The Contestents!

Ladies and gentlemen, here they are - the ATI Radeon X800 Pro and the NVIDIA GeForce 6800GT!

The contestants

The one thing that you'll notice right away is that the X800 Pro is smaller than the 6800GT. The thing I like about ATI is that they keep their cards small compared to NVIDIA. This is just a small gripe that I have as more often than not, a bigger graphics card may get in the way of other cables or components. The 6800GT, unlike the Ultra, is a single-slot solution just like all the cards from ATI. Additionally, both of these cards sport a full copper cooler.

As you can see, the 6800GT doesn't have any RAM chips at the back of the card. Instead, they are arranged around the core in pairs. ATI, on the other hand, has RAM chips on both sides in an L-shaped layout.

Back of the cards

Another thing to note is that this version of the 6800GT comes with a backplate. This effectively reduces the mounting pressure on the PCB and ensures that an even pressure is applied to the core. ATI, on the other hand, seems to have gone with a clip that connects the two screws and sort of levers off the back of the core. This also ensures that pressure is applied correctly towards the core.