Video card for gaming: recommendations

[mjia]

I built a machine for a friend a week ago, but he's decided that he wants better performance for gaming now. It's a Athlon 64 3500+, and uses PCI Express, no SLI. He is not the kind of person who is confortable overclocking his system, so that is not really an option.

He is looking to spend upto $225 CDN ($200 USD), before tax.

I haven't been keeping up with video card news since 5 years ago, so I'm not that familliar with the newer GPUs. The games that he wants it to support resonably are Fear and RF online.

I'm think about the GeForce 6800GS. I can get an XFX one for $220 CDN. Opinions? Better alternatives?

He bought the machine from NCIX (we are in vancouver bc) and we will be going to return the original cheap video card tomorrow. I'd like to be able to get the new one at NCIX as well for simplicity.

Thanks in adavance for any suggestions!

Here are the PCI Express video cards sold at NCIX: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=108&subminorcatid=35

Here are some that are on sale at NCIX:
$160: eVGA E-GEFORCE 6600GT 128M DDR3
$195: Sapphire Radeon X1600XT 590MHZ 256MB 1.38GHZ DDR3
$210: CONNECT3D Radeon X800 GTO 256MB 256BIT GDDR3
$220: Sapphire Radeon X800 GTO2 256MB 256BIT GDDR3
$220: XFX GeForce 6800GS 485MHZ 256MB 256BIT 1.1GHZ DDR3

 

[Cooler]

if he likes OC and unlocking pipes then x800 GTO2 is for him since it can be turned into a x850xt PE

 

[Munky]

I'd go either for the 6600gt to save money or the 6800gs as the fastest stock card out of the above choices. Normally, I would recommend the gto2, but since he wont be OC'ing and much less likely to flash a bios, the gs is better out of the box. Also, if the x1600xt could be had for a similar price as the 6600gt, I'd take it as it's generally faster and has some newer features, but at that price it's not really worth the extra cost over the 6600gt.

 

[Malladine]

the GS

 

[JPB]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102483

 

[Astonm]

newegg dont ship to Canada, its killing me. And im about to order the 6800 from NCIX (EVGA though, so i can OC w/ a warranty) myself. Plus the shipping aint to bad, next day for $15.

 

[Piuc2020]

6800GS is your best bet.

 

[mjia]

Thanks for the opinions!

So how much of an advantage would the 6800GS give over the 6600GT? $220 is somewhat pushing his budget, so he would be very happy if he can save the $60 difference but not loose a great deal of performance.

I'd like to be able to give him different options and the differences btw then. Anyone able to give me a crude estimate in the % difference in frame rates for demanding games like Fear (1024x768, moderate quality)?

The Sapphire X800 GTO2 sounds interesting as well...I can flash it to be equivalent to an X850 XT? I can do the modification for him and as long as the card works properly, he won't have any problems if I do it for him. I understand that this sort of thing can't be guarenteed to work, but it seems that people have had 100% success so far...I don't want him to buy the card and find out this won't work.

Here is the link i found: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/127/2

Also, it seems rumored that the sappire has now been unlocked and runs 16 pipelines stock. So, is the only diff btw the X800 GTO2 (running with 16 pipelines) and the X850 XT the clock speed? Would the X800 GTO2 (w/ 16 pipelines, but at stock clock speeds) outperform the 6800GS?

 

[ElFenix]

this review features both the 6800gs and the x850 xt

 

[mjia]

Future support is also a big concern of his. According to this site: http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q4/geforce-6800gs/index.x?pg=12 the X800 XL does not support Shader Model 3.0 (the 6800GS does). ATI supports this in their X1000 line, but what about the modded Sapphire GTO2?

EDIT: Alright, it seems that I've found the answer to this question here: http://reviews.cnet.com/ATI_Radeon_X850...Fire_Edition/4514-8902_7-31518017.html

Looks like getting the 6800GS is getting even more favorable...

 

[Astonm]

well the 6800GS probably cant handle most nice effects at high res, it does have SM3 and HDR capabilities, making it more futureproof. It also eliminates the offchance that a bios flash doesnt work. Also, the GS usually overlclcoks like a beast, going from 425/1000(485/1100in your case) to around 520/1250.

 

[RussianSensation]

6800GS overclocked for $220 is well worth the extra $$$ over 6600GT since it's 2x faster for $60 more. And since your friend wont overclock or unlock, GTO2 is out of the question. The rest are not really contenders. 6800GS should handle any game on high settings without AA/AF which means it should last at least 1 full year if those features are disabled.

 

[jjdu4]

another vote for a 6800GS......I prefer eVGA's superclocked version!

 

[g00n]

If $200 is the price point its hard to beat the 6800GS (according to all the benches/reviews I've read).

 

[mjia]

I spoke with my friend and he agreed on getting the 6800GS. Thanks everyone for all the advice!

The only thing left is power/temp. while running. The case is pretty cheap and he is running a cheap 300 or 350 (don't recall) PSU, so I'd like to stress test the system/video card to determine if his machine can support the components reliably. I have his case fan running at ~6V, so if heat is a problem, I can crank it up (it's an evercool 120mm aluminum fan).

What I need is some test program that will max out the video card. Any suggestions? And what program can I use to monitor the video card/GPU's temperature?

What if I ran something like super pi simultaneously? Do you think the temp will be higher on the GPU since the hot CPU will increase overall system temp? Or will the video card's temp software already saturated the CPU?

Lastly, what are safe GPU/video card temperature? How about prolonged sytem/cpu temperatures (AMD 64 3500+)?

 

[CKXP]

the 6800gs runs pretty cool with the stock heatsink, also what's the amperage on the 12v rail on the PSU?

btw: NV recommends a 350w PSU

 

[mjia]

Originally posted by: CKXP
the 6800gs runs pretty cool with the stock heatsink, also what's the amperage on the 12v rail on the PSU?

btw: NV recommends a 350w PSU

I unfortunately won't know that until tomorrow, when I meet my friend to exchange the video card (I'll post it tomorrow evening).

There is no harm in trying it out is there? You think that the added load will damage the power supply after prolonged use?

 

[mjia]

Originally posted by: jjdu4
another vote for a 6800GS......I prefer eVGA's superclocked version!

So NCIX is also selling the eVGA for a very similar price $225: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?...-N386-AX&manufacture=eVGA&promoid=1017

You would recommend this over the XFX? Is this a warrentee thing, or is the eVGA board more reliable or offers better performance?

The XFX is set to a higher clock speed...is that just a matter of it being overclocked in it's stock configuration? Are the two cards really the same, ie overclocking the eVGA would give the same performance.