512mb XFX Geforce 6800 Ultra

[ferrari_freak]

XFX releases their own 512mb card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150093

There are 2 noticable differences between the two:

XFX offering:
Core clock speed: 400mhz
RAM clock speed: 1100mhz

BFG offering:
Core clock speed: 425mhz
RAM clock speed: 1050mhz

As you can see, the XFX has higher RAM speed to start off with while the BFG has the higher core clock speed. It is SLI compatible as you would expect. Price is pretty much the same. The BFG costs $884US at Newegg while the XFX costs $864US.

Anyone have one of these? Would like to see how this compares in OCing to BFG's offering. Opinions? Comments?

[masterofpuppets]

Holy crap, imagine having an SLi setup with those 512MB beasts, looks like I will have to take out a loan and buy me a couple!!

[ferrari_freak]

i wouldnt want to be you, im getting $3,000 from my dad for my build this summer :p: . gotta cut down on the athlon x2 and go for dual 512mb cards. but so expensive.... :eek:

[ingentingmendeg]

kinda a rip off IMO. not worth it. only get like 2-5fps more. but bragging rights are awesome.

[ferrari_freak]

anyone here think that this might pay off in the long term? maybe with newer games? or do you all think that this will be just as good as the 256mb version in new games as well since it doesnt have the speed to utilise all that ram? :confused:

[ingentingmendeg]

i think it will be just as good as the 256mb version. games these days dont need 512mb cards. 256mb is more than enough imo

[ferrari_freak]

two things to say. first of all, yes, games these days dont use 512mb, but what about games of tomorrow? is it worth the money and is it really futureproof? and secondly, you say that 256mb is enough. thats what people thought of 128mb when 256mb cards were coming out too :p:

[Sheik]

Chaintech also has 512 MB 6800 Ulta's. :rolleyes:

[ferrari_freak]

cool. its just that i saw the xfx version on newegg yesterday. never seen the chaintech version on any site so far.

[clayton]

From my experience, 512MB isn't really noticeable when you're playing a game. By the time when 512MB is needed/outdated, price will drop, big time.

[ingentingmendeg]

From my experience, 512MB isn't really noticeable when you're playing a game. By the time when 512MB is needed/outdated, price will drop, big time.

yeah i agree. 512mb is way to overkill for todays games. heck, my 9700pro is good enough :p:

[mikeguava]

are there any reviews done on the 512mb cards? I only read a review on the X800XL 512mb, and those appeared to be a tad slower on mist benchmarks...

[ingentingmendeg]

i havent seen any so far. but i preety much guarantee there will be like 5-10 fps the most. if not less.

[Sheik]

are there any reviews done on the 512mb cards? I only read a review on the X800XL 512mb, and those appeared to be a tad slower on mist benchmarks...

I will be doing one soon on our local forum.

Here is a preview though.

Stock.

[perkam]

Man when are those x850xt 512MBs coming out :( ...x800xl 512mb ws a joke.

Perkam

[clayton]

Man when are those x850xt 512MBs coming out :( ...x800xl 512mb ws a joke.
http://www.nmsuperstores.com/Specifications/videocards/PCIexpress/ATI/X850XT512MB.htm

[ingentingmendeg]

hmm, so does anyone know if the 512mb cards worth it? people over at newegg are writing reviews about the BFG 6800ultra with the 512mb. saying its really a good improvement over a 6800gt.

[ferrari_freak]

It's not worth it. I read a review, saw it on XS front page and went to check it out. There is NO difference in current games. In games the 512mb card does a few frames more and in other games it does a few frames less. In 3DMark however, it's a different scenario. There was a person, forget his name, over in the XS 3DMark Forums who had bought a BFG 512mb GeForce 6800 Ultra and was getting a few hundred more points in 3DMark05. Poor guy, he was getting bashed by a bunch of people saying that he was wasting his money on the cards even though his intentions were only to let the community know what these cards can do. But yeah, that's pretty much it. About 2 frame rate difference, and you see I say difference, not gain, because sometimes its about 2 frames less and sometimes its about 2 frames more in games and about 200 points in 3DMark05. Not really worth it seeing as you're paying $300-$350 more.

Usama aka Ferrari Freak

[ingentingmendeg]

well, i bet the future games like quake 4, the 512mb card is run much better.

[KoolDrew]

Too bad it's by XFX :( I have heard way to many stories about terrible customer support etc..

[ingentingmendeg]

ive owned a XFX 6800 vanilla before, and to me there suport was preety good. becuase i had to RMA it for a new one. the temps were reading like 135F.

[ferrari_freak]

I'm kind of noobish in most areas of computers... So my question is, whats RMA mean? I'm still learning.

[ingentingmendeg]

RMA means return merchandise something. cant remember the last one. but what it means is, i returned it for a brand new one because the warrenty was still good. :toast:

[kryptobs2000]

no point at all in getting one of these imo, if ur gonna spend 900$ on a card, get 2x6800 ultras and sli em, I mean, whats the point. By the time you will need 512mb of vram (2+ years) they will be tons cheaper and on much faster cards (7800gtx/r520 or better).

[ingentingmendeg]

no point at all in getting one of these imo, if ur gonna spend 900$ on a card, get 2x6800 ultras and sli em, I mean, whats the point. By the time you will need 512mb of vram (2+ years) they will be tons cheaper and on much faster cards (7800gtx/r520 or better).

yeah, after seeing the the reviews, it turns out that the 512mb only get like 4fps in every game. if not less.

[Disposibleteen]

thats in current games, it does not include any games in the future which could and probably will be able to utilize more video ram.

[ferrari_freak]

But the thing is that it is a future proof solution for people who won't be able to upgrade. Most people on these forums upgrade every single time something new comes out. There's no use in getting something that's only gonna come in handy 2+ years from now and by that time they will have much faster cards for the price that you bought this for today. Only use of buying this would be that you want a future proof rig that won't need upgrading for many years to come.

Usama aka Ferrari Freak

[CandymanCan]

2 6800 in sli isnt worth the money considering g70 is faster then 2 6800ultra's.

[ferrari_freak]

Truly spoken. That's why I'm building my rig when G70 comes out. :D

Usama aka Ferrari Freak