With the recent success of ASUS's NVIDIA based video cards, it was no surprise when ASUS announced the SDR GeForce based V6600 SDRAM as a lead into the newly developed GeForce market. Soon after its release, ASUS moved from using NVIDIA's reference design to using their own proprietary board design, not a small feat by any measure, as ASUS is one of only two companies we currently know of who took the time and effort to change the board design. This new manufacturing template resulted in two more GeForce based SDR cards: the V6600 Pure and the V6600 Deluxe, cards which offered more advanced features such as hardware monitoring and capture functions on the Deluxe card. More recently, DDR based GeForce cards have become the card to own, so it was no shock when ASUS announced the sale of the DDR based V6800. Because they already had a proprietary design to use, ASUS skipped the whole reference board design and made the V6800 out of the same ASUS design found in the V6600 Deluxe and Pure models which received high marks in prior tests. Using the same board design with more powerful DDR memory, ASUS assumed that it had a winning card on their hands, an assumption that proved to be correct.

Specifications, courtesy of ASUS:

• Quad Engine Architecture
  Four independent pipelined engines
  15M triangles/second
  Sustained DMA, transform/clip/light, setup, and render rate
  >70% of the chip active at all times
  Up to 6 triangles "in flight" at a time (typically 1-3)
  Very low latency between engines
• ASUS Smart Doctor Technologies
  Provides the best system safety
  SmartCooling Technology
  Dynamic overclocking
  Over-heat protection
  Fan RPM monitoring
  AGP power level Monitoring
• ASUS Video Security Features
  The auto-notification system serves as your private security or reception system
  Detects and monitors any environmental deviation from the user-configurable norm
  Users can define the response procedures once any unusual condition is detected
  Capture the detected unusual condition in a high quality AVI file
  Take a single/multiple snapshot(s) of the detected object
  Send a warning e-mail with photo to the user-defined address
  Make a phone call to the user-defined phone number
  Execute other security control programs
  Full digital technology used is better than VCR-type video security systems
  
• AGP-V8600 Takes Interactive PC Graphics to More Realistic and Detailed Levels
  Full frame rate DVD to 1080 resolution
  Full precision subpixel accuracy to 1/16 pixel
  5 horizontal, 3 vertical taps
  8:1 up/down scaling
  Independent hue, saturation and brightness controls in hardware
• Optimized for the latest DirectX 7 and OpenGL features
  Transform and lighting (T&L)
  Cube environment mapping
  Vertex blending
  Protective textures
  Texture compression
  
• Superior 2D Performance
  256-bit 2D rendering pipeline
  4 pixels per clock on all scaled and indexed image operations
  1 GB/s CPU-to-GPU memory via AGP 4X with Fast Writes
• AGP 4X with Fast Write
  Enables CPU to send data directly to GPU
  System memory bus free to perform other functions
  Balanced design increases overall system performance
• High Quality Video Playback: DVD Acceleration
  Full frame rate DVD to 1080i resolution
  Full precision subpixel accuracy to 1/16 pixel
• High Quality Video Playback: Video Overlay
  5 horizontal, 3 vertical taps
  8:1 up/down scaling
  Independent hue, saturation, and brightness controls in hardware
• 3D Stereoscopic Features
  Turns D3D games into virtual reality gaming world
  VR Viewer software bundled for 3D pictures viewing
  Stereo TV software bundled for TV/VCR stereoscopic video playing and cable TV
  Real time onscreen display (OSD) control panel for VR settings
  
• Video Features for Video-in
  Complete S-VHS and Composite video-input ports support
  ASUS Live driver supports 704x480 real time video capture (for Windows 95/98 only)
• Video Features for TV-out
  Digital video output by integrated NTSC/PAL encoders
  Complete S-VHS and Composite video-input ports support
  High quality TV-out supports 800x600 resolutions

Click here to enlarge.

