Ballistics Report

Pros

Performance: It goes without saying that the Verto GeForce 6800 GT is an awesome performer. Just take a look at the benchmarks. In flight simulation titles like IL-2 Sturmovik, the difference between the 6800 Ultra and 6800 GT is nearly negligible. You will however notice the $100 dent in your pocket that separates the GT and the Ultra. And if you do come across a situation where you find your 6800 GT running a little sluggish, that’s what overclocking is for. But more on that later.

Value: With its 16 pixel pipelines, the GeForce 6800 GT gives up nothing to the architecturally to the GeForce 6800 Ultra, which costs $100 more. Its 350MHz core and 500MHz memory is within spitting distance of the 6800 Ultra as well. As a result, the GeForce 6800 GT was able to keep up with the Ultra in our benchmarks. Its nearest competitor, the X800 PRO, only features 12 pixel pipelines running at 450MHz, with 900MHz (effective) memory. This gives the GeForce 6800 GT an advantage in fill rate and memory bandwidth, allowing it to perform well at high resolutions with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering.

Thanks to its minimized software bundle, PNY’s Verto GeForce 6800 GT is also one of the last expensive GeForce 6800 GT cards out right now. Some listings on Price Watch are already below $400! This should make it a tempting solution for those of you who are looking to get the most bang from your buck.

Overclocking: While we normally don’t praise a card for overclocking (after all, your mileage may vary), the GeForce 6800 GT has proven to be a solid card for overclocking. And while NVIDIA suggests that the 6800 Ultra’s dual-slot cooler and Molex connectors are needed for higher overclocking, our experience with the PNY Verto GeForce 6800 GT suggests otherwise, as we were able to hit clock speeds of 430MHz core/1.16GHz memory, these clock speeds are higher than a stock GeForce 6800 Ultra, and awfully close to the speeds we hit with an overclocked Leadtek WinFast
A400 Ultra TDH.

Availability: PNY was one of the first NVIDIA board partners to hit retail. In fact, the Verto 6800 GT has been out for a little over a month now. PNY also has extensive distribution channels, so finding a board online or at retail should be easier than other manufacturers. If you have a Fry’s or Best Buy in your area, chances are they carry cards from PNY.

Cons

Reference design: Depending on your perspective, this can be thought of as a positive or a negative. If you just don’t trust board manufacturers to use quality components on their products, obviously the fact that the Verto 6800 GT is based on, and physically produced by NVIDIA directly must be considered a positive.

On the other hand, if you were looking for a GeForce 6800 GT card that stood out from the rest with custom copper cooling, dual DVIs, or perhaps video input, the fact that the Verto GeForce 6800 GT is just another reference design must be a disappointment.