eVGA e-GeForce 6800GT PCI-E

Conclusion:

Studying our results, we were quite pleased by the Linux performance of the eVGA 6800GT PCI Express. In Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, we found a very diminutive frame-rate difference between the 6600GT, 6800GT, and 7800GTX parts as the game is based off of the aging Quake 3 engine so its mainly CPU bound, but once we applied some advanced visual features, we were pleased to see the eVGA 6800GT give the 7800GTX a run for its money especially when clocked at 415/1125MHz (GPU/MEM). Of course, in current-generation games, such as Doom 3, this performance gap is much more evident. In our workstation SPECViewPerf performance as well, the numbers did concur with our findings. At approximately $280 USD, a bit more than half the price of a 7800GTX, the eVGA e-GeForce 6800GT PCI-E is quite a winner with its overclocking abilities, clocking beyond the frequencies of stock 6800 Ultra specifications, and clear advantage over the GeForce 6600 series parts not only in frame-rate but also image quality. Although some hobbyists may not like the fact that eVGA sticks close to NVIDIA's reference design, and the lack of any extra accessories or bundles, eVGA does offer its exclusive Step-Up program as well as a lifetime warranty on its products. If you're not in the market for spending a great deal on a single graphics card or SLI combination, the 6800GT is surely a viable alternative and will descend greater in price upon the populating of additional GeForce 7 series parts. For Linux gaming enthusiasts and hobbyists, this is definitely a great time to invest in a new graphics card with the new NVIDIA 1.0-8XXX drivers on the horizon and the upbringing of several new Linux-native games. In fact, this coming week Linux users should be enlightened by the Quake 4 release along with Cold War (Mindware Studios) and America's Army v2.5 Direct Action. Looking out later this year, a client version of Serious Sam 2 is expected to be released along with X2: The Threat from Linux Game Publishing; among many other popular titles. Overall, we were quite pleased by the performance of the eVGA e-GeForce 6800GT 256MB (256-P2-N376-AX) and have full faith in recommending this product.

Discuss this article in our forums, IRC channel, or email the author. You can also follow our content via RSS and on social networks like Facebook, Identi.ca, and Twitter (@Phoronix and @MichaelLarabel). Subscribe to Phoronix Premium to view our content without advertisements, view entire articles on a single page, and experience other benefits.