Of the GeForce cards that have come into the lab, we have only seen two companies improve upon the reference design sent out by NVIDIA. The first card is the SDR based ELSA ERAZOR X which chose to use a proprietary design in order to produce a NLX form factor card. The other cards that we have seen not using the reference design are the V6x00 series cards made by ASUS (with exception to the initially launched V6600 SDRAM), making the ASUS V6800 Deluxe the first DDR card we have seen that does not utilize the run-of-the-mill design. While the choice to use a non-reference board in the case of the ELSA was for space reasons, ASUS chose not to use the reference design so that additional features could be added to the card. As seen in the V6600 Deluxe SDR card, ASUS was able to fit in advanced features such as hardware monitoring, video capture and output functions, and built in VR by using their own design. The shocking thing is how versatile this design is: as with the reference SDR and DDR board designs, there is very little difference between the actual layout of the SDR V6600 and the DDR V6800. Holding the cards side to side, the only noticeable difference between the two are the layout of the DDR SGRAM chips and a few extra capacitors that lie next to each DDR SGRAM chip. Herein lies the beauty of DDR board from the manufacturer's perspective: companies can produce almost the exact same board design for both SDR and DDR cards. The processor is not different, the card layout is not different, the cooling methods are not different; the only difference lies in the DDR RAM itself, and what a big difference it is.

Click here to enlarge.

DDR SGRAM stands for Double Data Rate SGRAM and has been called the next big step in graphic card design. As many of you know, DDR RAM can be written to on both the rising and the falling edges of the clock cycle, resulting in double data rate. This effectively allows the RAM to write twice per memory clock cycle, resulting in very high memory clock speeds (NVIDIA suggests a speed of 300 MHz, resulting from 150 MHz RAM chips being written to twice in the clock cycle). SDR RAM, standing for Single Data Rate RAM, can only write on the rising side of the clock cycle and thus cannot achieve as high clock speeds (the NVIDIA recommended speed here is 166 MHz). Some originally thought that this increased memory clock speed would not result in a large performance gain at lower resolutions because the memory would not be utilized at these resolutions; however this does not tend to be the case as long the resolution is above 640x480. By using eight 4 MB DDR SGRAM chips arranged on the front and back of the card, ASUS was able to obtain a significant performance increase over the SDR based cards. As with all DDR cards coming into the lab, the ASUS V6800 Deluxe uses Infineon 6 ns chips. While rated at 166 MHz and providing a theoretical yield of 333 MHz, ASUS used NVIDIA's recommended 300 MHz clock speed which leaves the chips running at 150 MHz. All the DDR cards that we have seen use the Infineon DDR SGRAM chips due to the fact that Infineon (manufactured by SIEMENS) is the only company that currently produces a large volume of DDR SGRAM chips for use in GeForce based cards. Not only is the brand the same in every DDR card so far, but so have the SGRAM speeds: all rated at 6 ns. The reason for this is because Infineon does not currently make anything faster than 6 ns (166 MHz) DDR SGRAM chips; however, their current plans call for 5.5 ns (183 MHz) and 5 ns (200 MHz) to be produced soon.

The GeForce processor itself is cooled via ASUS's hardware monitoring fan. The fan is stuck to the chip via a very thoroughly applied layer of thermal grease and efficiently cools the processor even when pushed to the max. Hardware monitoring is made possible through the Winbond W8371D chip which not only monitors the fan RPM but also keeps a watch on the chip temperature and voltage.

Due to the fact that the video capture and VR features of the V6800 Deluxe are identical to those of the V6600 Deluxe card review earlier, here is an except from the V6600 Deluxe review that focuses in on the video-in, video-out, and VR features of the card:

Now comes the real icing on the cake: the S-Video in and out features as well as composite out. The S-Video out features of the V6600 Deluxe are controlled by one of the best video-out controllers available: the Chrontel 7005. This is essentially the same chip that received such high ratings in our Picture This: TV-Output Comparison with a few additional features, such as enhanced text sharpness. This chip provides the V6600 Deluxe with a very clear and crisp display output via the included S-Video cable. Even using the composite output, image quality is nothing to be ashamed of, even if it is still on an older television. The S-Video in functions of the V6600 Deluxe are controlled by the Philips SAA7113A video input processor, a chip that we have yet to see. The quality of this chip is described in the following section. One thing to be noted is the lack of a composite in connection. While all new video devices come with S-Video standard, the V6600 Deluxe leaves users of older technology in the dust and clinging to their Voodoo 3500 cards.

