x800GTO2VIVO[x850XTPE] or 6800GS?

[mrbay]

I don't want to turn this into another ATI vs NVIDIA thread. All I want is to know which is the better buy. I've done extensive research, but there are still some things that are unclear.

I'm looking to upgrade my video card, and my only choices are the Sapphire Radeon x800GTO2VIVO and the 6800GS.

I don't need to see benchmarks, I already know that the x800gto2vivo[which is preflashed], when overclocked to XT PE speeds, beats the 6800GS by a large margin.

My question is, is SM 3.0 really that important?

They are both in the same price range as well, so the only distinguishing factors are SM vs overall performance.

Thanks.

 

[FighterAce124]

I would go for the 6800GS, I know you said you dont need any benchmarks, but if you look at the list of Mark06 scores (Even though they arent really true performance measures) here, the 6800GT and GS are beating the hell out of the X800 series (Having the SM3.0 score doesnt hurt to help boost it lol). I have a 6800GS, and it performs incredibly well, can overclock quite far, and play F.E.A.R. maxed out (except one setting, dont remember which..) at 1024x768. And I would say SM3.0 is pretty important for future games, assuming you dont want to upgrade in 3-6 months.