Benchmarking 101 - Gatt Edition.

[TriniXaeno]

not a bad price                    

[W1nTry]

Synth also forgot to mention that the 6800 Standard has 12 pixel pipelines as opposed to the 6600GT which only has 8. So for $40-50US more you get not only a 256-bit memory interface, but the added pipelines which definitely give more performance than te 8 on a 6600GT. So that 12 in all for what 270US?. That being said, as much as I would love to get an AGP 6800 standard, I have relegated that idea for when I upgrade to an @64 or dual core A64 as my current processor though well OCed would just be a bottleneck for such a powerful card. I think before buying these powerhouses one should seriously consider if their current rig can take that kinda power, or if buying such a card would be a waste for the card. I have a 2.3GHz Athl0n XP and even that is not feeding my 9800Pro sufficiently I am sure.                    

[coldstorm]

well slight correction is 16 on 6800 gt u just proberly had typo . Unless u have setting set on high resolution at 1600*1200 aa and af set to max these card don't lose much fps. How many people in  gatt play at these setting would be a nice question ?                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

very few, most people have 5200s .........
the performance difference  between a 6800 and a 6600gt isn't big ...

6600gt
8 pipes * 500mhz =4000 fillrate  
16 GB/S memory bandwidth.
overclocked ( minimum overclocks you can expect]
8 pipes *550 = 4400 fillrate .
590mhz DDR3 / 128bit bus = 19 GB/s
6800:
12 pipes * 325mhz =3900 fillrate
22 GB/S memory bandwidth .


So in fact, at stock speeds the 6600gt has more GPU power due to its much  higher clock . I know that samsung memory modules overclock well, my 8500LEs cheap 4ns RAM rated at  200mhz would make it to 260 without artifacting .

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforc...cked/page10.asp
you can see here that the extra 6 GB/S the 6800 has goes a long way, it maintains a lead on the 6600gt all the way,  but seeing as even the 6600gt OC doesn't get any extra RAM clock in this model , you still can't say .

 i would have gotten a 6800 myself , but it really isn't worth the extra $50 to me, i have a 1290x1024 max res monitor and i don't really like the blurry look anti aliasing gives on high resolution .                      

[W1nTry]

Trini if you're getting blurry screens w/ AA and Ansio, the prob is ur monitor not the card. Thats not a very good instance to show that the card u want is better. Its just for ur application the 6600GT works out better. However tell me, what about ocing a 6800 Standard? where are the benchmarks for that? I am certain it will leave an OCed 6600GT in the dust. I'll look for a review of the 6800 OCed and add the link below.

Here we go:http://www.guru3d.com/article/content/149/6/                    

[Synth]

I think before buying these powerhouses one should seriously consider if their current rig can take that kinda power, or if buying such a card would be a waste for the card. I have a 2.3GHz Athl0n XP and even that is not feeding my 9800Pro sufficiently I am sure.

Most people here would not have sufficient quality PSUs to run these cards stably, or at all.

A 2.3GHz xp, muchless barton, WOULD NOT be the bottleneck unless your not using AA & AF and/or running at 1024 x 768 or lower.                    

[W1nTry]

A 2.3GHz xp, muchless barton, WOULD NOT be the bottleneck unless your not using AA & AF and/or running at 1024 x 768 or lower.

Hold up... I am a bit confused as to what u exactly mean by the way u've phrased this comment.... so its NOT the bottleneck IF I use AA and AF? or it IS a bottleneck becuase I use AA... and... its NOT a bottleneck if I use 1024 or higher or IT IS a bottleneck IF I use 1024 and lower....

Now I know the higher the resolutions generally the more the card actually works... so I want to believe u mean IF i use AA and AF plus I use res 1024 AND higher the bottleneck is no long the CPU.  well?                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

if your running at LESS than 1024x768 , AND not using AA & AF , your CPU would hold back your video card a little bit from reaching 200-300 FPS in things like SOF2 . A 2.3 ghz athlon is more than enough, you sure you have enough ram (512mb, 1GB if you run stuff in the backround ) ? and installed the drivers properly ?
   Nothing is wrong with my monitor, at low res i like the nice edge blur anti aliasing gives , it looks pretty, but once you crank it up it doesn't look as nice , and at max res you don't see many jaggies anyhow ....
   a 6800 overclocked CAN pull amazing frames, especially when you soft mod it to 6800GT , but few 6800 cards can overclock that well , and not many chips come with all 16 pipes unmolested . And i'v heard horror stories of peoples 420 watt PSU shorting out after installing a 6800 and soft modding it . And other stories about PNY and XFX 6800s coming with capacitors  that fall off , having serious artifacts etc....                      

[W1nTry]

and not many chips come with all 16 pipes unmolested . And i'v heard horror stories of peoples 420 watt PSU shorting out after installing a 6800 and soft modding it . And other stories about PNY and XFX 6800s coming with capacitors that fall off , having serious artifacts etc....

