LABTESTED_FINAL.FH11 Mon Mar 27 11:22:01 2006 Page 8
62.
APR | 2006
Beyond Reach No More
About a year ago, when NVIDIA's 6800 reigned
supreme over the screaming fast graphics category,
most could only dream of playing, let alone see
Doom 3. With the 7000 series and ATi's X1000
series now overshadowing their former generation
crown jewels, and with new games like Oblivion
due in the next couple of months demanding
more GPU power, one would think that in this
upgrade-mad gaming world we'd all have to
jump into the latest bandwagon to get into the
latest 'in' game. Well, one doesn't have to get
into the bleeding edge just to get the most out
of 3D games, as Palit has unleashed the powerful
yet affordable Palit 6800GS Super. Now, one can
finally own a high caliber 6th generation GeForce
without the risk of getting a good verbal beating
from a significant other.
The 6800GS is built very similar to its original
counterpart, the 6800. Unlike the 6800, which
was designed with a total of 16 pixel pipelines
but had 4 disabled, leaving only 12 to work with,
the 6800GS only has 12 to start with plus 5 vertex
pipelines. Palit's treatment of the 6800GS matches
its Super label: it stands out from its peers by
wielding 512MB of memory and much faster
core (485MHz) and memory clock (652MHz DDR)
speeds as compared to the regular GS flavors
that usually come with 256MB of memory and
with core and memory speeds of 425MHz and
500MHz (DDR), respectively. The Super also carries
an ultra-slim cooler, but the card comes with only
the usual VGA, DVI and S/HDTV outputs.
Dreaming of dual 6800s? Make that a reality
since Palit's slim GS is also SLi capable.
Slender and Better Than Before
In our tests, the Palit managed to obtain
respectable points in 3DMark 2003 and 2005
(no AA/AF), mustering scores of 12,738 and
5,926 3DMarks respectively. When comparing
the results obtained from a 512MB 6800 Ultra
card running on system based on the Intel Pentium
4 platform with almost similar specs, the Palit
manages to consistently leave the Ultra behind
by a couple of hundred points. We only managed
to boost our sample to 509MHz and 715MHz
with its core and memory clock frequencies,
meaning the card doesn't tolerate much
overclocking. As such, this is understandable since
it's already overcharged out of the box.
In A Nutshell
The 6 series looked as good as dead, or so it
seemed with NVIDIAs release of the rest of the
G70 family. With the new 6800GS and Palits
choice of implementation in their GS Super, they
proved that the 6 series can still put up a good
fight, offering performance that falls between
today's midrange and top-of-the-line models.
Maintaining the same design choices as the
regular GS such as the slim cooler and form factor
while throwing in abundant surprises such as a
hefty overclock straight from the factory and
loaded with ultra-fast 512MB DDR3 memory, the
Palit 6800GS Super (tagged at PhP 11,940.00) is
going to be an extremely difficult offer to pass
up for those looking for value for money.
Irresistibly Sweet Deal
ON TEST
Palit 6800GS Super
BY LESTER CO
OUR RESULTS
GEARIN UP
:LAB-TESTED!
GPU
: NVIDIA 6800GS Chipset
ASIC
: NV42 (Revision A1)
Core Frequency
: 485MHz
Memory
: 512MB DDR3
Memory Bus
: 256-Bit
Memory Frequency
: 652MHz x 2
Interface
: PCI Express x16
Pixel Pipelines
: 12
Vertex Pipelines
: 5
Video Interfaces
: DVI-D, D-Sub VGA and S/HDTV Out
Multi-GPU Support
: NVIDIA SLi
Bundle
: S-Video / Composite / Component Cable, DVI-CRT Dongle,
Driver CD, Manual, Molex to 6 Pin power cable, Cyberlink Power
DVD 5, Conflict: Global Storm
Warranty
: 2 Years
Contact
: PC Trends Inc.
Tel.No.
: (632) 727-6449
Website
: www.palit.com.tw
SPECIFICATIONS
NVIDIA
6800GS
(NV42 Rev A1)
GPU
512 MB
DDR3
Memory
D-SUB +
DVI-D
Interface
PCIe
Interface
PhP
11,940
Price
HWMs Rating
Features:
8.0
Performance:
9.0
Value:
9.0
Overall Score
It may not be crowned as the
fastest, but it's got a tough
price/performance ratio to beat.
9.0
Out of 10
3DMark 2003
1024x768, No AA/AF
1024x768, 4x AA/8x AF
1280x1024, No AA/AF
1280x1024, 4x AA/8x AF
3DMark 2005
1024x768, No AA/AF
1024x768, 4x AA/8x AF
1280x1024, No AA/AF
1280x1024, 4x AA/8x AF
Palit 6800GS 512MB
12738
7795
9886
5829
5926
4896
4882
3859
Leadtek 6800 Ultra 512MB
12562
7642
10034
5786
5378
4430
4555
3616
Testbed: AMD Athlon 64 3200+, MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum, 2x Kingmax 512MB DDR400, Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM SATA Drive, Antec NeoPower 480W
Software: Microsoft Windows XP (SP2), Direct X 9.0C, Futuremark 3DMark03 (ver. 340), Futuremark 3DMark05 (ver. 120), NVIDIA v.82.12 Driver.
Testbed (6800 Ultra): Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz (Extreme Edition), Intel D925XCV, 1GB DDR2-533 RAM (Micron), Seagate 7200.7 80GB SATA
Software (6800 Ultra): Microsoft Windows XP (SP2), Direct X 9.0C, Futuremark 3DMark03 (ver. 340), Futuremark 3DMark05 (ver. 120), NVIDIA v.71.24 Driver.
