The NVIDIA 6800 GS Closer Look: EVGA, Leadtek, PNY, and Evertop
by Josh Venning on January 27, 2006 8:53 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
The introduction of NVIDIA's 6800 GS marks a shift for NVIDIA (and ATI) parts. With the 6800 GT starting to fade away, we are seeing more emphasis on value, with a card just as good as the GT, yet significantly cheaper. ATI scored points with the X800 GTO, and we saw in the performance tests that game choice makes a big difference on whether ATI or NVIDIA come out on top near the $200 price point. The 6800 GS definitely hits the earlier mentioned "sweet-spot" in terms of performance per price and is a persuasive answer to those looking for a smart purchase of an all-around good card, especially since the 6800 GS has the advantage over the X800 GTO in features. When the 6600 GT first came around, the high value that it offered at this price earned it excellent acclaim, and we've now essentially seen the shift of a 6800 GT class part down to the original 6600 GT price point.
We here at AnandTech have available to us a wide variety of graphics solutions that we use for work and recreation, and the types of games that we test and play are varied. This reviewer's game of choice is currently Battlefield 2, a graphically intensive game that offers fast and intense gameplay, and the 6800 GS happens to be the card that he's been using in the system. The game runs beautifully and is very enjoyable at 1600X1200 with all the settings on high (no AA). Those who have to have AA enabled or have a monitor that can display higher resolutions might find this card lacking, but for most Battlefield 2 players, the 6800 GS is more than powerful enough to get in lots of kills. This reviewer doesn't claim to be an expert at this particular game, but rest assured, it's his skill and not the hardware that's lacking. Benchmark tests give a very accurate picture of how well a game performs on any given system, but for the casual gamer, the real test is how enjoyable the game play is.
We've established that the 6800 GS performs well, but let's talk a bit about the other aspect of these cards - the price. Because the EverTop 6800 GS is only sold in Korea and Hong Kong at this time, we aren't able to provide a price for this card right now. (We will try to update this information when we can.) At the time of this writing, EVGA's e-GeForce 6800 GS is listed at $190, the lowest price of the three. The PNY GeForce 6800 GS Overclocked is a close second at $200, and it's a bit of a toss-up between these two cards, considering that the PNY is clocked slightly higher, but EVGA still has the exceptional lifetime warranty policy (EVGA will replace your card for any reason except physical damage; this includes damage due to overclocking. Check the EVGA website for details). The Leadtek WinFast PX6800 GS Extreme is a little more expensive than these two, but the high factory/user overclock and game bundle make it a pretty good deal. But if you don't want the games, it might be wiser to buy one of the other cards (especially if you plan on overclocking), as they offer nearly the same performance for a little less cash.
Here, again, is a listing of the cards as well as their clock speeds and price:
NVIDIA's 6800 GS does in fact seem like the card that most gamers will be looking to aim for a solid mid-range upgrade, especially if unlocking the pipelines of the X800 GTO isn't something that sounds like fun to you. As the rest of the 6800 series is phased out, we're now looking ahead in anticipation as to what NVIDIA has in store for us next, and in the meantime, we're sure that many gamers (us included) will be putting their 6800 GSs to good use. We're also looking forward to seeing how things play out in the mid-range category on ATI's side, particularly with their X1600 series, which looks to provide some competition for the 6800 GS as a solid mid-range part (depending on the flavor and where prices stabilize). As always, we will keep you posted.
The introduction of NVIDIA's 6800 GS marks a shift for NVIDIA (and ATI) parts. With the 6800 GT starting to fade away, we are seeing more emphasis on value, with a card just as good as the GT, yet significantly cheaper. ATI scored points with the X800 GTO, and we saw in the performance tests that game choice makes a big difference on whether ATI or NVIDIA come out on top near the $200 price point. The 6800 GS definitely hits the earlier mentioned "sweet-spot" in terms of performance per price and is a persuasive answer to those looking for a smart purchase of an all-around good card, especially since the 6800 GS has the advantage over the X800 GTO in features. When the 6600 GT first came around, the high value that it offered at this price earned it excellent acclaim, and we've now essentially seen the shift of a 6800 GT class part down to the original 6600 GT price point.
