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Introduction and Card Layout

Introduction

Since the release of the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series back in April of this year you might have found it difficult to purchase one of these often hyped video cards.  My trips to CompUSA and Best Buy retail stores have been less than exciting when it comes to either ATI X800 or NVIDIA 6800 cards, and I am betting the same is true for you where you live.  Online e-tailers are really the only ones that gave you a glimmer of hope at getting one, and even then your chances were slim and you were bound to pay way over the manufacturer's retail price suggesiton.  Such is life when living on the edge of computing performance.

Over the past week or so, 6800 GTs from BFG, XFX, and eVGA have started to show up in numbers on the online scene.  (Click here for prices on all three.)  eVGA sent us a retail version of their card for evaluation and just in time for the Doom 3 launch in less than two weeks. 

Card Images and Layout

eVGA supplies the buyer of their 6800 GT card an S-Video cable for TV-out use, a 4-pin molex power splitter, a DVI-to-VGA adapter, drivers, manual, and a full version of FarCry!  Almost a must have game for this year, which will save you $40 on the purchase at least if you don't already own the game.  If you do, this would make a nice gift to a lonely friend.  :)

I am sure you'll recognize this card layout -- it's the same as the reference card we reviewed at the beginning of May when ATI released their X800 series onto the scene.  The image on the heatsink is left unchanged, even from the more recent reference cards from NVIDIA, with the only noticeable difference being the eVGA sticker on the fan.

Again, this is reference design and the only addition is the eVGA product sticker.

The card has one VGA output, one DVI output, and one S-Video output.  With the included DVI-to-AGP adapter you can use a dual monitor setup quite easily with the NVIDIA drivers having great support for more than one display.  The 6800 GT only requires a single power connector as opposed to the dual-power connectors needed on the Ultra version.  Because of that, users with smaller power supplies and those looking to upgade their SFF graphics will be using the 6800 GT cards.

Next Page - Testing Methods and System Setup

Review Index:
- Select - Summary Introduction and Card Layout Testing Methods and System Setup Painkiller Unreal Tournament 2004 Battlefield: Vietnam Far Cry 1.1 - Fort Demo Far Cry 1.1 - Dam Demo Far Cry 1.1 - Volcano Demo Far Cry 1.1 - Regulator Demo Image Quality - Battlefield: Vietnam Image Quality - Far Cry 1.1 NVIDIA Driver Optimizations Overclocking Issues and Conclusion