CPU & Memory:
|
|