Finally, there lies yet another feature of the card that gives the V6600 Deluxe a bit of additional oomph; oomph which is provided by the built-in VR plug and included glasses. Coming out from what appears to be a headphone jack on the video card lies the ability to see OpenGL and D3D games in 3D mode. Plugging in the included glasses causes the polarized lenses of the glasses to turn on and off at a quick rate, almost like you are seeing everything with flicker. This technology, which has been around the gaming world for quite some time now but just recently found its way into the mainstream PC game market, works by fooling the eye into seeing depth. This is accomplished by rendering alternating frames in a game during each refresh cycle of the monitor. The glasses work in conjunction with this technology in order to match each frame to a separate eye. This is done using a polarizing effect. When electricity is passed through a thin layer of a semitransparent polarized substance that is sandwiched between two pieces of glass, the polarized part becomes darker. This lightening and darkening of the glass occurs in synchronization with the monitor refresh to allow only one eye to see each frame. For example, frame 1 is rendered for the left eye a bit to the left side of the screen and viewed through the transparent left lens. Then, the second frame in the game placed on the right side of the screen while the left lens of the glasses go dark. This works in the same way that normal depth perception is formed, as your eyes (which are set apart) do this naturally. To the onlooker without glasses, the game in question looks like two pictures overlapped on one another. To the person viewing through the glasses, the effect is 3D: looking almost like images and text are jumping out at you.

Not a new weapon, just VR without the glasses.

Once again, due to the fact that the video features of the V6800 Deluxe are identical to the video features of the V6600 Deluxe (as the chips and layout are the same), the following except from our V6600 Deluxe review should provide insight into the capture functions of the V6800 Deluxe:

Of all the GeForce based cards on the market now, the ASUS V6600 Deluxe is the first one that we have seen with full video capture functions. How did the Philips SAA7113A video input processor perform in our capture tests? Well, the answer to that question is not easily answered.

ASUS packages their proprietary ASUS Live software to handle most video in functions. Also included is Unlead's Video Studio 3.0 software that allows for MPEG-II software capture. The ASUS Live software program can capture video still shots in BMP format and can capture video in only AVI format, creating somewhat of a space hog, hence the need for Video Studio 3.0. We tested the proprietary ASUS Live software to get a grasp on what the card can do. The easy to use program includes options for the average resolutions that most video input cards can capture at: from 320x240 to 704x480. These resolutions provided sufficient capture options, whether you wish to send an online video or make a full motion movie. Upon first glance, the images inputted using our S-Video from JVC Digital Video camera looked better than the Voodoo 3500 TV which often suffered from poor colors, slight flickering and lower capture resolutions. The video capture part of the card is able to capture at up to 30 FPS, qualifying it as D1 resolution (full NTSC or full PAL resolution). The bundled ASUS Live software allows you to change the frame rate which you capture at from 30 FPS to lower preset values, saving valuable disk space when high FPS ratings are not required. Another nice feature of the ASUS Live software working with the V6600 Deluxe is the fact that it can capture at almost any resolution without significant frame rate loss. Even at 704x480 with lots of motion, the number of frames dropped on a 30 FPS capture turned out to be less than significant.

Click here to enlarge.

The real problem with the capture function for the V6600 Deluxe is not seen until a screen shot is taken or a movie is closely examined. Running at any resolution, 320x240 all the way to 704x480, lines were visible due to interlacing. Interlacing is a feature that is found in most non-computer video devices. Interlacing allows a device to draw only half the horizontal lines with each pass of the device's electron gun. Because an interlaced device refreshes only half the lines at one time, it can display twice as many lines per refresh cycle. While this feature provides clear pictures on a television, computer devices are non-interlaced to allow for faster reaction time. The V6600 Deluxe takes in these interlaced signals and then attempts to de-interlace them. In the Philips chip used in the card, this de-interlacing results in a sandwiched view of the frames: each frame contains two interlaced frames. The final product of this feature leaves much to be desired, as the resulting picture or video has mismatched horizontal lines when motion is present on the screen. While the average user will not see the lines when displayed back on a television, the lines are present and cannot be missed upon close examination of the AVI file or the captured bitmap file.

While this may seem like a significant downside to such a great card, keep in mind what ASUS is attempting to accomplish the V6600 Deluxe. Rather than target a select group with great video capture functions at a high price, ASUS chose to make a card and include a software bundle that is more of an additional feature to a great gaming card. This card is not meant for the professional video editor, rather ASUS added such features to entice more of the high end market and give hard-core gamers an additional toy to play with. This toying can include placing and editing home videos on the computer or sending videos online. The feature, however, is not to be used to edit with professional quality.

