Let's face it, the only real reason to upgrade computers to the absolute fastest processor, most memory, biggest hard drives, and newest video cards is to play computer games. It's simple. You can still run Microsoft Word 2003 or surf the Internet on a Pentium II 450, so what's the point of having a brand-new, lightning-fast monster of a computer if you're not going to play the newest games on it? Am I right? You bet I am!

So, what if you don't have the $500-600 that the newest ATI and Nvidia video cards are running these days but still want to play Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 when/if it comes out? Well, rather than going back a generation and picking up one of Nvidia's 5000-series cards or the Radeon 9000 series, take a look at the GeForce 6800 non-GT, non-Ultra version.

The key thing to remember about video cards these days is that there are a lot of card manufacturers but only two chip manufacturers that you should pay attention to -- ATI and Nvidia. It doesn't really matter who makes the card so much as the chip on it. ATI and Nvidia are neck-and-neck when it comes to performance; it always seems as if one edges out the other with a particular game: for example, ATI cards run Far Cry faster while Nvidia cards pull out all the stops with Doom 3. Whichever company you pick, you'll end up with a good card.

I picked up this Chaintech GeForce 6800 card when I was looking for a Radeon 9800 with 256MB of RAM. Ironically, this Chaintech only has 128MB but when I realized for an extra $20-30 I could have a card with the newest generation chip, I jumped on the opportunity.

How does it compare? Well, let's take a look at the Tom's Hardware VGA Charts IV review that they just did, well, today! Here's a chart of their results of the 3DMark03 benchmark program of some of the hottest (and coldest) cards on the market:

The GeForce 6800 is 5th from the fastest card posting a 3DMark03 score of 9072. Not too shabby. The Chaintech 6800 in this review posted a 3DMark03 score in my computer (an Athlon64 3200+ with 1024MB of Corsair Matched Pair memory and two 80.0GB Seagate hard drives running RAID-1 striping) of 9520. My old Radeon 9700 Pro is quite a bit further down the list with a 5305 score and the Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB that I was looking at when I bought this card only rang in with a measely 5980. Well worth the $20-30, I'd say.

Now, you might be asking why the Chaintech 6800 in this review outperformed the 6800 in Tom's test by such a large margin (a good question, I'd add). The reason is this: Chaintech overclocks their 6800 card by 10% (this means they run the memory and the Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) at a 10% higher clock-speeds than factory specification). It results in more speed and Chaintech is very careful to make sure the overclocking won't result in less reliability.

In addition to the overclocking, Chaintech offers a nice little bundle of stuff with their 6800 card: WinCinema DVD Player, VGA Utilities, a GamePack including a handful of interesting games (including Serious Sam 2 and Max Payne), and the full version of the Commandos 3 game as well as a S-video cable, composite cable, SV to AV cable, and a DVI to VGA adapter.

Specs on the Chaintech are as follows: 128MB of DDR memory, 256-bit processor, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, VGA Out (15-pin D-Sub) and Direct X 9.0c Shader Model 3.0 capabilities (note: ATI's newest generation of cards, the X-series (X600, X800, etc.) do not currently support Shader Model 3.0 which will be in the next generation of games).

Take all of this and throw a decent sticker price of $300 on it and you've got a very good card. Now, granted, $300 is definitely not chump change but it's far more reasonable than the street prices you'll pay for an X800 Platinum Edition or GeForce 6800 Ultra (ringing in at over $600 in some cases).

Problems with the card? These new cards require power from your power supply but unlike its bigger brothers that require TWO (2) Molex-connected power cables, the GeForce 6800 only requires one. In addition, I've noticed in the two-plus months of use that I've had this card that the cooling fan makes a little bit more noise than I'd like (though it's too be expected considering the card is running hotter because of the overclocking).

Overall, the Chaintech Nvidia GeForce 6800 video card is an excellent option for those hardcore (and even not-so-hardcore) gamers out there who want to play the newest games at a good clip without breaking their wallet in the process.

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