NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 and 6800 GT GPUs

The 6800 GT offers up compelling performance, matching or besting the X800 PRO in almost all of the tests, and when it’s not beating the X800 PRO it’s very close. With better OpenGL performance from the X800 PRO it’d be tempting to split the recommendation between the two, but at the time of writing the GT definitely gets my personal nod over the X800 PRO. Its performance is competitive with the Ultra for the most part, and NVIDIA may wonder in the future why they clocked it so close. I use an Athlon FX-51 for my testing and while it’s not the fastest CPU on the planet these days, it’s damn close. CPU limitation is still hard to overcome, so choosing the GT is wise.

The performance of the plain 6800 comes in just where it should, with around 70% of the GT’s performance in most cases. If NVIDIA are able to tweak the 128MB texture/data overflow case in a few apps, the 6800 looks great for those looking to spend around £200. It’s usefully faster than a 9800XT in most DX9-class titles.

NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 and 6800 GT GPUs @ HEXUS