We here at AnandTech have available to us a wide variety of graphics solutions that we use for work and recreation, and the types of games that we test and play are varied. This reviewer's game of choice is currently Battlefield 2, a graphically intensive game that offers fast and intense gameplay, and the 6800 GS happens to be the card that he's been using in the system. The game runs beautifully and is very enjoyable at 1600X1200 with all the settings on high (no AA). Those who have to have AA enabled or have a monitor that can display higher resolutions might find this card lacking, but for most Battlefield 2 players, the 6800 GS is more than powerful enough to get in lots of kills. This reviewer doesn't claim to be an expert at this particular game, but rest assured, it's his skill and not the hardware that's lacking. Benchmark tests give a very accurate picture of how well a game performs on any given system, but for the casual gamer, the real test is how enjoyable the game play is.
We've established that the 6800 GS performs well, but let's talk a bit about the other aspect of these cards - the price. Because the EverTop 6800 GS is only sold in Korea and Hong Kong at this time, we aren't able to provide a price for this card right now. (We will try to update this information when we can.) At the time of this writing, EVGA's e-GeForce 6800 GS is listed at $190, the lowest price of the three. The PNY GeForce 6800 GS Overclocked is a close second at $200, and it's a bit of a toss-up between these two cards, considering that the PNY is clocked slightly higher, but EVGA still has the exceptional lifetime warranty policy (EVGA will replace your card for any reason except physical damage; this includes damage due to overclocking. Check the EVGA website for details). The Leadtek WinFast PX6800 GS Extreme is a little more expensive than these two, but the high factory/user overclock and game bundle make it a pretty good deal. But if you don't want the games, it might be wiser to buy one of the other cards (especially if you plan on overclocking), as they offer nearly the same performance for a little less cash.
Here, again, is a listing of the cards as well as their clock speeds and price:
| Graphics Card | Factory Speed | Price |
| Leadtek WinFast PX6800 GS Extreme | 485/1.1 | $213 |
| PNY GeForce 6800 GS Overclocked | 470/1.1 | $200 |
| EverTop GeForce 6800 GS | 425/1.0 | N/A |
| EVGA e-GeForce 6800 GS | 450/1.05 | $190 |
NVIDIA's 6800 GS does in fact seem like the card that most gamers will be looking to aim for a solid mid-range upgrade, especially if unlocking the pipelines of the X800 GTO isn't something that sounds like fun to you. As the rest of the 6800 series is phased out, we're now looking ahead in anticipation as to what NVIDIA has in store for us next, and in the meantime, we're sure that many gamers (us included) will be putting their 6800 GSs to good use. We're also looking forward to seeing how things play out in the mid-range category on ATI's side, particularly with their X1600 series, which looks to provide some competition for the 6800 GS as a solid mid-range part (depending on the flavor and where prices stabilize). As always, we will keep you posted.
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bob661 - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
I don't see why anyone would still be buying an AGP card when the prices differences between AGP and PCIe are negligible. And why buy a card like the 6800GS for an older board when the video is going to be bottlenecked by the old CPU?superkdogg - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
Bob, umm, I don't know how to tell you this, but any Athlon64 socket 939 has AGP motherboards available for it. Bottlenecked by "old" CPU's..... And the price differences are more than negligible. PCI-e is significantly cheaper, actually.The problem is that for Intel users, most will need new memory and everybody will need a new motherboard.
Spacecomber - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
I'm running a 6800GT with an Athlon XP clocked at 2.3GHz, and they are a good match for each other. Why should I upgrade a whole system when a better video card is enough to let me keep up with my gaming needs (mostly BF2 these days). The 6800GS is priced about right and the performance is about right for use in systems with the rough equivalent of a Pentium 3.0 GHz processor. And, the range of AGP cards still available is getting narrower; so, the interest in those that are still being made is sharper.Spacecomber - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
I didn't really find benchmarks that just compared 6800GS cards to other 6800GS cards that helpful. As a buyer I'm going to probably pick the 6800GS card that is selling for the best price or has the best warranty or some other such feature, if I decide that a 6800GS is the right card for me. In order to do that, I need to see how this card compares to the competition, both from other nvidia cards and from ATI's cards.Ideally, these comparisons should also include SLI tests. Does the lack of pipelines come into play when running in SLI mode or not, compared to a 6800GT, for example?
When you write these reviews, you guys need to be asking yourselves the questions that a Anandtech readers, as consumers, will be asking.
nullpointerus - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
Didn't the previous 6800 GS article do just what you wanted? I think I even picked the 6800 GS based on that article.Hacp - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
How about showing the results of an overclocked gto? These things overclock pretty well, and should get to x850 pro speeds.