Of all the GeForce based cards that we have received in the lab, ASUS cards have consistently provided the highest overclocked speeds. Once again, the V6800 Deluxe allowed us to push the processor core speed to levels many other cards could only dream of. Due to the exact same cooling setup as found on the V6600 Deluxe, we were able to push the core speed as high as the V6600 Deluxe would go: a not so shabby 158 MHz achieved by overclocking in Power Strip. This core speed is the highest we have been able to get in any GeForce card, proving that the cooling setup of the V6x00 Deluxe cards is very efficient: from the thin layer of thermal grease to the high power fan, the processor stays cool.

As far as overclocking the DDR memory, pushing the V6800 is quite an experience. It is quite an odd feeling to see the memory clock speed listed as 300 MHz in Power Strip: an odd feeling that resulted in nothing but smiles. From the conservative stock speed setting of 300 MHz, we supposed that the card could go as high as 333 MHz with the 6 ns SGRAM chips running at 166 MHz times two. The V6800 once again did not leave us disappointed, as we were able to push the memory clock speed up to a fast 346 MHz, providing a nice speed boost.

With the card running at a 158 MHz core and a 346 MHz memory clock, we had a video card ready to conquer the 3D needs of today as well as the 3D needs of the future, as the V6800 standard clocked is the fastest card reviewed yet by AnandTech and overclocking only provides an additional boost.

Once again, the similarities between the V6600 Deluxe and the V6800 Deluxe show through as the two use identical drivers. The drivers used are essentially NVIDIA's reference drivers with additional features added so that the drivers can take advantage of the advanced features of the card. As stated in the V6600 Deluxe review, the taskbar resident driver bar allows for quick and easy adjustments and links to more advanced adjustments. The drivers include color controls advanced D3D and OpenGL functions and also provides screen for adjustment of OpenGL VR and D3D VR features. Color adjustments are available for the 2D environment as well as D3D and OpenGL games and the television color adjustment screen is a significant plus.

Both the V6600 Deluxe and the V6800 Deluxe offer ASUS's Smart Doctor for hardware monitoring. Again, here is an excerpt from the V6600 Deluxe review that talks about this nifty program:

One of the best driver feature of the V6600 Deluxe is the packaged Smart Doctor software. This software takes the information sent to it by the Winbond W8371D chip and displays it very intuitively on the screen. Easily seen in graph type views, the current fan RPM, core temperature, and core voltage are displayed. In addition to these features of the Smart Doctor software, it also includes some very cool overclocking functions. The card features what ASUS calls dynamic overclocking. What this feature does is change the clock speed when needed. For example, when in Windows the clock speed jumps down to a comparatively slow 86 MHz core speed and 82 MHz memory speed. These speeds are adjusted to higher levels when the video card is taxed, for example in any 3D games or programs. Also included is an overheat protection feature that prevents the chip from being clocked too high. If the internal temperature sensor reads that the chip is too hot, the dynamic clock function steps in and clocks down the card, resulting in a lower running temperature.

The one complaint we have with the Smart Doctor software is that it constantly switches focus to the program if a problem is detected. While this may make sense intuitively, problems can be run into if, for example, your motherboard does not put out exactly the correct voltage. You may not notice the problem but Smart Doctor will, and it will continue to notify you by switching focus to the program. This feature, in Quake III Arena, results in a white box flashing on the screen every 5 seconds (or for the time interval you have the monitoring at) and disappearing. In programs where focus can be switched (a feature which Quake III has left out), the game will minimize and Smart Doctor will appear. Quite annoying if you know of the problem and know that it is not really an issue.

The taskbar allowed us to change settings at a the click of a mouse.

D3D settings were easy to find and tweak.

OpenGL settings could be modified easily as well.

The D3D VR settings are essential for having a proper VR setup.

The desktop color tweaking utility.

Proving a color adjustment is key for proper video output.

The Smart Doctor utility can be very useful for proper monitoring of the card.

