I am looking at 2 Video cards, the price is only about $10 different. Would like to know if you were to get one on these, which would you get...
XFX PVT42KVDE3 GeForce 6800XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card


Specs

Model
Brand	XFX
Model	PVT42KVDE3
Interface
Interface	AGP 4X/8X
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer	NVIDIA
GPU	GeForce 6800XT
Core clock	350MHz
PixelPipelines	8
Memory
Memory Clock	1000MHz
Memory Size	256MB
Memory Interface	128-bit
Memory Type	GDDR3
3D API
DirectX	DirectX 9
OpenGL	OpenGL 2.0
Ports
DVI	2
TV-Out	S-Video Out
VIVO	No
General
Tuner	None
RAMDAC	400 MHz
Max Resolution	2048 x 1536@85Hz
SLI Supported	No
Cooler	With Fan
Operating Systems Supported	Windows 2000/XP
Features
Vista Ready	Yes
Features	NVIDIA UltraShadow II Technology 64-Bit Texture Filtering and Blending NVIDIA CineFX 3.0 Technology High-Speed GDDR3 Memory Interface NVIDIA PureVideo Technology Adaptable Programmable Video Processor Intellisample 3.0 Technology Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) nView Multi-Display Technology NVIDIA Digital Vibrance Control (DVC) 3.0 Technology High-Definition MPEG-2 Hardware Acceleration High-Quality Real-Time Video Recording Advanced Spatial Temporal De-interlacing
Packaging
Package Contents	PVT42KVDE3 Driver Disk User Manual S-Video Cable Power Cable DVI to VGA/D-sub Adapter

OR
BIOSTAR V6802XA52 GeForce 6800XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card

Specs

Model
Brand	BIOSTAR
Model	V6802XA52
Interface
Interface	AGP 4X/8X
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer	NVIDIA
GPU	GeForce 6800XT
Core clock	325MHz
PixelPipelines	8
Memory
Memory Clock	700MHz
Memory Size	512MB
Memory Interface	256-bit
Memory Type	GDDR2
3D API
DirectX	DirectX 9
OpenGL	OpenGL 2.0
Ports
D-SUB	1
DVI	1
TV-Out	S-Video Out
VIVO	No
General
Tuner	None
RAMDAC	400 MHz
Max Resolution	2048 x 1536@60Hz
SLI Supported	No
Cooler	With Fan
Operating Systems Supported	Windows 2000/XP
Features
Vista Ready	Yes
Features	CineFX 3.0 Engine supports DirectX 9.0 c, OpenGL 2.0 & Shader Model 3.0 Supports PureVideo Technology & Full nView Multi-Display Technology Supports Intellisample 3.0 & UltraShadow II & Digital Vibrance Control (DVC) 3.0 Technology Advanced 16x anisotropic filtering & Blistering-fast antialiasing & High dynamic-range (HDR) rendering

Look forward to hearing you choices... Please do not suggest any other cards, it is between these 2 ONLY...

Thanks

I'd go for the second one on the list (Biostar). Why? Aside from the 25Mhz core clock (which can easily be compensated with overclock) the only difference is the setup of the RAM interface. Despite the first card having a higher effective clock (1000Mhz) it only has a 128bit interface. The second card sports a lower effective clock (700Mhz), but operates on a much more powerful 256bit interface. Because the second card offers a bus twice as wide (256bit = 128bit x 2) it can pump the same amount of data to the RAM with half the clock speed. 256bit @ 500Mhz effective roughly equals 128bit @ 1000Mhz. Therefore the RAM throughput on the second card is higher. Another nice thing is the second card has twice as much memory. This comes in very useful for texture heavy games. Message for other replyers: please correct me if I'm wrong on my reasoning I used.

Edit: The only reason I'd go for the first card at all is if you REQUIRED dual DVI. The first card has 2x DVI whereas the second card has 1 DVI and 1 analog.

Isn't a card slower than a certain level not going to benefit from the extra RAM? I thought 512M didn't really benefit you until you were at an X1800/7800 class card, because even if you can pack more and bigger textures in, the GPU itself doesn't have the oomph to exploit them at reasonable speeds.

Again, I could be wrong.

What about Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GeForce 7600GS GV-N76G256D-RH RoHS Compliant Video Card - Retail

I'm a big fan of fanless cards (I have a very smiliar PCI-E card). I think this one is clocked 400/800, and is 256M/128 bit, but it's 12 pipelines versus the 6800XT's 8. The price is in between the two options you mentioned at 127USD.
I'm not sure where it lies performance-wise, some people argue either way.

Quote: Originally Posted by Hak Foo Isn't a card slower than a certain level not going to benefit from the extra RAM? I thought 512M didn't really benefit you until you were at an X1800/7800 class card, because even if you can pack more and bigger textures in, the GPU itself doesn't have the oomph to exploit them at reasonable speeds.

That is somewhat true actually. Just like it's true that you won't benefit from a beefy card like the 8800GTX if you got a crappy CPU. I just stated that it's more or less an added bonus that the second card has 512MB over the first card's 256MB. The main reasoning in my selection of the second card was higher RAM throughput since both cards have the same GPU core. As far as the the 7600GS suggestion goes, it is a good card and would recommend it for the price range as well, but he clearly stated "Please do not suggest any other cards, it is between these 2 ONLY..."

Yes it is true, I did not want any other cards suggested, but the one Hak Foo suggested is good and would consider it is only $10 over the highest card I first listed. Lets go ahead and through this card in the mix...

Which would you get? One of the first 2 or this late entry?

GIGABYTE GV-N76G256D-RH GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X RoHS Compliant Video Card

SPECS

Model
Brand	GIGABYTE
Model	GV-N76G256D-RH
Interface
Interface	AGP 4X/8X
Chipset
Chipset Manufacturer	NVIDIA
GPU	GeForce 7600GS
PixelPipelines	12
Memory
Memory Size	256MB
Memory Interface	128-bit
Memory Type	GDDR2
3D API
DirectX	DirectX 9
OpenGL	OpenGL 2.0
Ports
D-SUB	1
DVI	1
TV-Out	HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO	No
General
Tuner	None
RAMDAC	400 MHz
Max Resolution	2560 x 1600
RoHS Compliant	Yes
Cooler	Fanless
Operating Systems Supported	Windows 2000/XP
Features
Vista Ready	Yes
Features	90nm Process Technology Dual-link DVI CineFX 4.0 Engine Intellisample 4.0 nView Multi-Display Technology PureVideo GIGABYTE @VGA
Packaging
Package Contents	GV-N76G256D-RH Driver Disk User Manual HDTV Cable DVI to VGA/D-sub Adapter

I reckon that the 7600GS would be better.

7600GS, or preferably 7600GT if you can afford it.

The 7600GS would be a better choice simply because the GPU is the next generation and therefore more powerful.

I recently got a BFG 6800 GS for Christmas. I Managed to Unlock 1 Verticies Processor, but it seems my 2 Extra Pipelines are damaged (or laser cut...) It seems I can play most games On 1024x768 wih 60+FPS on high quality. Im going to have to tweak it some more to see where it gives best performance over quality.

Although, On one game All I had to do was Lower the shader model version to 2.0 (from 2.0++..) to get a better FPS, while quality was left unchanged. Its better than my Radeon 9600...

But since your looking at a 7600, Get that.

If you throw the 3rd into to the mix...get the 7600GS...like the others have said, it's a generation above the 6800 and hence is a lot better.