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 (5 star rating)
Background
I recently purchased a custom built PC, and one of the stipulations I had before ordering the PC was that I be able to choose the components used in the system. I had done quite a bit of research prior to ordering the system, and the video card I chose was the PNY Verto GeForce 6800GT 256MB. Before deciding on this card, I went back and forth between choosing a card based on performance or on value. The ultra-high end cards (ATI X850XT PE and NVidia 7800GTX) were too expensive, as you really pay a premium for the highest level of performance. The lower end of the spectrum (ATI X600 and X700 lines, and NVidia 6200 / 6600 / 6600GT) didn't offer the level of performance I was looking for. I decided that I was looking for a high-end video card that still offered good value for my hard earned money. I finally narrowed it down to two cards - the NVidia 6800GT or the ATI X800XL. These two competing chipsets are close to each other in terms of performance, with the 6800GT performing slightly better in most games. The 6800GT has recently come down in price enough to basically be the same price as the X800XL, so it became a clear decision at that point. As to why I chose PNY, these cards have had good reviews on the sites that I used for research, and the guy who built my computer said he had good experiences with PNY video cards.
Basic information
This video card is the AGP version, meaning that you need an AGP video slot on your motherboard to use it. AGP is an interface type for video cards almost all motherboards have only one type of video slot, either AGP or PCI-E (PCI-Express). PCI-E is the newer interface type that has a higher maximum bandwidth speed than AGP. It is important to note, though, that there is no current advantage PCI-E has over AGP since video cards have not yet saturated the maximum level of bandwidth available over the AGP interface. Testing done by various websites and magazines shows that the same video card chipset will perform almost identically on an AGP 8X interface vs. PCI-E interface. However, since video cards are becoming more and more powerful, PCI-E is clearly the future in terms of where the video card interface standard is moving.
The card has three connections - DVI, S-Video and regular VGA monitor. DVI and VGA can be used to connect your CRT or LCD monitor, and the S-Video can be used to connect to your TV. Some newer televisions include a DVI connection, but none of my TVs have this so I was not able to test it. The card also includes a pretty large heatsink over the GPU, which does a good job of keeping the card cool but makes the card thicker than most regular video cards. It does not include any VIVO connection or a TV tuner.
The card includes a 1-year warranty standard, and it is extended to a 3-year warranty if you register the product with PNY. You can register online at pny.com, which makes registration easy.
Included in the box
1) 6800GT card with 256MB memory
2) S-Video cable
3) DVI-to-VGA adapter
4) External power cable
5) CD with drivers and software
6) Quick installation guide
Installation
Installation of the card is a fairly simple process that only takes 5-10 minutes. The only extra step needed, outside of inserting it into the AGP slot, is connecting the extra power connector to the card from your power supply. The card requires more power than the standard AGP slot can provide, so you must connect this in order for the card to function. Of course, your power supply must also be able to supply adequate power to the card in addition to all of the other components in your PC. NVidia recommends a 350w or higher power supply unit. Another step I would recommend, after getting the card installed and the drivers from the CD installed, is to download the latest drivers from NVidia's website. The most up-to-date drivers will almost always provide better performance and stability, so this is an important installation step that you should not overlook.
One drawback of the card that you will find while performing the installation is that it is longer and thicker than most previous generation video cards. It is about 1 to 1 1/2 inches longer than my old card (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro) and about 1/2 inch thicker. The thickness is only on one side where the heatsink sticks out. This may cause some problems for smaller motherboards and PC cases (especially Small Form Factor cases). To keep the installation process simple, I recommend leaving the PCI slot next to your AGP slot empty. Otherwise, you're going to have a hard time squeezing the video card in alongside whatever card you have in your PCI slot.
Included Software
The included NVidia Desktop Manager software is, surprisingly, quite useful. It has all of the basic features for adjusting brightness, contrast, resolution, refresh rate, etc. and also allows you to change the output to multiple monitors (or one monitor plus a TV). It allows you to set up profiles for your settings, so that you can easily switch multiple settings at a time. It has a wide variety of advanced settings - gamma adjustments, detection of optimal viewing settings, anti-aliasing app / hardware control settings, Quickzoom, multiple window pane management, and on and on. I won't go into a whole lot of detail, since this review is on the video card itself. I will mention that the best part of the software is that a widely available Windows registry entry add-in will allow you unlock some very useful features. Most notably, it will allow you to overclock the card from within the Desktop Manager software, and also to monitor the temperature of the card. I really like this because it keeps me from having to download, install and learn to use a separate overclocking utility for my video card.
