BFGTech GeForce 8800 GTS

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/12/18/nvidia_geforce_8800_gts/1.html

 

I thought one of those stickers said "Bit Tech"

nice card though.

 

Made by the hands of GOD!

 

i think the ati card stands out that much more because lets be honest...how many peeps have that kinda resolution capability? i know i don't. and consider it's 512 mb versus 1 gig on gx2 or 640/748 or w/e on the gts/gtx...point is made though, for now, the gts is the better buy. i wish you guys would run a sli/crossfire comparo...that would be informative

 

And here I was thinking that I needed the 8800GTX to run Crysis and everything else on my 19" LCD

I'll take one please.

Nice review

 

Tempting!

@Tim_S - Given that it is a full-blown G80 with some features disabled, do you reckon there is any scope for soft-modding the additional stream processors back into life? I have heard rumours of actually laser-cutting the traces on the chip so you can't, but wondered if you had any more info?

 

I think the cards are definitely hard-locked like the GeForce 7-series cards (which were not soft-moddable), although I'm prepared to be proven wrong

 

The frame buffer is only that large because of the memory bus width and the way its implemented, otherwise I'm sure it would be 512MB on both cards. The GTX uses 12 memory chips (on a 384-bit memory bus), while the GTS uses 10 memory chips (on a 320-bit bus) and they're only available in 32MB/64MB capacities, meaning 320/640MB for the GTS and 384/768MB for the GTX.

I'm not sure what's next on the list - I can either go down the SLI route at high resolution, or evaluate performance properly at 1680x1050 - I was leaning towards the latter since it's probably going to be more useful to more people.

 

Agree with taking the evaluation route. What resolutions would you try with 8800 GTX SLI though? Or better > 40" or not?

 

Well, the high resolutions that people are using are 2560x1600 and 1920x1200 - it's a bit of a select marketplace at the moment though with displays costing upwards of £600 (for a 1920x1200 display) and £800+ for a Dell 30".

If you add that to the fact that most current games play pretty well on a single GeForce 8800 GTX - there's little need for that second card at the moment, IMHO.

 

Reading this review was seeing the 8800s stomp ATI into the ground all over again.

It's too bad I didn't have an extra $150 to spend on the video card, else I could have picked up an 8800 GTS. Ah well, the 7950 GT is still a tad faster than my old 6600 GT.

I wonder what sort of performance we'll see from cheaper 8800s, assuming NVIDIA brings them out once ATI releases its own DX10 parts? Will they, too, be in a completely different league from their DX9 counterparts? I guess only time will tell.

 

Any news on 8600 Tim? That might be the way to go if planning to jump on the SLI train IMO.

 

I've heard nothing thus far, we might hear something after Christmas though.

 

Might be interesting as I want to upgrade. You think it's worth it to go G80 or R600 with a 19" and E6600 + 2 GB DDR2-800? It ain't, right?

 

if you go with a G80/R600, you'll be able to play everything with pretty-much maximum details on a 19" screen - that's for sure.

 

Great article folks. Keep the good quality work as always.

I actualy ordered this card on Saturday from OC and expecting it tomorrow. I'm looking forward on Thursday when the rest of the new PC parts will be here

Btw this card (BFG 8800GTS) has some huge price difference between vendors. From £300 on OC up to £400+ on others.

Is it a good buy? For the limited budget family guys who use up to 20" screens and they will not upgrade until DX11, YES.

Regarding the other cards on the article we must note that they cost the same or more as the GTS and they are DX9c cards.


PS I will put the card through my company so I will get the VAT back. Total cost for this beauty £255

 

Mehh frist gen DX 10 cards there probally weak as hell when it comes to true DX 10 apps, like how every other card that boasted new featuer sets truned out to be.

If anything I'll wait for the 8900 series than hopefully we'll all be able to get a 8900 GTS that proforms like a 88 GTX all for half price as the GTX like they did with the Geforce 7's!

 

Great review. Could I please add a sugestion, seeing as you are pondering a refresh of your card testing procedure and that is testing the claimed HDCP chain. Not a huge test I know but most applicable at the current time and with past misunderstandings a useful one.

 

I've got the monitor and cards, I'm just waiting for a Blu-ray/HD DVD drive plus some protected content - I definitely want to cover it though.

 

Thanks nice to know