Introduction

With DOOM 3’s release last month, and Valve’s Half-Life 2 (and Counter-Strike: Source) right around the corner, countless gamers have chosen this summer to upgrade their graphics card. A selection of these gamers are hardcore enthusiasts that have been waiting twelve months or more to upgrade for these games, compromising on performance or visual quality to play them adequately is unthinkable. For these consumers, nothing less than the best will do.

Normally, this news comes as music to ATI and NVIDIA’s ears, as they receive higher profit margins on these graphics cores than they do on less expensive parts. But regrettably, snagging one of the high-end GeForce 6800 Ultras or RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition cards at both retail or online outlets has been rather difficult for consumers. A shortage of 1.6ns GDDR3 modules has been the holdup for both ATI and NVIDIA.

Gigabyte 6800 Ultra versus GeForce FX 5950 Ultra

The 6800 Ultra and X800 XT Platinum

Fortunately some board partners we’ve spoken to are bullish that September could be the month supply begins to catch up with demand. Note the use of the words “begins to”, we’re not predicting an avalanche of high-end cards are about to the market, in fact both ATI and NVIDIA will soon begin shipping their next generation of mainstream parts. But the word on the street is that by the end of the month, high-end volumes will be much better than they are today.

Gigabyte 6800 Ultra and eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme

High-end card faceoff

With this in mind, we have Gigabyte’s GeForce 6800 Ultra card, the GV-N68U256D, up for review today. Gigabyte, already well known for their motherboards, also has an extensive graphics card lineup, providing cards based on graphics cores from both ATI and NVIDIA. In fact, Gigabyte was the first board manufacturer to adopt products from both graphics companies into their lineup. Incessant delays on NV30 hurt NVIDIA’s board partners, who were forced to peddle outdated GeForce4 cards for months. By providing cards based on technology from both ATI and NVIDIA, board manufacturers like Gigabyte aren’t tied to one graphics firm, allowing them to supply the market with cards even when one company slips.

Gigabyte doesn’t want to be known as just another NVIDIA board partner however. Their “GT” line of overclocked GeForce FX cards were their first efforts at targeting hardcore gamers and hardware enthusiasts. This tradition continues with the GV-N68U256D, as Gigabyte has spiced their 6800 Ultra card by overclocking it from the factory. This should allow the GV-N68U256D to run faster than your typical GeForce 6800 Ultra card!