As can be seen with the Quake III Arena benchmarks, the ASUS V6800 Deluxe is the fastest GeForce based card we have seen yet. The graphs show the extreme performance differences between the SDR based cards (represented above by our fastest SDR card, the ASUS V6600 Deluxe) and the DDR based cards. The performance difference is magnified even more at higher colors and resolutions, as these situations can take even more advantage of the high memory clock speeds. Also noteworthy is the fact that overclocking the card did not result in large performance gains until higher resolutions and more colors were enabled in the game. This is most likely due to the fact that the card is already traveling as fast as it can at lower resolutions. The card does not appear to be taxed until 800x600x32, resulting in larger performance gains here when overclocked.

Once again, we see the limits of the Unreal Tournament engine. The ASUS V6800 Deluxe, the fastest card tested yet, according to Quake III Arena benchmarks, benchmarks nearly identically to the SDR card. While this is great news for hard core Unreal Tournament players (because almost any GeForce card will perform the same), if you want to use any other 3D applications or games, the performance difference between SDR and DDR cards will show.

Running at a rather steep suggested price of $339, the ASUS V6800 Deluxe is not for everyone. Keep in mind, however, that ASUS knew this would be the case and thus targeted a select group with the production of the V6800 Deluxe. Let us look at the reasons to buy this card or to purchase a less expensive GeForce card.

The features that really sets the V6800 Deluxe apart from the rest of the cards available are its advanced video input and output functions. In fact, these features almost single handedly result in the large price of the card, as can be seen in price of ASUS's V6800 Pure (the same card without video functions) which runs about $50 cheaper.

While these video features are great to have on the card, they are meant to be used for recreational purposes only, a fact which can be seen with the image capture quality and features of the card. The card is great for editing home movies and storing them in a digital media, but it is not of sufficient quality to pass as a commercial editing board (which could easily cost twice as much). ASUS's goal here was not to produce a commercial quality board but rather add some additional features for the high end gamer to play with.

Along with the video functions of the card, the ASUS V6800 Deluxe also holds the spot of fastest performing GeForce card we have seen yet. The speed of the card leaves nothing to be desired, except for maybe more powerful games to take full advantage of the outrageous speed. This once again reiterates the fact that the video features of the card are added only as an additional toy, as it shows that ASUS did not set out with the goal of producing the best capture card but rather the fastest gaming card.

The bundle included with the ASUS V6800 Deluxe is nearly identical to the bundle found in the V6600, with the addition of ASUS's own Video Security software. What this software allows you to do is monitor an area via the included S-Video or composite input found on the card. The software actually monitors the area and looks for any movement or disturbance. If the image that the input source sees differs from the user-defined normal scene, the software can be set to record the incident, write a log to Microsoft Access, send an e-mail notification, or even dial a phone number to notify you of the disturbance. This feature is useful mostly for people running a business, but we do not see a $339 gaming card being used in place of conventional video security in many businesses. It would be a nice feature, however, if you can afford the high cost. The Video Security software also provides a fun toy to monitor your room or apartment with. The software bundle also includes ASUS DVD for software DVD playback (very nice if you have a television close to you computer as the DVD image from the computer can be displayed to the television), Unlead's Video Studio SE for additional video capture functions, two full games (Darkan and Rollcage) and a demo game CD that includes 12 demos. This complete software package was necessary to take full advantage of the video features of the V6800 Deluxe, thus ASUS made a good decision here. Finally is the 2D image quality of the card. Just like its SDR sibling, the V6800 Deluxe provides sharp text and clear graphics all the way up to 1600x1200 when in 2D mode, a necessary feature for those out there with larger monitors.

When it all pans out, the ASUS V6800 Deluxe is the best GeForce based graphics card on the market albeit a very high price. The included VR features of the card are a plus, but the glasses remain useless after the gimmick factor wares off (unless, of course, you need some cool shades to sun bathe in). The high overclocked speed of the card says a lot about the quality of ASUS products, as inferior cards have never been able to reach these speeds. The need to buy this card depends on the person. If you would like a good gaming card with video features but are not willing to spend $339 after the holiday season, the lower priced ASUS V6600 Deluxe, which uses SDR RAM, is most likely the best card for you. If you are looking for a great game performer with few additional features, almost any DDR card will do. If you are looking for a great game performer with video features, the V6800 Deluxe is the card for you, even with such a high price tag.