LMAO at unmolested comment. I do have 1GB of Ram Kingston HyperX. So that is not a problem.. my drivers are fine too. I have other programs running in the background now and again but nothing that would affect games much (stlye xp, asus probes etc. background stuff).
As for the CPU not being a bottleneck... well lately my system has been a bit annoying, bios resetting alot.. have to update bios to see if that fixes it... but since things are not all happy go lucky I have dropped my settings back to default aka 1.92GHz and 333FSB.
Things are stable again BUT I am taking a performance hit (no duh right) NFSU2 is slowing more than usual in URL races (anything with 6 and more cars at the start really). I think that even at 2.3GHz which is comparably faster than a 3200+ the system is not as fast as it should be... I am sure (gasps) a 3.2GHz 1ntel could score higher frames with comparable specs... (*cringes in corner and cries after saying that*).
So I differ, I think that the CPU is a bottleneck. I've seen benchs from sites with 1ntel CPUs at 3.2 and 3.4GHz and they are substantially higher than those I acheive in 3dMark etc. I know these are synthectic but still.
Also I know its becuase of the greater system bandwidth etc. Even so, I am just not satisfied with the performance I am getting.

That aside, my system is tonnes faster now than when I started off (2100+, Geforce 3Ti etc) but I guess I have just become impatient and want more... ah well.

Oh yeah I run all of my games in 1024x768 WITHOUT AA and AF  cause  games take too much of a perfomance hit save maybe UT2004. I usually play games at full details (NFSU2, UT2004, SWKotOR, Halo, FarCry HIGH or HIGHEST details)  Save Doom 3 which is medium. Now I know that my idea of a game running smoothly and other ppls ideas may differ (recalls associate with 5200 who though Doom ran fine on his system, 800x600 Low-mdeium details, etc) whereas if I drop below 30Fps in ANY game I bitch. So maybe its just me.

PS, Synth whats going on with the top 20 BenchMarks? ur a meticulous person to be sure, but if u need help posting the results (limited time etc) its no scene.                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

the reason why you don't hit as high scores as alot of the benchmark sites, is cause you probably don't have the tweaks they do enabled , they usually run a special benchmark driver and have special BIOS settings for 3dmark etc.....  
   and you can't believe half those scores on the futuremark ORB website , there are endless ways to cheat in 3dmark , and all the highest scores are off  watercooled o/c  systems ......  
http://www.driverheaven.net/dforce/showdoc...oc=txp_download
[ windows XP tweaks , will double your windows  performance.

http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/radeon/index.shtml
[@ti tweaks .

 You have a 2.3GHZ Thouroughbred? 256kb cache? its a good bit slower than the Barton core of the 3200, has half the cache etc. but i hear its cooler .                    

[W1nTry]

Well actually its a 2600+ Barton... A7V880 Mobo... Of late my system is running hotter than usual.. maybe its time to clean out my case again... ah well. I hear what you're saying trini, I was looking to replace the stock cooler on my 9800 actually... a lil bit worried about the warranty so I gotta thnk it over. My system usually runs cool, though I oced the VGA the other day and the system went from a nominal temp of 49 to 55 and 57 under load... sorry I not accustomed to seeing those temps in my system lol. Oh yeah the board went from 35-40. Anyways i'll figure out whats up with my system if not i'll post something.                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

ah theres your problem, KT880 is alot slower than Nforce 2 ultra for most benchmarks .... but the features are probably worth it .                    

[W1nTry]

Well to be honest it's not that much slower, I did review benchmarks before I bought it, alot of thought went into that decision. Its as good as the Nvid1a's nforce in synthetic (in some cases better), but the nforce performs better in real world apps due to its predictive memory algorigthms. Which is not 100% effective so in some cases its about the same in real world performance. Plus the board has lots of feature (ur correct on that part) and most importantly at the time it was CHEAPER by at least 15%. Plus it overclocked satisfactory.                    

[Crixx_Creww]

yeah buh um....

i eh seein no stinkin benchmarks! was dah one!!                    

[TrinireturnofGamez]

lol true you need 20 pcs doing becnhmarks to get do top 20 .
   w00t ! my 6600gt is in florida, just has to ship to ttpost !                      

[W1nTry]

Be that as it may, you can always add, move and edit as you receive more results from pplz. I am begginning to think some other mod should do this whole thing. (Not on account of Synth being late but rather on account of the time he apparently doesn't have to do this).                    

[Crixx_Creww]

*mumbles , this was my idea, damn yu synth and yur mind reading/stealing/ dumbing other people down abilities*                    

[Synth]

   and you can't believe half those scores on the futuremark ORB website , there are endless ways to cheat in 3dmark , and all the highest scores are off  watercooled o/c  systems ......  
http://www.driverheaven.net/dforce/showdoc...oc=txp_download
[ windows XP tweaks , will double your windows  performance.

http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/radeon/index.shtml
[@ti tweaks .

 You have a 2.3GHZ Thouroughbred? 256kb cache? its a good bit slower than the Barton core of the 3200, has half the cache etc. but i hear its cooler .

the reason why you don't hit as high scores as alot of the benchmark sites, is cause you probably don't have the tweaks they do enabled , they usually run a special benchmark driver and have special BIOS settings for 3dmark etc..... 

Well they do tweak the hell out of there systems but its usually perfectly valid tweaks. OS tweak BIOS Settings, Hardware tweak, etc.

No they don't use "special" drivers since that be cheating. Orb only takes verfied acceptable drivers for example.

Thats what separates the follow guide people from REAL overclockers.

These people volt mods, hand pick rams, use extreme cooling, etc.

It is a skill; The truly good ones will stop at nothing...

You have a 2.3GHZ Thouroughbred? 256kb cache? its a good bit slower than the Barton core of the 3200, has half the cache etc. but i hear its cooler .

Mobile XPs above 2200 are BARTONS.

Thoro's are not cooler per se since Bartons do have a larger surface area.                    

[trinigamer]

CPUID 1.27 has been released.