NVIDIA GeForce 6800

BENCHMARK SUMMARY:  There are lot of benchmark scores in this review, which probably made it a little tough to keep track of exactly where the GeForce 6800 fit in the grand scheme on things.  This chart should help clear things up a bit...

Taking into consideration how much less expensive the GeForce 6800 is versus the four other cards we benchmarked in this article, and that all of the cards have very similar image quality, it's clear that NVIDIA's got a very compelling product on their hands in the GeForce 6800.

After spending the last few weeks testing and gaming with the GeForce 6800, we can safely say that it probably the best choice for gamers at its price point as of today.  Currently, the ATi Radeon 9800 XT and GeForce FX 5950 Ultra are available at a few on-line retailers for about $375 a piece.  The GeForce 6800 with 128MB of RAM, however, is already available for about $295.  256MB models, which will outperform the card we have tested here, are available for about $340.  We'd recommend that any one currently in the market for either a Radeon 9800 XT or GeForce FX 5950 Ultra to reconsider their decision.  The GeForce 6800 is a much better buy, and you'll get the added benefit of Shader Model 3.0 support.  If you've got the money to spend on GeForce 6800 GT or Radeon X800 Pro though, the extra investment will definitely get you a faster card overall.  It may also be a good idea to wait a few more weeks to see what ATi's got up their sleeves, and to see whether or not substantial price cuts are in the 9800 XT's and X800 Pro's future.  As it stands now, NVIDIA's making a very good case at just about every price point...