Which brand of 6800 GT to buy?
 

Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money than others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the BFG brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY brand doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you and possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna

Suzanne wrote:
Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money than others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the BFG brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY brand doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you and possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna

First of all, you must be a REALLY good g/f in order to spend that much
for your b/f for his b-day. Now, one of the differences is the amount
of vram that's onboard the card. The 6800GT comes in two main
flavors...one that has 128mb of vram onboard, and one that comes with
256mb of vram onboard. He really doesn't need the 256mb version, as
none of today's games really take advantage of that much vram as of yet.
Yes, don't get the BFG as it does indeed have a bad heatsink and fan,
junk really. All of them support Directx9 (you can upgrade a card that
doesn't come with 9c quite easily). Personally if it were me, I'd go
with the asus card that newegg has. It's the best deal for the money
IMO, but if he insists on having one of the more expensive cards, PNY is
a good brand as well as EVGA. I also wouldn't go with a chaintech or
gainward either, as the performance on those cards tends to be less than
that of some of the others that are supposed to be the "same quality".

Well, about the only truth to this reply, is that you say she is a good
girlfriend. The BFG 256 meg card is actually the one to get. You get 24/7
support (no one else offers it), there is NO, repeat NO problem with the
heatsink, it comes out of the box overclocked WITH a warranty, and it can
easily take the same clock speed settings as the $100.00 more expensive 6800
Ultra. the stock 6800 GT is clocked at 350 / 1.0. the BFG is clocked at 370
/ 1.0, and it can easily be clocked to 400 / 1.1. I have this card, and it
is fantastic. It is the one that I would recommend as the one to get hands
down. All the magazines recommend it. Maximum PC gave it thier "KickAss"
award.

So, to the girl who is looking for a card, I highly recommend the BFG
6800GTOC 256. (the "OC" stands for Over Clock)

P.S. If she ever breaks up with her boyfriend, I am recently seperated, and
she can stay at my place anytime!!


"The DragunLadee" wrote in message
news:YIMbd.184854$wV.119796@attbi_s54...
Suzanne wrote:
Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my
boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money than
others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the BFG
brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY brand
doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you
and possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna

First of all, you must be a REALLY good g/f in order to spend that much
for your b/f for his b-day. Now, one of the differences is the amount of
vram that's onboard the card. The 6800GT comes in two main flavors...one
that has 128mb of vram onboard, and one that comes with 256mb of vram
onboard. He really doesn't need the 256mb version, as none of today's
games really take advantage of that much vram as of yet. Yes, don't get
the BFG as it does indeed have a bad heatsink and fan, junk really. All
of them support Directx9 (you can upgrade a card that doesn't come with 9c
quite easily). Personally if it were me, I'd go with the asus card that
newegg has. It's the best deal for the money IMO, but if he insists on
having one of the more expensive cards, PNY is a good brand as well as
EVGA. I also wouldn't go with a chaintech or gainward either, as the
performance on those cards tends to be less than that of some of the
others that are supposed to be the "same quality".

"BFG" life time warranty and very good quality gfx cards that are meant to
last
"Suzanne" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my
boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money than
others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the BFG
brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY brand
doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you and
possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:26:16 GMT, The DragunLadee wrote:

Suzanne wrote:
Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money than others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the BFG brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY brand doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you and possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna

First of all, you must be a REALLY good g/f in order to spend that much
for your b/f for his b-day. Now, one of the differences is the amount
of vram that's onboard the card. The 6800GT comes in two main
flavors...one that has 128mb of vram onboard, and one that comes with
256mb of vram onboard. He really doesn't need the 256mb version, as
none of today's games really take advantage of that much vram as of yet.
Yes, don't get the BFG as it does indeed have a bad heatsink and fan,
junk really. All of them support Directx9 (you can upgrade a card that
doesn't come with 9c quite easily). Personally if it were me, I'd go
with the asus card that newegg has. It's the best deal for the money
IMO, but if he insists on having one of the more expensive cards, PNY is
a good brand as well as EVGA. I also wouldn't go with a chaintech or
gainward either, as the performance on those cards tends to be less than
that of some of the others that are supposed to be the "same quality".

Hi, and thank you for your comments and information. How does one upgrade a directx 9 card to a directx 9c card? He's not
very computer savvy either, and I know he will be excited and just want to put it in and play. Is it very difficult? I think
PNY is a good brand, but I won't buy it if there is alot of trouble to upgrade it.

What about the XFX brand? I see it comes in a cute looking box shaped in an "X" :) It is also better priced than some of the
other brands. I see newegg lists 2 models, the AUA and the AUD, what is the difference? I can't see anything different in the
specification listings. I don't know what much means that is listed there, but just comparing them side by side it looks the
same?

Lastly, what does DVI mean? I've asked my bf this and he doesn't know either, but all these video cards seem to have it.

