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Sparkle GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP Review |
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Written by Mavke
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Saturday, 16 October 2004 |
The Modfathers have send word about their review of the Sparkle GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP graphics card. The groundbreaking new NVIDIA GeForce 6800 graphics processing units (GPU's) and their revolutionary technologies power worlds where reality and fantasy meet; worlds in which new standards are set for visual realism and quality, performance, and video functionality. When I went to see the launch of the GeForce 6800 range I was impressed. As a gamer, it really had my name stamped all over it. I reviewed the Ultra and on the spot decided that this was the card for me. Then I saw the price and changed my mind, as it was simply out of my range. So when I got a GeForce 6800 and was told that I could keep it I was more than happy.
 Sparkle GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP Review
Well, the conclusion for this one can really be summed up in something we have always known, the middle brother is always the best one! Though my older and younger brothers do disagree. However in the case of the GeForce 6800 range looking to the middle really is very sound advice. The GeForce 6800 GT has 256MB of GDDR3 along with the 16 pipelines of its faster brother the Ultra. Yes the memory is slightly slower, however that really is of no consequence. Yes the clock speeds of the GT are slightly more relaxed, but with a simple BIOS flash (at your own risk naturally) you have a card that thinks it's an Ultra to boot.
Does it work? Well it does on mine. Yes the Ultra will overclock further than the GT, but so what the cards really are fast enough. The main thing is that this card is also set at under £300, about £80 cheaper than the Ultra. When I looked at the three cards I asked myself whether the GT was £60 better than the standard. The answer has to be yes. The next question was whether the Ultra was £80 better than the GT and at that point I have to say no. You see the GT really is going to be one of those sweet spot cards. We had it with the ATI Radeon 9500 PRO (which would overclock to hell and back and gave the Radeon 9700 a run for its money) and the GT looks to be another.
So what do I have to say in summary, well great graphics, stability and bundles of power. Though this is not a budget card by any stretch, for the GDDR3, 16 pipelines and that stonking GeForce 6800 GPU it is not that expensive either. So now we get to the specifics of the Sparkle GeForce 6800 GT AGP. The packaging, cables and card are excellent. The price is very competitive with other GeForce 6800 GT's on the market making it a good buy. If games are important then there are some companies selling Doom 3 specials, however I got my copy of the game ages ago, when I buy games I get games, when I buy a card that's what I'm looking for.
As a note, we have all read about the SLI option being fitted to some NVIDIA based PCI Express motherboards, well two GT's running together is one hell of a thought.
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XFX 9800GTX+ PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
