In the world of computer upgrades and peripherals, the age-old question has come up time and time again: do I get this one, or that one? Whether “Apple or Microsoft”, “Intel or AMD”, “iPhone or Android”, “ATI or Nvidia”.. competitors seek to have an advantage over the other, as so to convince someone to buy their product.

In 2004-05, if you were someone who hung onto an AGP-based Power Mac G5, or if you were someone into Windows PC-based gaming, you may or may not have heard of these cards, possibly looking into them for your own computer. In late 2004, online consensus more or less pitted these two cards head to head: The X850XT for $499 in the PC Market ($400 option), and the 6800 Ultra DDL for $599. In 2024, these cards retain a higher resale value and are sought-after. Throughout the years their resale value seemingly hasn’t changed much, and may potentially be rising slowly as a reflection of their desirability for being retro collector’s/enthusiast’s cards. What is it like to have one or the other nowadays? Today, we compare them side by side in Mac OS X Sorbet Leopard.

Mac used for testing

• PowerMac7,2, June 2003 Power Mac G5 Dual 2.0
• 8 GB PC-3200 400 MHz DDR, 8x 1 GB
• 960 GB Sandisk SSD Plus AppleSoft RAID0 Array
  • 4x SSD’s – 2x via onboard SATA, 2x via SeriTek SATA RAID0 card
  • Random Read: ~350 MB/s , Write: ~290 MB/s
• 1080p IPS LCD Display via VGA (X850XT) and DVI (6800)
• Mac OS X 10.5.8(9) (Sorbet Leopard)

Tech spec sources (Techpowerup): Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra, ATI Radeon X850XT

MSRP (Upgrade cost): $599 / $400

GPU Name: NV40 / R481.

Fab Size: 130 nm / 130 nm

Foundry: TSMC / TSMC

GPU Clock: 400 MHz / 520 Mhz.

VRAM: 256 MB 256-Bit GDDR3 / 256 MB 256-Bit GDDR3

Memory Clock: 550 MHz (1100 Mb/s) / 540 Mhz (1080 Mb/s)

Memory Bandwidth: 35.2 GB/s / 34.56 GB/s

Transistors: 222M / 167M (Million)

TDP: 100 Watts / 69 Watts

Additional Power: Onboard / 1x Molex

Interface: AGP Pro 8x / AGP 8x

OpenGL: 2.0.3(f), 2.1(p) / 2.1(f)

DirectX: 9.0c / 9.0b

Pixel & Vertex Shaders: 16P 6V / 16P 6V

Slots: Dual / Dual or Single

How it shows up in the system (..and some similarities)

• System Profiler will notate the differences between the two cards under “Graphics/Displays”
• Although there is an ATI Displays system preferences panel, I couldn’t find a comparable Nvidia version for OS X Leopard.
• Differences are indistinguishable when using Finder, and basic tasks.
• If you’re using Sorbet Leopard, Youtube works at 360p in Webkit, Safari 11.0.4. Loads rather quickly in Late 2024.
• Youtube does not load properly in AquaFox 1.0 yet
• Can barely, just-about play 1080p M4V video files at 30 fps, skipping frames consistently.
• If you’re looking to restore your older Power Mac with simply “better graphics”, either card will do, depending on the machine you have.
• WARNING: If and when replacing cards, please be sure to unplug your system first. If PSU is plugged in and you’re attempting to install a GPU which requires an additional molex power connector at the same time, you risk short circuiting your Mac. It’s possible to create a small electric arc by accidentally letting the GPU traces touch the metal plate below it in the PCI bay of a Power Mac G5 if it’s a molex powered GPU.. despite the Mac being turned off.

 

• Below: Can barely, just-about play 1080p M4V video files at 30 fps, skipping frames consistently.

Xbench 1.3

Quartz Graphics Test: 124.93 / 112.03

Quartz Line: 7.54 Klines/sec vs 6.63 Klines/sec

Rectangle: 31.68 Krects/sec vs 29.76 Krects/sec

Circle: 8.73 Kcircles/sec vs 8.65 Kcircles/sec

Bezier: 2.73 Kbeziers/sec vs 2.47 Kbeziers/sec

Text: 19.51 Kchars/sec vs 12.68 Kchars/sec

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OpenGL Graphics Test: 89.64 vs 104.02

Spinning Squares: 113.72 FPS vs 131.95 FPS

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User Interface Elements Test: 74.23 / 64.57

Elements: 340.67 refresh/sec vs 296.36 refresh/sec

 

• Testing on Xbench gives probable explanation for the experiential variations between the two cards. Without looking underneath the surface, it’s easy to say both cards are “about as powerful as each other”, when in reality it looks as though both cards are suited better for slightly different things.
• Quartz is the core graphical rendering engine in Mac OS X. It’s primarily a 2-Dimensional + Text + UI rendering engine that takes advantage of GPU power to create the user interface. Based on these tests, it appears as though the Nvidia 6800 Ultra DDL is a faster GPU to use in Mac OS X Leopard. Based on user experience, however, the difference is negligible. The X850XT feels quite snappy with basic tasks.
• OpenGL is an API for rendering 2D/3D graphics, and it appears the X850XT is faster in it.

 

 

 

 

• Despite the better OpenGL performance of the X850XT GPU according to Xbench, the performance in Minecraft 1.8.9 was too close to call.
• On an experiential factor: The ATI Radeon X850XT felt like it chugged along a pinch faster. Rendering seems more “steady”.
• The GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL seemingly ran faster for a moment or two, but would crash to 0 FPS and back-up more frequently.

Above: Seemingly optimal, decent performance on both cards.

For this test, there wasn’t too much competition. The ATI Radeon X850XT came out on top.

1,036,800 Triangles: 109 FPS vs 131 FPS

60 FPS: 1,936,512 Triangles vs 2,332,800

3,115,008 Triangles: 38 FPS vs 46 FPS

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

• On an experiential level, the X850XT was a much better card for the same settings. The Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra was stuttering in the same scenes where the X850XT felt smooth, at the same screen resolution and all. This game was chosen as it’s more recent (released in 2010) and therefore is more likely to stress the performance of either card.

• Verdict? You decide! In the decades since these GPUs have been released, it’s increasingly unlikely either of these hard to find cards will be extensively used for their originally intended purpose. Be decisive in which card you’re going to get, it’s likely it’ll be harder to find later on – and think about how much you’ll really be using that old Mac.
• If you’re more likely to:
  • Park the Mac, desire longevity and functionality over all: Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL.
  • Use the Mac, play more games, power on the computer more frequently: ATI Radeon X850XT.
• ..after all, years from now, it won’t matter which card you used, which one you had, or which games you played… (and by that point there’s a chance these computers will become a long forgotten memory, a relic of time like everything else technology). What will matter, however, is the time you have and how you choose to spend it. Are you a collector? Or are you a technology enthusiast? You decide.