6800 standard to GT/Ultra

[EvilBoris]

I was thinking of upgrading my normal 6800 gainward card to the GT or ultra as it seems to add about 20-30 FPS to some high spec games, is it worth doing so? and where is a good (cheap) place to get one, It'd prolly be a gainward or BFG that I get

[VR46]

think ebuyer.co.uk will be about cheapest place, google or tomshardware etc for 6800/ GT & Ultra comparisons.

[Ciaran]

Are you happy with the performane of current games on your 6800?

[EvilBoris]

thats a tough one, I find that the constant variation in framerate when playing games like far cry and Doom to be quite off putting, I would just like a more stable framerate. Its stupid because even though the games are running at well over 30FPS most of the time it seems choppy (this is what consoles have done to me!)
Its just that I've stuck my current card on ebay, and if I get a decent enough price for it I'll pay the extra and upgrade.

[Valken]

Even with a GT the framerate on Farcry fluctuates quite a bit although the lowest it goes on mine is about 40 fps with everything full at 1280*1024. Doom 3 I have locked at 60fps and it seems to stay there.

[VR46]

forget the 6800 Ultra, you want to wait for one of these

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=21648

[EvilBoris]

that sounds like its an addition to a graphics card anyway, no?

[EvilBoris]

aha how do you lock framerates?

that would probably sort my problem out!

[Ciaran]

If you turn vsync on in the options it will stop it going past your monitors refresh rate. 60-100 depending on type of monitor.

[Valken]

Turn vsync on... only really worth it if the card can cope in the first place... it's more to stop tearing than anything else.

[EvilBoris]

ah I already put that on, can't stand horizontal tearing, if i want that I'd play splinter cell or unreal on the xbox. yeeuck.

Maybe I should make some game profiles that change the refesh rate to 60hz and turn on v-sync, that might do it.

I still might upgrade,
the card I'm selling is the deceptively named
Gainward 6800 Ultra/2200 Powerpack! TV/DVI/DVI 256MB.

So maybe someone will make the same mistake I did

mwahah

[Ciaran]

At least you have it listed as something more reasonable.

"Geforce 6800 Gainward powerpack 2200 ultra GS"

[Digfox]

I personally wouldn't go for an Ultra as I think the GT would be enough.

Anyway what's the rest of your system spec? CPU, RAM, Motherboard? As these alway give some clues as to whether an upgrade is worth it. Also what sort of resolution are you playing at? And do you enable AA or AF? Again these all help to answer your original question.

And do remember that ATI and Nvidia have their next generation cards on release in the coming months, before you blow ?350-?400 on an ultra. Whilst it certainly never good to keep holding off, we know ATI and Nvidia's new cards are only just around the corner (assumption here of late spring/early summer release).

[charlaph]

http://www.pcunleash.com/bbs/zboard.php?id=MyItemReview&no=39

Mod the ****er! open all the pipelines and make it an underclocked 6800Ultra - who knows, you might get lucky and have good RAM, in which case you'll be able to run with all pipeline AND at Ultra speeds.

Which would be nice

Notice that when the card has been overclocked, it became faster like a reference 6800GT card.

If you don't fancy soldering yourself take it to a telly repair centre and slip someone ?10 to do a neat job. They'd also be able to properly remove the solder afterwards if it didn't work.

[EvilBoris]

At least you have it listed as something more reasonable.

"Geforce 6800 Gainward powerpack 2200 ultra GS"

well someone else has listed it as

"Gainward Powerpack GeForce 6800 Ultra/2200 TV-DVI-DVI"

which is even more evil