Again, thank you very much for your time!

P.S. Are there any web sites that might have a graph or chart in ranking these brands by how good they are or how fast they
are? I can understand that alot easier than words I dont know :)

"Suzanne" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 09:26:16 GMT, The DragunLadee
wrote:

Suzanne wrote:
Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my
boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money
than others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the BFG
brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY
brand doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you
and possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna

First of all, you must be a REALLY good g/f in order to spend that much
for your b/f for his b-day. Now, one of the differences is the amount
of vram that's onboard the card. The 6800GT comes in two main
flavors...one that has 128mb of vram onboard, and one that comes with
256mb of vram onboard. He really doesn't need the 256mb version, as
none of today's games really take advantage of that much vram as of yet.
Yes, don't get the BFG as it does indeed have a bad heatsink and fan,
junk really. All of them support Directx9 (you can upgrade a card that
doesn't come with 9c quite easily). Personally if it were me, I'd go
with the asus card that newegg has. It's the best deal for the money
IMO, but if he insists on having one of the more expensive cards, PNY is
a good brand as well as EVGA. I also wouldn't go with a chaintech or
gainward either, as the performance on those cards tends to be less than
that of some of the others that are supposed to be the "same quality".

Hi, and thank you for your comments and information. How does one upgrade
a directx 9 card to a directx 9c card? He's not
very computer savvy either, and I know he will be excited and just want to
put it in and play. Is it very difficult? I think
PNY is a good brand, but I won't buy it if there is alot of trouble to
upgrade it.

What about the XFX brand? I see it comes in a cute looking box shaped in
an "X" :) It is also better priced than some of the
other brands. I see newegg lists 2 models, the AUA and the AUD, what is
the difference? I can't see anything different in the
specification listings. I don't know what much means that is listed there,
but just comparing them side by side it looks the
same?

Lastly, what does DVI mean? I've asked my bf this and he doesn't know
either, but all these video cards seem to have it.

Again, thank you very much for your time!

P.S. Are there any web sites that might have a graph or chart in ranking
these brands by how good they are or how fast they
are? I can understand that alot easier than words I dont know :)

Ranking -
http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.c...charts-04.html
DVI -
http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/dvi_info.html

The two you looking at AUA / AUD
AUA -
http://www.xfxforce.com/product_view.php?sku=PVT40AUA
AUD -
http://www.xfxforce.com/product_view...specifications

Look at display support.
A -
VGA + DVI + TV
D -
DVI + DVI + TV

DirectX9.0C -
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...1-914185249413
This is optional to install if the game do not complain to have it or insist
of / required.

Does these link help abit?

CapFusion,...

Hi, and thank you for your comments and information. How does one upgrade
a directx 9 card to a directx 9c card? He's not
very computer savvy either, and I know he will be excited and just want to
put it in and play. Is it very difficult? I think
PNY is a good brand, but I won't buy it if there is alot of trouble to
upgrade it.

I have a PNY Verto 256mb 6800GT. It's a typical reference design card,
and runs great. I'm very happy with it. Please ignore any recommendation
to buy a 128mb card. It has a VGA & DVI connectors. If you have 2 DVI
(probably lcd) monitors another card might be better, but if you have a
normal monitor it's fine.

rms

guess wrote:
Well, about the only truth to this reply, is that you say she is a good
girlfriend. The BFG 256 meg card is actually the one to get. You get 24/7
support (no one else offers it), there is NO, repeat NO problem with the
heatsink, it comes out of the box overclocked WITH a warranty, and it can
easily take the same clock speed settings as the $100.00 more expensive 6800
Ultra. the stock 6800 GT is clocked at 350 / 1.0. the BFG is clocked at 370
/ 1.0, and it can easily be clocked to 400 / 1.1. I have this card, and it
is fantastic. It is the one that I would recommend as the one to get hands
down. All the magazines recommend it. Maximum PC gave it thier "KickAss"
award.

So, to the girl who is looking for a card, I highly recommend the BFG
6800GTOC 256. (the "OC" stands for Over Clock)

P.S. If she ever breaks up with her boyfriend, I am recently seperated, and
she can stay at my place anytime!!


"The DragunLadee" wrote in message
news:YIMbd.184854$wV.119796@attbi_s54...

Suzanne wrote:

Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my
boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money than
others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the BFG
brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY brand
doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you
and possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna


First of all, you must be a REALLY good g/f in order to spend that much
for your b/f for his b-day. Now, one of the differences is the amount of
vram that's onboard the card. The 6800GT comes in two main flavors...one
that has 128mb of vram onboard, and one that comes with 256mb of vram
onboard. He really doesn't need the 256mb version, as none of today's
games really take advantage of that much vram as of yet. Yes, don't get
the BFG as it does indeed have a bad heatsink and fan, junk really. All
of them support Directx9 (you can upgrade a card that doesn't come with 9c
quite easily). Personally if it were me, I'd go with the asus card that
newegg has. It's the best deal for the money IMO, but if he insists on
having one of the more expensive cards, PNY is a good brand as well as
EVGA. I also wouldn't go with a chaintech or gainward either, as the
performance on those cards tends to be less than that of some of the
others that are supposed to be the "same quality".



