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So how do tese cards shake up performance wise? The GS takes a comfortable lead ahead of the ATI GTO cards in 3DMark and keeps this lead consistent across all resolutions in both 3DMark03 and 05.

This is very much reflected in the Far Cry results. The GS takes a five fps lead at 1,024 x 768 and does the same at 1,280 x 1,024 with FSAA and AF enabled. This is the sweet spot for the target market for these cards, with most owners likely to have a 17in or 19in LCD display - the GS reaching 57.5fps compared to 52.4fps and 50.2 on the GTO cards.

In Half-Life 2 however, the situation is reversed and the GS falls behind the GTO cards. At 1,280 x 1,024 with everything on it was 6fps behind the Sapphire and 8.5 behind the Connect 3D. The Source engine powered, Half-Life 2 has always been a strong title for ATI and it seems like this is still true.

In Day of Defeat, a Source engine game with HDR added, things switch around and the GS actually pulls head again comfortably, giving a playable 46.6fps, whereas the GTO can’t break the 30fps mark.

nVidia’s better OpenGL performance also gives it a commanding lead in Doom 3. The lead is hefty in all tests, especially with no FSAA or AF. Even with this enabled, you’re looking at a 14fps lead at 1,280 x 1,024 and a 10.5 fps lead at 1,600 x 1200.

The Connect3D has a bit more to it performance wise and it has ViVo wjhile also being the cheapest of the three. And of course, if you are successful in modding it, it’ll be the biggest bargain by far.

While both ATI cards are very playable in Far Cry and Half-Life 2 at 1,280 x 1,024 with all on, they struggle at Day of Defeat and Doom 3. The GeForce is also the only one that will give you Shader Model 3 support in games such as Splinter Cell and Far Cry.

Verdict

Scores wise we've rated the cards for performance against the fastest you get right now, rather than just against each other. This means that the performance scores are middling, but they do well for value for money.

There is something to be said for each of these cards. For ViVo and decent performance for less than £125 the Connect3D is worthwhile. The Sapphire Ultimate GTO has the advantage of being completely silent but if you want to play games with image quality features enabled you’re going to have to drop to 1,024 x 768 in newer games.

However, on balance though we feel that the 6800 GS justifies its higher cost with its performance edge and 3D related features and would be our choice of the three.

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