5800??
 

what is this new 5800 i see? BFGtech has a really sweet looking card thats a 5800 ultra, but what the heck is it. a underclocked 5900?

5900s = nv35
5800s = nv30

A 5800 Ultra is kinda different from a 5900. Basically, it uses 128bitDDR2, whereas a 5900 uses 256bitDDR1, it runs at higher clock-speeds and also shows some differences regarding PS precision (to my understanding, fx and fp modes used are not exactly the same on both cards...).
A 5800U is a rather rare card, I'm surprized to see BFG (or any other brand) is still selling it.

mrsabidji

Especially since it has the vaccumn fan, this was the card that nVidia got a lot of flak for its fan noise.

...
 

It probably won't happen, but it'd be great to see nv30's for around $150... the drivers have been kind to these cards lately, as they easily step on nv35's toes in many situations...

I'm sure the noise wouldn't have been such an issue if the card could at least beat a 9700pro. The problem was nv30s were not the Radeon killers nVidia promised (at all) and they made a lot of noise.

mrsabidji

so, its a 5800 worth it to buy? or just get a 5900xt/se and call it a day

get a 5900 since the 5800 has a 128-bit memory interface. its liek the 5700. i had one and no matter how high i could oveclock her, she couldnt even shake a stick at the 5900se that i have (overclocked)now. the 5900's have a 256 bit memory interface.

so, what is the best 5900 series as far as price goes? the fastest one out there isnt what im after, but im really wanting to upgrade from a geforce3 ti. all these different cards now having different stuff is just getting to confusing for me, i liked the olderdays when voodoo was king and thats all you needed to know. anyway, someone tell me the best 5900 with the best(lowest) price that can overclock and give the 5950ultra a run for its money. :afro:

you are about to start a huge debate in this thread. :D cause we all have our opinions of what to get. i personally have an Evga 5900SE. it came to me at 400/700 speds and i have it at 475/854. the gpu is 5950 speeds and the memory isnt but its close. and keep in mind, you can flash bios to the 5950 and overclcok higher sometimes. i am not going to cause i am going to use the EVGA StepUp program so i can get the nv40 cheaper (if it comes out within 71 days). if you get a 5900 non ultra and not the XT/SE, you will have faster RAM and you can overclock even more than the XT/SE (the non ultra's have 2.2 ns memory and the XT/SE have 2.8)

so, basically get what ever card i like? they are pretty much the same. but is the orginal 5900 faster then the xt/se models? i found one on newegg for $170 for a gainward model. is it worth the investment?

Yep and yep. :D

mrsabidji

go for it. it will overclock great