GEFORCE 6800 128MB what manufacture is better?

[Yuriy O]

Hey guys.

I thought about getting a GEFORCE 6800 w/ 128Megs.
What manufacture is better to buy? ASUS, MSI, CHAINTECH, PNY, NVIDIA?
I don't seem to figure out what's the core difference.

Thanks

[Sybixsus]

I'm not talking specifically about the 6800, because I don't know a lot about, so this is a general answer about Nvidia and the manufacturers. I'd be inclined to buy Asus, since their cards are usually equipped with plenty of cooling and they only use quality components. MSI are good and often bundle a lot of extra software, but the cooling is usually not sufficient for overclocking ( if that's your thing. )

The difference? Build quality, quality of components ( you don't want a fan to die in three months ) and sometimes whether or not the memory is cooled separately. Things like that.

A friend of mine who used to work for a very large US retailer tells me that the PNY's get returned a lot, so they'd probably be one to avoid. I'm not well-versed on Chaintech, but I know a couple of overclockers who use them, so I suppose they must be well-cooled.

[wazoo]

Can't go wrong checking out what tomshardware.com has to say.

[Yuriy O]

Can't go wrong checking out what tomshardware.com has to say.

I dont see anything much on my paticular card. I think to get MSI brand. I have 875P mobo, seems to be working fine...

Yes, Sybixsus. That's true. Different quality etc.

[Dan MacDonald]

I moved this from the Game Development and Technical forum to the general chat forum, for while it may be a somewhat technical question, it has nothing to do with game development. The game development forum is indented to be for questions of a technical nature regarding the art/science of game development.

We should have some Forum FAQ's up shortly to help resolve little misunderstandings like this.

[disaffected]

Gainward is a pretty solid manufacture, especially their Golden sample edition cards which can handle overclocking quite well.

[Screwball]

At the moment the Raedon cards run rampant over the GEForce cards.

I've had a lot of trouble with GEForce cards in the past as well.

[rhm]

Never buy anything that has ManLi written on the box ;)

[Mike Boeh]

At the moment the Raedon cards run rampant over the GEForce cards.

I've had a lot of trouble with GEForce cards in the past as well.
Actually, that's not true at all. The top nvidia cards have retaken the lead away from ATI, ESPECIALLY for Doom3- it's not even close:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2146&p=3

I am sure ATI will rectify this, as they are a good company with high quality products.

[Reactor]

The biggest problem with Raedon cards is that they struggle when it comes to compatability. I've never had a single problem running games on my Nvidia cards (and I run a lot of them), but I never hear the end of problems with getting games to work well on Raedons. I'm sure it'll be a problem of the past sometime soon, but right now I wouldn't go out and get one.

[GBGames]

I got myself a Radeon 8500 because I read the reviews that said it was a better deal than the equivalent Nvidia cards out there. I got it, because saving an extra $100 or so sounded good to me.

Unfortunately I still have it, and since I review games, I tend to come upon troubles with it. For the most part, I only have minor issues with major commercial games, such as Alien vs Predator 2's texture glitches or the HUD glitches I get sometimes in Quake 3.

Most indie games don't test much against other video cards, and so I tend to find problems with 3D games. I have to say that I am definitely going to look into getting an Nvidia card next. For one, I believe their Linux support is much better, and for two, their drivers apparently have and are more solid.

[Screwball]

Actually, that's not true at all. The top nvidia cards have retaken the lead away from ATI, ESPECIALLY for Doom3- it's not even close:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2146&p=3

I am sure ATI will rectify this, as they are a good company with high quality products.

1) iD Software were "in bed" with nvidia on Doom 3, hence the fact that they currently have the highest settings by a decent way. Considering Doom 3 has only been released for a little while I think I'll wait as this is more than likely a driver issue.

2) I'm more inclined to believe a test like This (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2044&p=11) with a more established game.

3) The numbers themselves with these cards aren't really huge jumps so 99% of the time it doesn't matter.