most ocable: x800 vivo or 6800gt

[reject]

which card can be vmodded and tweaked to be the fastest? i can get the sparkle 6800gt for $731, and the powercolor x800pro vivo for $759. also i can get the sapphire for $764. prices in AU$, about 72cUS to 1$AU, plus heaps of shipping charges and tax and customs.
has anyone owned the powercolor or sparkle? i know the sapphire is popular.
which one is the best for me, considering
i have details at full always
i will vmod my card and cool it well, with air, and maybe phase in the future
if you push the cards to their limits on air which will be fastest? i game mostly and a little competitive benching

[Minnyboy]

Might sound a bit biased but I say go the Sapphire X800Pro VIVO...

No known unflashable ones yet & some very nice OCs on them.

Don't go PowerColor as there have been 2 known unflashable X800Pro VIVO's (mine & one more).

Also have the chance w/ the PowerColor to find ones that feel cheap as in 2ns ram on one side & 1.6ns ram on the other.

The 6800GT while being a good choice as it comes with 16 pipelines enabled already aren't that good OCers from the results I've seen...

Sparkel ain't that bad but I would consider them ranking close to PowerColor while Sapphire is way, way above the 2 others mentioned here...

Coming from someone who's owned mostly PowerColor cards, that's a big statement... Especially when you know the Aussie Distributor for PowerColor (Australia IT)...

Then again, I might get a PowerColor that'd OC over the moon & a Sapphire that won't OC for all it's worth...

I've had 3 PowerColor X800's (2 x VIVO, 1 x Pro) & 1 Sapphire (well, it's my boss's but I did the choosing & flashing)... The Sapphire is probably the best one of the lot...

If you can find an early PowerColor X800Pro VIVO, then your luck in getting 16 pipelines are enhanced a lot. If not, stay away from them...

Geez, that was a mouthful...

Good luck with whatever you choose.
Minnyboy

[reject]

well i would have done what you said probly bhad i not already got the card. i got the sparkle. i like it a lot, havent oced yet but doom3 is awesome with it. the sparkle i like becasue of the stiffening rib on the egde of the card, makes putting massive heatsinks on it a bit less worrying. thanks for your input

[__TRONIK__]

YIKES
I got lucky twice in 5mins
I seached newegg, found one x800 vivo from powercolor, $409. Ordered immediately, onlyl one was left.

Then I searched again, and a sapphire came up for like $3 more.

ran a quick xtreme search, and I saw ur post about powercolors being crappy.
well there was only the one left and I only have enough in the bank to get one or the other....and newegg had already charged my card for the powercolor.

So I needed to be quick - I got to the submit order page for the sapphire in one window, and had the "cancel order" link ready in the other window for the powercolor.

hit cancel and then hit order.....it worked!

So I guess I have the sapphire coming. Still shaking my head that I have to pay $412 for a refurb vid card, but since most VIVOs are still well over $450, and the orders for my $400 gigabyte vivo and $430 Dell x800xt don't seem like they will ever come off back order, at least in time to make them good deals at all, this seemed like the best bet.
also means my last upgrade to wait on is the DFI board I preordered.

it's all falling into place mwahahaha

[reject]

your lucky my 6800GT is broken alrerady