DH REVIEW: Gainward CoolFX 6800U/ Connect3D X800XTPE

***Veridian3*** · Jul 21, 2004, 12:05 AM

Hi All,

We've just published our latest review, you can check it out by clicking the link below.

"A few months ago we looked at the reference design products from ATI (X800XTPE) and Nvidia (6800 Ultra), both cards proved to be very fast and were capable of excellent image quality. It’s taken a while for both to make it to market in volume however now those cards have started to appear we have the opportunity to look at some retail products and see how they fair. The first card we have in this article is the Gainward CoolFX 6800 Ultra. Gainward cards have always been of a high quality and even higher performance compared to other brands of Geforce products, the Gainward 5900XT is a prime example of this so we had high hopes going into the review of how the CoolFX would perform. Our second product is Connect3D’s X800 XT PE, the first Connect3D product we have looked at on Driverheaven however not the first I’ve used. My previous experience with Connect3D products has been good; the 9700non pro I once owned was an excellent performer and modded nicely to pro speeds."

Full Article

tastyweat · Jul 21, 2004, 12:10 AM

cool review Stu

jsx[ifl] · Jul 21, 2004, 12:20 AM

wow these new cards can really handle the new games, at the highest resolutions they get better fps then me on the lowest LOL

Chaos · Jul 21, 2004, 12:41 AM

very well done Stu. It seems that the only differences really showed with 4aa enabled the ATI card in most cases took the lead

Danhill · Jul 21, 2004, 09:01 AM

Very good review Stu. These cards are really beasts.

germanjulian · Jul 21, 2004, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Danhill
Very good review Stu. These cards are really beasts.

for that prize they better be.

Kombatant · Jul 21, 2004, 12:25 PM

Very good review as always

I'd have to say though, it would be nice if you left the 6800 optimizations enabled as well, since ATI has them on by default.

Down1oader · Jul 21, 2004, 01:11 PM

nice review but you should have included benchies with optimizations enabled as most people who buy the cards will have them enabled!

***Veridian3*** · Jul 21, 2004, 03:11 PM

If your graphics card runs fine with all settings at full detail in a game would you ever consider dropping the res to get more fps? Probably not. So why enable optimisations if your card doesnt need them to run at decent rates. Its not all about the FPS, its about quality and features as well. To get apples to apples yes, enable both cards optimisations but thats not what we wanted. We wanted the best IQ that the cards could provide. Unfortunatly ATI dont let you disable optimisations so their IQ is theoretically not as good/true (score 1 NV) whether you can see it with the naked eye or not. If you want the cards scores with optimisations enabled feel free to read our 6800U/X800p article.

Jul 21, 2004, 12:05 AM	#1
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 182	DH REVIEW: Gainward CoolFX 6800U/ Connect3D X800XTPE Hi All, We've just published our latest review, you can check it out by clicking the link below. "A few months ago we looked at the reference design products from ATI (X800XTPE) and Nvidia (6800 Ultra), both cards proved to be very fast and were capable of excellent image quality. It’s taken a while for both to make it to market in volume however now those cards have started to appear we have the opportunity to look at some retail products and see how they fair. The first card we have in this article is the Gainward CoolFX 6800 Ultra. Gainward cards have always been of a high quality and even higher performance compared to other brands of Geforce products, the Gainward 5900XT is a prime example of this so we had high hopes going into the review of how the CoolFX would perform. Our second product is Connect3D’s X800 XT PE, the first Connect3D product we have looked at on Driverheaven however not the first I’ve used. My previous experience with Connect3D products has been good; the 9700non pro I once owned was an excellent performer and modded nicely to pro speeds." Full Article

Jul 21, 2004, 12:10 AM	#2
tastyweat Lurking Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The void Posts: 4,794 Rep Power: 75 System Specs	cool review Stu __________________

Jul 21, 2004, 12:20 AM	#3
jsx[ifl] DH's Unofficial Hero Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Montreal Posts: 650 Rep Power: 0	wow these new cards can really handle the new games, at the highest resolutions they get better fps then me on the lowest LOL __________________ [color=Gray][color=DarkRed][color=Gray][color=DarkRed][color=Gray][color=DarkRed][color=Gray][color=DarkRed][color=Gray][color=DarkRed][color=Gray][color=DarkRed][color=Gray] [/color][/color] [/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color]

Jul 21, 2004, 12:41 AM	#4
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,268 Rep Power: 167 System Specs	very well done Stu. It seems that the only differences really showed with 4aa enabled the ATI card in most cases took the lead __________________

Jul 21, 2004, 09:01 AM	#5
Danhill DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,112 Rep Power: 0	Very good review Stu. These cards are really beasts. __________________ MOBO: [color=white]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium[/color] CPU: AMD 64 3200+ (Venice) @ 2,50 Ghz MEM: 2 x 512 DDR 466, VGA: 2 x 6600 GT in SLI, HDD1: WD Raptor HDD2: Maxtor Diamond Plus 9, Case: Antec Plus View 1080, PSU: ThermalTake PurePower 500W, MX 1000, Dell 2001 FP, Aud. 2 SZ

Jul 21, 2004, 12:25 PM	#7
Kombatant DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Athens, Hellas Posts: 644 Rep Power: 62	Very good review as always I'd have to say though, it would be nice if you left the 6800 optimizations enabled as well, since ATI has them on by default. __________________ There is no spoon... Kombatant's Lair

Jul 21, 2004, 01:11 PM	#8
Down1oader DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Uk, England Posts: 78 Rep Power: 0	nice review but you should have included benchies with optimizations enabled as most people who buy the cards will have them enabled!

Jul 21, 2004, 03:11 PM	Thread Starter #9
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 182	If your graphics card runs fine with all settings at full detail in a game would you ever consider dropping the res to get more fps? Probably not. So why enable optimisations if your card doesnt need them to run at decent rates. Its not all about the FPS, its about quality and features as well. To get apples to apples yes, enable both cards optimisations but thats not what we wanted. We wanted the best IQ that the cards could provide. Unfortunatly ATI dont let you disable optimisations so their IQ is theoretically not as good/true (score 1 NV) whether you can see it with the naked eye or not. If you want the cards scores with optimisations enabled feel free to read our 6800U/X800p article.