I suppose if she really wants her b/f to have nothing but problems, then
she should go ahead and get the BFG, but I certainly wouldn't.

"The DragunLadee" wrote in message
news:isYbd.187384$wV.33999@attbi_s54...
guess wrote:
Well, about the only truth to this reply, is that you say she is a good
girlfriend. The BFG 256 meg card is actually the one to get. You get
24/7
support (no one else offers it), there is NO, repeat NO problem with the
heatsink, it comes out of the box overclocked WITH a warranty, and it
can
easily take the same clock speed settings as the $100.00 more expensive
6800
Ultra. the stock 6800 GT is clocked at 350 / 1.0. the BFG is clocked at
370
/ 1.0, and it can easily be clocked to 400 / 1.1. I have this card, and
it
is fantastic. It is the one that I would recommend as the one to get
hands
down. All the magazines recommend it. Maximum PC gave it thier "KickAss"
award.

So, to the girl who is looking for a card, I highly recommend the BFG
6800GTOC 256. (the "OC" stands for Over Clock)

P.S. If she ever breaks up with her boyfriend, I am recently seperated,
and
she can stay at my place anytime!!


"The DragunLadee" wrote in message
news:YIMbd.184854$wV.119796@attbi_s54...

Suzanne wrote:

Hi everyone, I am a newbie. I want to buy the nVidia 6800 GT that my
boyfriend wants for his birthday, but there are so many
brands. What is the difference between them? Why are some more money
than
others when it looks like the same item? I did a
little hunting and the only thing I could find was some ppl said the
BFG
brand has a bad heatsink or something. I also looked
on newegg.com and saw that all the cards look the same, but the PNY
brand
doesn't show that has DirectX 9C, it only has
DirectX 9. Is this a concern? Please I'd like to hear from some of you
and possibly find some comparisons and best values.
Thank you,

Susanna


First of all, you must be a REALLY good g/f in order to spend that much
for your b/f for his b-day. Now, one of the differences is the amount
of
vram that's onboard the card. The 6800GT comes in two main
flavors...one
that has 128mb of vram onboard, and one that comes with 256mb of vram
onboard. He really doesn't need the 256mb version, as none of today's
games really take advantage of that much vram as of yet. Yes, don't get
the BFG as it does indeed have a bad heatsink and fan, junk really. All
of them support Directx9 (you can upgrade a card that doesn't come with
9c
quite easily). Personally if it were me, I'd go with the asus card that
newegg has. It's the best deal for the money IMO, but if he insists on
having one of the more expensive cards, PNY is a good brand as well as
EVGA. I also wouldn't go with a chaintech or gainward either, as the
performance on those cards tends to be less than that of some of the
others that are supposed to be the "same quality".



I suppose if she really wants her b/f to have nothing but problems, then
she should go ahead and get the BFG, but I certainly wouldn't.

I bought the BFG 6800 Ultra OC from NewEgg. It has worked great and has
lifetime warranty,
BUT I have heard some strange noises coming and going from my case (about 2
weeks ago). It sounds like something was hitting a fan inside. I coundn;t
pinpoint it but i guess it could be the heatsink/fan problem people are
talking about...
It hasn't happened for over a week now and everything seems to be running
fine. I probably should have saved the $$$ and bought a GT but I had the $
and didn't do as much research as I should have...
BFG does have a lifetime warranty if you go that route.
Also you asked about DVI. The new cards usually come with a DVI to VGA (old
crt style) adapter so don't worry if you don't have an LCD monitor.
MJ

n Fri, 15 Oct 2004 22:01:03 GMT, "rms" wrote:

Hi, and thank you for your comments and information. How does one upgrade
a directx 9 card to a directx 9c card? He's not
very computer savvy either, and I know he will be excited and just want to
put it in and play. Is it very difficult? I think
PNY is a good brand, but I won't buy it if there is alot of trouble to
upgrade it.

I have a PNY Verto 256mb 6800GT. It's a typical reference design card,
and runs great. I'm very happy with it. Please ignore any recommendation
to buy a 128mb card. It has a VGA & DVI connectors. If you have 2 DVI
(probably lcd) monitors another card might be better, but if you have a
normal monitor it's fine.

rms


Thanks for your comments. I will probably buy the XFS since it is cheaper with the discount ($379 and free shipping) since no
one here says anything bad about it. It must be ok?

Suzanna