System setup and notes
Hardware
- AOpen Aeolus GeForce 6800 GT 256MB, 8x AGP, 350/1000
- NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB, 8x AGP, 425/1100
- ATI Radeon X800 XT PE 256MB, 8x AGP, 520/1120
- ATI Radeon X800 PRO 256MB, 8x AGP, 475/890
- AMD Athlon 64 Model 3800+, 2400MHz
- ASUS A8V Deluxe S939 VIA K8T800 Pro motherboard (1005 BIOS)
- Corsair XMS3500C2, 2 x 256MB, 2-3-2-6 @ DDR400
- Samcheer 420w PSU
- AMD reference cooler
- WD 160JB 160GB hard drive (PATA)
- Dell P991 19" flat-faced CRT monitor
Software
- Windows XP Professional w/SP1
- NVIDIA ForceWare 61.76
- ATI CATALYST 4.7
- VIA Hyperion v4.51 chipset drivers
- DirectX 9.0b Runtime
- 3DMark03 v340
- AquaMark3
- Far Cry
- Unreal Tournament 2003 Retail (patched up to 2225 - HEXUS custom benchmark)
- Painkiller - HEXUS Custom benchmark
- Call Of Duty - HEXUS Custom benchmark
Notes
Perusing through NVIDIA's technical documents suggests that GT and Ultra-based cards only differ by having contrasting core and memory speeds. However, to test this assertion, I underclocked an Ultra to GT levels: 350MHz core and 1000MHz memory. The results obtained were interesting. It appears as if the GT's memory runs at tighter timings, as it was consistently a few percent faster than an equivalently clocked 6800 Ultra. This fact makes GTs that much more desirable, even more so if they overclock to Ultra speeds.
There were no problems to report during installation and testing. Benchmarks were run at 1024x768x32 and at 1600x1200x32. Both resolutions were also tested with 4x AA and 8x AF applied.