Age old Question: 6600GT VS 6800XT/TD

[quik]

Hi there people

I need you input on whether to buy a GeForce 6600GT or a GeForce 6800XT/TD.

I've heard things such as that the 6600GT performs better at lower res (800x 600 - 1024x 768) but that the GeForce 6800XT performs better at higher res (1280x 1024), with it's 256bit memory architechture.

Then there are those who say you can unlock the other 8 pipelines on a 6800 based graphics card thus giving you increased performance. On the other hand, some say the 6600GT with it's DDR3 memory can be overclocked further.

There seems to be no consensus on the net about this issue

The price difference is negligible (6600GT about R80 more expensive)

Currently I'm leaning towards the 6800XT seeing as it is technically the "newer" technology but I'm still not certain.

Your help would be greatly appreciated

 

[stoke]

6800. You should know the bandwidth argument by now.

 

[Person]

6800 Hands down

 

[nocilah]

go to tomshardwareguide.com and get the facts

 

[Silent_Bob]

6800

 

[rburley]

6800
its 256bit

 

[quik]

Ok, seems their is somewhat of a majority vote here

Hopefully the suppliers will have stock.

Any important utilities to get the last bit of juice out of the card, like unlocking the pipelines, safely overclocking the card etc??

 

[killadoob]

wow how could you ask that lol

come on now do some research before you ask these sorta questions

i doubt anyone in south africa has ever unlocked pipelines

 

[rsachoc]

No-one in SA has unlocked pipelines? I hope you were being sarcastic...???

 

[killadoob]

remember the word doubt

and until someone claims to it remains that no one has

do you know someone who has?

 

[Farquaon]

Yes, i have ungloged my showers pipeline(s)!

 

[gkm]

I have unlocked pipelines on my old ATI 9800 SE.

But unlocking pipelines is not something that should be bargained on. Often the extra pipelines are damages, in which case unlocking them result in bad graphics or crashes.

I got the 9800 SE when I exchanged it for another card that gave problems, which meant I got it without any research beforehand and these SE's were new on the market, so I did not know I got a card with half the pipes disabled until I checked afterwards. I would not have gotten it if I knew beforehand. I was just lucky that unlocking the pipes worked out OK.

 

[quik]

wow how could you ask that lol

come on now do some research before you ask these sorta questions

i doubt anyone in south africa has ever unlocked pipelines

I'll ask what I like... if you don't like it, don't post. And I have done research. I've found several utilities, but it always helps to ask what other people have found to work well.

 

[killadoob]

yes i know some lower end cards are better than higher end i understand

better to buy cheap and unlock pipelines got it


how did you unlock the pipelines gkm?

 

[gkm]

I just used a hacked driver to do it, aka a Softmod. Those drivers came out about 2 days after the official ones were released, so it was not a problem to stay up to date. I can go look up the exact driver set I used if you are interested. (They are on a spare drive, so I need to plug it in again to see.) That way I got exactly the same results as a 9800 Pro, so I was pretty lucky.

 

[rsachoc]

I unlocked the pipes and shaders on my stock 6800, using an app called Rivatuner.

It installs a low-level driver, I've had no problems with it, and runs like a dream.
BTW killadoob, your 6800le can also be potentially unlocked by using softmods (most need a hardware modification)

 

[quik]

I unlocked the pipes and shaders on my stock 6800, using an app called Rivatuner.

Awesome.. I'm picking up my GF6800TD this afternoon...

Gonna be sweet

Rivatuner will be the first ap I try. How much of a performance increase did you get after the pipes were unlocked?

 

[EchoDown]

Heard quite a few reports of unlocking,go for it mate,nothing ventured-nothing gained.Should be a fine card anyways,all down to prices really.

 

[killadoob]

unlocking pipelines through software doesnt offer much


soft modding my card is dodgy i mess up i got vga card and no oney for a newone

 

[rsachoc]

unlocking pipelines through software doesnt offer much


soft modding my card is dodgy i mess up i got vga card and no oney for a newone

Unlocking pipelines via a softmod is pretty (totally?) safe! If you get glitches or breakups simply lock them again, no problems...

I am now basically run a 6800GT (16 pipelines, 6 shaders on the GT vs 12 pipelines, 5 shaders on a stock 6800) at a slightly lower clockspeed, so the gains were I reckon around 10-20% ???

Bear in mind not all 6800's are soft unlockable, and the some that are may not be able to handle both the shaders and pipelines unlock...but dosent hurt to try...