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Top 10 Graphics Boards

We look at two groups of high-end graphics cards--AGP- and PCI Express-based--to test their gaming and multimedia prowess.

Narasu Rebbapragada

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GeForce 6800GT NX6800GT-TD256 Video Card PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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1. MSI GeForce 6800GT NX6800GT-TD256 Video Card

NVidia GeForce 6800 GT graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, DVI-out, 15-pin VGA, S-Video-out, Photo, multimedia, and utility apps; 3 games and 14 demos., Price when ranked: $455

Bottom Line: This board performs on par with other GeForce 6800 GT-based boards. It costs an additional $50; however, you get a quality 14-game software bundle with full and demo games.

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GeForce 6800 GT Overclocked PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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2. BFG Technologies GeForce 6800 GT Overclocked

NVidia GeForce 6800 GT graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, DVI-out, 15-pin VGA, S-Video-out, Three demo games, Price when ranked: $400

Bottom Line: Though factory overclocked, this board was only marginally faster than other 6800 GT-based models; The NVidia driver on BFG's Web site was somewhat dated during the time of our testing. BFG currently provides a link directly to the drivers on NVidia's Web site.

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GeForce 6800 Ultra 256-A8-N345-AX Video Card PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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3. eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra 256-A8-N345-AX Video Card

NVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, Two DVI-out, S-Video-out, No bundled applications or games, Price when ranked: $500

Bottom Line: The top performer, this premium-priced board outscored other GeForce 6800GT- or Radeon X800XT-based boards in high-resolution tests.

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Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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4. ATI Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition

ATI Radeon X800 XT graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, DVI-out, 15-pin VGA, S-Video- and composite-in/out, component-out, No bundled applications or games, Price when ranked: $499

Bottom Line: More media input/output options than the NVidia-based competition and frame rates on par with the GeForce 6800 GT models.

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V9999 Gamer Edition PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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5. Asus V9999 Gamer Edition

NVidia GeForce 6800 graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, DVI-out, 15-pin VGA, composite-out, Webcam, Media Show SE 2.0, three games, six demos, Price when ranked: $457

Bottom Line: Not as quick as the 6800 GT boards--especially at high resolutions--but it sports a healthy hardware and software bundle. You need to plug in two internal power connectors however.

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Radeon X800 XT Video Card PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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6. PowerColor Radeon X800 XT Video Card

ATI Radeon X800 XT graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, DVI-out, 15-pin VGA, S-Video- and composite-in/out, component-out, DVD authoring, burning, and playing suite, two games, Price when ranked: $500

Bottom Line: Only one other PCI Express board on the chart, the PNY Verto, outpaced this board, which offers the best software bundle of all the PCI Express boards.

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Extreme AX800XT 2DT Radeon X800XT Video Card PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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7. Asus Extreme AX800XT 2DT Radeon X800XT Video Card

ATI Radeon X800 XT graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, Two DVI-out, S-Video- and composite-out, Webcam, Ulead Cool SE and Photo Express SE, one game, Price when ranked: $599

Bottom Line: Slowest of the PCI Express-based Radeon X800 boards, though not by much. Offers a nice bundle of extras.

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Verto 6800GT PCI Express PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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8. PNY Verto 6800GT PCI Express

NVidia GeForce 6800 GT graphics chip, 256MB DDR3 SDRAM, Two DVI-out, S-Video-out, Color-calibration utility, Price when ranked: $399

Bottom Line: Easily the fastest of the PCI Express boards tested; offers dual digital LCD display support. No bundled software.

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e-GeForce 6600GT PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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9. eVGA e-GeForce 6600GT

NVidia GeForce 6600 GT graphics chip, 128MB DDR3 SDRAM, DVI-out, 15-pin VGA, S-Video-out, No bundled applications or games, Price when ranked: $250

Bottom Line: Our value pick, this board delivered good performance at lower resolutions. Fine choice for the gamer on a budget.

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Radeon X800 XT PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

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10. ATI Radeon X800 XT

ATI Radeon X800 XT graphics chip, 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM, DVI-out, 15-pin VGA, S-Video- and composite-in/out, component-out, No bundled applications or games, Price when ranked: $399

Bottom Line: This solid board runs on par with GeForce 6800GT-based boards except at the highest graphics settings. Other vendors offering the ATI chipset offer better software bundles than ATI itself.

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We use two PCs provided by Alienware, each with a 2.2-GHz Athlon 64 FX-51 CPU, an Asus SK8V motherboard, 1GB of DDR SDRAM, two 36.7GB Western Digital Raptor hard drives in a SATA striped RAID configuration, a Viewsonic PF790 monitor, and Windows XP Home. For performance testing we use the Halo, Splinter Cell, and Wolfenstein Enemy Territory games, the Unreal Tournament 2004 demo, and the Comanche 4 Benchmark demo. We measure frame rates at 1024 by 768 and 1600 by 1200 resolutions, both using 32-bit color. We also measure frame rates and perform a set of image quality tests with 4X antialiasing and 8X anisotropic filtering enabled at 1024 by 768 resolution at 32-bit color using Wolfenstein Enemy Territory and the Unreal Tournament 2004 and Comanche 4 Benchmark demos.

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