Lidt opsamling/uddrag fra konklusionerne:
Hardware Analysis: "By looking at the benchmark results it is obvious that ATi and Nvidia are both contenders to the performance crown, however it is hard to declare a winner, on paper the GeForce 6800 Ultra still is the king of the hill. But although the GeForce 6800 Ultra has the best papers in terms of features and raw performance, ATi has a card that is small, draws far less power, generates very little heat, is a single slot solution and packs a mighty punch."
The Tech Report: "At present, ATI appears to be slightly ahead of NVIDIA, but its superiority isn't etched indelibly in silicon the way it was in the last generation of GPUs. The GeForce 6800 is an extremely capable graphics chip, and we don't know yet how good it may become. "
Hexus: "R420 is what NV40 brought to the table in terms of performance, amplified, especially at its maximum AA mode. My 'ohmygod fast' exclamation on the second page really doesn't do X800 XT justice, it utterly obliterates anything that's gone before it when maximum respective AA modes are enabled, current 6800 Ultra included.
While NV40's 4X RGMS mode allows it to save some face, it's generally not enough face to matter. ATI's 6X mode is superior in quality and just as usable in performance, and on these newest generation accelerators, that absolutely matters.
It's the fastest and best looking graphics card on the planet, bar none.
Then we come on to its form factor. You simply cannot ignore small PCB size, lower than 9800 XT power draw, no need for two power connectors, single slot cooler profile and cool running. You can run an X800 XT or PRO in a Shuttle XPC and that's all the confirmation you need of its excellent engineering."
Anandtech: "Clearly, both camps have had their wins and losses, but it is safe to say that ATI comes out on top when it comes to DX9 and PS 2.0 performance."
HotHardWare: "All told, this time around, things are bit more nip and tuck for ATi and NVIDIA but again, it looks like ATi comes out on top. We'll save one caveat with respect to the X800's lack of PS3.0 support. If PS3.0 becomes mainstream in game engines before ATi's next product launch, it could spell trouble. On the flip side, if you can create a demo like Ruby and run it exclusively on PS2.0 hardware, we're left wondering how long the road ahead is for PS3.0 adoption."
Tom's Hardware: "Thanks to its performance advantage when using anisotropic filtering, the Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition shows its rivals who's boss in this discipline without noticeably sacrificing image quality. Even the much less expensive X800 Pro with its 12 pipes can beat the GeForce 6800 Ultra in some game tests.
Until then, the new performance leader is ATi's Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition."
ExtremeTech: "At the end of the day, the performance race is once again too close to call. ATI's engine clock difference set an expectation for better performance than we actually witnessed. But to the credit of the nVidia's engineers, the 6800 architecture demonstrated good per-clock efficiency versus ATI, and that has allowed nVidia to run even or slightly ahead on many tests. That said, ATI still holds a small advantage at the1600x1200 race between the 6800 Ultra and the Radeon X800 XT. nVidia does gain a small performance lead with the "Ultra Extreme", though the price of shipping cards at this point is anyone's guess.
If made to choose between the two, we give a slight nod to ATI. At the $500 price-point, the Radeon X800 XT does hold a slight overall performance advantage, particularly at very high resolutions. The lower power-draw requirement appeals to us, though most hardcore gamers, often already have an adequate power supply."
Gamers-Depot: "If you want a hotter card that requires more power and doesn't perform as well under most benchmarks, just for the sake of SM3.0 then go ahead and snag a 6800 Ultra - If, however, you want the most insanely powerful graphics solution for games of today, runs cooler, works with "normal" power supplies then ATI has your mealticket."
Firing Squad: "It certainly looks like the GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme is NVIDIA's direct response to the RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition. How successful is the Extreme board at dethroning ATI's latest flagship board? To us, the results are at best, mixed.
Where NVIDIA's GeForce 6800 Ultra architecture already takes the performance crown over ATI X800 XT Platinum Edition, the advantage only increases with the 6800 Ultra Extreme board. And when NVIDIA falls behind the RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition, the end result doesn't change any: the NVIDIA board still loses to the ATI high-end card, only the margins are a little narrower. Is this really worth the time and expense of developing an entirely new limited-edition SKU?"
Jeg har svært ved at se, at ATI ikke skulle have føretrøjen her. Deres kort yder bedre eller lige sågodt i alle betydende tests med AA og AF samtidigt med at det trækker mindre strøm, udvikler mindre varme og larmer mindre. Hvis det ikke er en vinder, så er jeg altså på nippet til at råbe fanboy efter folk, der påstår det modsatte. ;)
P.S. Og så kommer ATI's kort endda i butikkerne før nVidia's - Proudgaven kan købes allerede nu og XT skule kunne skaffes iløbet af 3 uger.