SYNTHETIC BENCHMARK RESULTS
Since most games are still DX8.1 I thought I would keep a couple of
applicable benchmarks. First, CodeCreatures has always put stress on even
the top end cards. Most of you are very familiar with 3DMark2001SE so I
included the results for both cards. The testing continues with the latest
Futuremark title, 3DMark2003, and finally Aquamark3 with conclude the testing in
this review. Once again, the
X800Pro was used as a
reference for comparison.
CodeCreatures
Results
Athlon
64 3000+ @ 2.2GHz
Resolution
1024x768
1280x1024
1600x1200
eVGA 6800 GT
No
AA / No AF
75.4
66.0
56.5
2x
AA / No AF
70.6
60.1
47.7
4x AA/
No AF
59.8
47.8
38.6
ATI
X800Pro
No AA / No AF
74.1
63.1
53.1
2x
AA / No AF
67.4
54.3
44.6
4x
AA / No AF
54.7
42.8
33.8
In a previous review
on the FX5950 Ultra, I found the card to max out at 60 FPS with no antialiasing
or anisotropic filtering. Both of these cards added 15 FPS to that mark.
3DMark2001
SE Results
Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2.2GHz
Resolution
1024x768
1280x1024
1600x1200
eVGA 6800 GT
No AA / No AF
22,208
20,079
18,271
4x AA / No AF
18,822
16,513
14,331
ATI X800Pro
No AA / No AF
22,678
20,309
18,145
4x AA / No AF
19,345
16,295
13,600
X800Pro was faster at the lower resolutions and the 6800GT at the higher
resolutions with antialiasing applied.
3DMark2003
Results
Athlon
64 3000+ @ 2.2GHz
Resolution
1024x768
1280x1024
1600x1200
eVGA 6800 GT
Clock Frequency
350/1.0
410/1.1
350/1.0
410/1.1
350/1.0
410/1.1
No AA / 4x AF
12,342
12,357
9,771
9,793
7,966
7,956
4x AA / 8x AF
8,887
8,890
6,714
6,723
5,255
5,272
ATI
X800Pro
No AA / 4x AF
10,157
7,883
6,362
4x
AA / 8x AF
6,628
4,974
3,873
3DMark03 belongs to
the 6800GT this time around. Overclocking the card provided insignificant
increase in performance.
AquaMark 3 Results
Athlon
64 3000+ @ 2.2GHz
Resolution
1024x768
1280x1024
1600x1200
eVGA
6800 GT
No AA / No AF
64.78
59.00
52.64
No AA / 4x AF
61.61
54.19
45.72
4x AA / 16x AF
49.02
38.55
30.68
ATI
X800Pro
No AA / No AF
57.47
51.44
45.43
No
AA / 4x AF
56.21
50.01
43.77
4x
AA / 16x AF
47.85
39.57
32.32
In AM3 the 6800GT maintains an advantage until antialiasing is applied at
high resolutions.
CONCLUSION Reviewing the eVGA 6800 GT proved to be an exciting experience providing a
significant leap in performance capability with sufficient headroom to
clock to Ultra specs. Price, considering the attractive features of the eVGA 6800
GT, make for an excellent alternative to the Ultra. As far as technical
support goes, I have only heard good things about eVGA technical support. Also, eVGA.com
provides an excellent active support forum and a FAQs section at their website.
An interesting
item of note is the eVGA.com Step-Up Program and would probably be well worth your time to check out
at their website.
eVGA e-GeForce 6800GT
GDDR3 memory is coming to the forefront with exclusive use on the latest
performance cards. The 256 MB of memory installed on the 6800GT is from
Samsung and labeled as GC20 or 2.0ns ram. Previously, on the FX5700 Ultra
with its 128 MB of GC20 ram, I was able to clock up to 1025 MHz from a
theoretical maximum of 1000 MHz over the default of 950 MHz. However, the
256 MB of GC20 ram on-board the 6800GT proved to have more overhead. From
the default of 1000 MHz I was able to easily clock the ram at 1100 MHz
stable. The highest clock I achieved was 1135 MHz which anything above
this mark began to show artifacts. At 1100 MHz I was rewarded with solid
stability throughout all testing and through several lengthy gaming sessions in
Morrowind, UT2004, Call of Duty, and of course, Far Cry.
Available directly from eVGA.com for $399 this card displays a lot of bang
for the buck for high end cards. Yes, I know the 6800 Ultra and X800XE are
the listed high end but if you consider the potential shown by 6800GT its only
short-coming is the lack of higher frequency ram. Being able maintain clock frequencies close to or at Ultra
specifications is definitely a plus, if not an advantage, considering the price
difference.