Use of the card and results
I have gotten excellent results with this video card. All of the games I play (Doom 3, Rome Total War, Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942, etc.) run exceptionally fast and smooth at their highest settings. The graphics for all of the games, as well as all of the other applications I use, all look great using this card. But before I get to the heart of this review how well the 6800GT performs in graphics intensive programs - let me explain how I performed the testing:
In the first set of test results, all components were kept at stock speeds and memory was kept at stock settings. In the second set of test results, I increased the speed of the video card to 400 MHz core / 1090 MHz memory and kept all other component speeds at stock settings. I repeated each test three times and averaged the score of the three tests. For Doom 3 test, I ran timedemo demo1 twice and only used the result of the second test. Let me also state that overclocking any PC component includes some inherent risk, and I take no responsibility for any consequences (good or bad!) that result from trying to overclock your graphics card.
First set:
- Doom 3, 1024x768 with High Quality, No AA / AF = 85.0 fps
- Doom 3, 1024x768 with High Quality, 4xAA / No AF = 67.9 fps
- Doom 3, 1280x1024 with High Quality, No AA / AF = 62.1 fps
- Doom 3, 1280x1024 with High Quality, 4xAA / No AF = 40.4 fps
- 3DMark05 with No AA / AF = 4890 3D marks
- 3DMark05 with 4x AA / No AF = 3973 3D marks
Second set:
- Doom 3, 1024x768 with High Quality, No AA / AF = 87.1 fps
- Doom 3, 1024x768 with High Quality, 4xAA / No AF = 70.1 fps
- Doom 3, 1280x1024 with High Quality, No AA / AF = 64.6 fps
- Doom 3, 1280x1024 with High Quality, 4xAA / No AF = 42.8 fps
- 3DMark05 with No AA / AF = 5241 3D marks
- 3DMark05 with 4x AA / No AF = 4320 3D marks
As you can see from the test results, this card is a screamer and excels even with high graphics settings. Beautiful, smooth graphics are what this card delivers. The increase in core / memory speeds also gives a nice bump up in performance. I checked the temperature periodically during the testing, and the highest it got was 67 degrees Celsius. And this is all done on the stock heat sink included on the card - no aftermarket cooler is needed at all!
Noise level from the card is not noticeable above my power supply unit. I also did not notice any difference in noise level after increasing the core / memory speed.
Use of the S-Video output to a TV is really cool. In essence, it gives you the option of using your TV as your computer monitor. I briefly played around with this and was happy with the results. It did require some configuration and changing the settings to get the picture on the TV to look the same as on my monitor. I briefly watched a DVD through my DVD optical drive, and it looked very good. The color and detail level was comparable to watching a DVD through my regular DVD player, although not quite as good. I use component cables for connecting my regular DVD player to my TV, so that most likely was the cause of the difference in quality.
Specifications from the manufacturer site
Model: VCG6800GAPB
Chipset GPU: GeForce 6800GT
Core clock: 350MHz
Memory Clock: 1000MHz
Memory Size: 256MB
Memory Interface: 256-bit
Pixel Pipelines: 16
Memory Type: GDDR3
DirectX: DirectX 9.0
OpenGL: OpenGL 1.5
Interface: AGP 4X/8X
Port Info
D-SUB: 1
DVI: 1
TV-Out: S-Video Out
VIVO: No
TV Tuner: No
RAMDAC: 400 MHz
Max Resolution: 2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported: No
Conclusion
Overall, I am completely satisfied with the PNY GeForce 6800GT. I have not found any significant drawbacks or anything to really complain about. It provides high-end graphics performance for every PC game that is on the market today, and should be able to handle future games that have more complex and detailed graphics. Add on the fact that it has a 3 year warranty, useful Desktop Manager software, and does not require an aftermarket cooler to be overclocked, and I think it is an excellent value.
Update 1-26-06
When I wrote this review, SLI was not readily available in the market and SLI ready cards were barely available.
At this time, the PCI-E interface does offer the advantage of being able to use two video cards at once for more graphics processing power. AGP, since it is a declining technology, does not have this capability. Unless you have a motherboard with AGP and cannot afford to upgrade, my recommendation is to purchase a PCI-E graphics card instead of AGP.
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