what graphics card to get?

[MartynC]

Hi All :D

A friend of mine has about $600 give or take to send on a new graphics card. I personnally perfer ATI, so tried to say get one based on that, but with a X800 to much (According to pricespy.co.nz) it leaves a 9800 PRO (was advised on here to leave the X600 with a wide passage) . He's seen the new GeForce 6800 (Standard not GT or Ultra) is just around $600 on Pricespy, and so asked about getting one of those. What should he do? ge the Geforce? wait til the X800 is a bit cheaper?

Thanks in advance for all advise offered B-)

[Pete O\'Neil]

It depends on what he wants to play, in OpenGL games the 6800's have shown to be better preformers whereas in the DX9.0 games the X800's have shown to be better preformers. The way things stand at the moment with current drivers etc i'd buy a 6800. The 6800GT is probably a lil out of your prices range but the 6800 should be around the $600 mark.

You could wait anther couple of months for the X700 and 6600's to appear. They should offer slightly better preformance than a 9800PRO for around the price of a 9600XT.

[MartynC]

> It depends on what he wants to play, in OpenGL games
> the 6800's have shown to be better preformers whereas
> in the DX9.0 games the X800's have shown to be better
> preformers. The way things stand at the moment with
> current drivers etc i'd buy a 6800. The 6800GT is
> probably a lil out of your prices range but the 6800
> should be around the $600 mark.
>
> You could wait anther couple of months for the X700
> and 6600's to appear. They should offer slightly
> better preformance than a 9800PRO for around the
> price of a 9600XT.

It is hard to say go with the 6800, its kinda like me saying buy an Intel instead of AMD. :_| As he wants to finish building his system this side of Christmas, i may have to recommend the 6800