EVGA e-GeForce 6800 GS 256MB PCI-E

Author:  Edward Chang Date:  2005.11.07 Topic:  Video Provider:  eVGA Manufacturer:  eVGA

EVGA 256-P2-N386 Features:

Specification:

Performance 
    NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS 
    425 MHz GPU 
    12 Pixel Pipelines 
    400 MHz RAMDAC 

Memory 
    256 MB, 256 bit GDDR3 
    1000 MHz (effective) 
    32 GB/s Memory Bandwidth 

Interface 
    PCI-E 16X 
    VGA, DVI-I, S-Video 
    SLI Capable 

Resolution & Refresh 
    240 Hz Max Refresh Rate 
    2048 x 1536 x 32bit x 85 Hz Max Analog 
    1600 x 1200 Max Digital 

Requirements 
    Minimum of a 350 Watt power supply.

Key Features:

CineFX 3.0 Engine 
    Powers the next generation of cinematic realism. Full support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 enables stunning and complex special effects. Next-generation shader architecture delivers faster and smoother gameplay.

UltraShadow II Technology 
    Enhances the performance of bleeding-edge games, like id Software’s Doom III, that feature complex scenes with multiple light sources and objects. 2nd-generation technology delivers more than 4x the shadow processing power over the previous generation.

Intellisample 3.0 Technology 
    The industry’s fastest antialiasing delivers ultra-realistic visuals, with no jagged edges, at lightning-fast speeds. Visual quality is taken to new heights through a new rotated grid sampling pattern.

*HDR (High Dynamic Range) 
    High dynamic-range (HDR) lighting effects bring environments to life for a truly immersive experience. *While Nvidia's website only shows this feature support under the 7800 series, this is a standard feature of Shader Model 2.0 and higher, so hence is supported by the GeForce 6 series video cards as well.

6800 GS with HDR enabled in Lost Coast demo

6800 GS with HDR disabled in Lost Coast demo

The lighting and environmental effects with HDR on looks lovely. Unfortunately, the EVGA GeForce 6800 GS takes a -33% performance hit.

Other Features:

Adaptable Programmable Video Processor 
    PureVideo’s programmable technology adapts to new video encoding formats as they are developed to provide a future-proof video solution.

64-Bit Texture Filtering and Blending 
    Based on the OpenEXR technology from Industrial Light & Magic, NVIDIA’s 64-bit texture implementation sets new standards for image clarity and quality through floating point capabilities in shading, filtering, texturing, and blending.

Unified Driver Architecture (UDA) 
    Part of the NVIDIA Forceware unified software environment (USE). The NVIDIA UDA guarantees forward and backward compatibility with software drivers. Simplifies upgrading to a new NVIDIA product because all NVIDIA products work with the same driver software.

nView Multi-Display Technology 
    The nView hardware and software technology combination delivers maximum flexibility for multi-display options, and provides unprecedented end-user control of the desktop experience. NVIDIA GPUs are enabled to support multi-displays, but graphics cards vary. Please verify multi-display support in the graphics card before purchasing.

Digital Vibrance Control 3.0 Technology 
    Allows the user to adjust color controls digitally to compensate for the lighting conditions of their workspace, in order to achieve accurate, bright colors in all conditions.

PCI Express Certified 
    Designed to run perfectly with the next-generation PCI Express bus architecture. This new bus doubles the bandwidth of AGP 8X delivering over 4GB/s in both upstream and downstream data transfers.

NVIDIA® SLI^TM Technology 
    Dramatically scales performance by allowing two graphics cards to be run in parallel. Only available on select PCI-Express models.

NVIDIA PureVideo Technology 
    The combination of the GeForce 6 Series GPUs’ high-definition video processor and NVIDIA video decode software delivers unprecedented HD video, stunning picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for all video content to turn your PC into a high-end home theater.

High-Speed GDDR3 Memory Interface 
    Support for the world’s fastest GDDR3 memory delivers fluid frame rates for even the most advanced games and applications.

256-Bit Memory Interface with Advanced Memory Control 
    Delivers more memory bandwidth and efficiency to power the latest games and applications at blazing speeds.

128-Bit Studio-Precision Computation 
    128-bit studio-precision computation through the entire pipeline prevents image defects due to low precision and ensures the best image quality for even the most demanding applications.

Full-Speed 32-Bit Color Precision 
    Delivers increased image quality with no performance compromise.

Integrated TV Encoder 
    Provides best-of-class TV-out functionality for resolutions up to 1024x768.

Dual 400MHz RAMDACs 
    Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rates–up to 2048x1536@85Hz.

Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Optimizations and Support 
    Ensures the best performance and application compatibility for all DirectX 9 applications.

OpenGL® 2.0 Optimizations and Support 
    Ensures the best performance and application compatibility for all OpenGL applications.