Hardware Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 512

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...8800_gts_512/1

Nvidia is announcing a new GeForce 8800 GTS today, this time with 512MB of on-board memory. Unlike other GeForce 8800 GTS cards, this one is based on Nvidia's 65nm G92 graphics chip. So without further ado, let's have a look at how this stacks up against the competition.

[Demon Cleaner]

It looks very nice. But it's bound to be more than the £220 rrp if stock shortages continue. I think I will probably go for the 8800gt when I build in January

[Nictron]

Yeah the GTX is still King! OC it a bit and it kicks ass.

I have had my GTX now for 13 months, looks like it will stay king of the hill until March 2008!

Nice card though and good review.

Will the next generation GTX be G92 as well or do you guys think it will be a whole new architecture? I would be rather disappointed if its just a G92 model rather that a new architecture, but I suppose without propper competition we will see a similar card too the 7800 to 7900 transgression, slight improvements instead of a whole new architecture.

Only time will tell

[Tim S]

http://www.scan.co.uk/shops/SitePage.asp?SSPID=473
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=56&subid=927

I thought it'd happen... most are up above £240, but there's one as low as £230 if you disregard the OcUK-branded card. £230 is attractive, but I don't think £240+ is, IMHO.

[samkiller42]

Nice review as always Tim, thats some impressive speed when compared to a GTX, which is over a year old.

Impressive card, lets hope nvidia can make enough, and retailers sell it at reasonable prices.

Sam

[Tim S]

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/138416

£224.99 (inc VAT) - 182 in stock @ 15:00GMT. That's a good price.

[DarkLord7854]

~440$? Wow. I don't see enough net gain in performance over the GT to warrant forking an extra 200$ for it =\

[Nictron]

If you have a GT there is no point in upgrading, agreed.

[mclean007]

I find it amazing that (disregarding the Ultra, which is essentially just an OCed GX) the GTX has been king for over a year now. While the new GTS and GT are fantastically tempting cards, it is testament to NVidia's engineering prowess that ATi hasn't been able to produce a GTX-beater in all that time. Had ATi pulled out something amazing with the 29xx series, I reckon NV would have been forced to accelerate things to bring a still faster card to market. As it is, they have the top end sewn up and can take their time perfecting these awesome upper-mid-range parts to consolidate their position. Outstanding work NV, and a great review Tim - detailed as ever!

[mutznutz]

Thought this card coming out may convince me to change to the dark side

Its good but I think I'll wait for a bit more see some high end cards from both sides Q1and2 2008 me thinks

[oasked]

GTS. Why spend the extra on a card that's just as good/better (up to 1920x1200 or above)?

[MrWillyWonka]

Scan has this card: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=721739

Is the core clock speed actually correct? Way above any other cards.

[oasked]

I wouldn't be suprised, for the GTS thats a reasonable overclock (I've seen 750 with stock cooling on the internet somewhere).

Do you think its possible to enable the disabled stream processors on the 8800GT (via a BIOS flash or such)? After all the 8800GT and 8800GTS both have the same core and the same PCB, linky.

[glaeken]

I don't see the point in getting this card. It's a rip off. You're paying ~$150 more than an 8800GT for only a 5-10 fps gain. My 8800GT was $240. Now compare that to $370 for the GTS. It may be a great card, but not for that price. Maybe if it was around $300, then it would be worth it.

I find it funny that the article says it's in a sweet spot between the GTX and GT. Well that might be true if you compare the price for a GTX and a GTS, but compared to the price of a GT people are kind of getting raped on this.

[Zut]

Brilliant! Best review of the lot. This one also seems to be more positive than the others, especially in Crysis!

I've just paid £240 for the XFX card from Scan! Hopefully it'll clock up a bit... a 700MHz core would be nice!

[MrWillyWonka]

Just bought two from scan

[[USRF]Obiwan]

I'm partly impressed with the performance, yes it is faster in some games, yes it is more energy efficient then the GTX. But the GTX is almost a year old! The price of the GTX should have dropped aged ago with the introduction of new cards. But it did not because there is/was no compitition at all. The speed of new cards is not 40% better after a year like it used to be. All because the lack of compitition. Basicly it is going from bad to worse because it seems that nVidia is aiming for more consumer pocketmoney by overloading the market from botttom to the top with cards that are say 5% in the performace range of any other released nVidia card.

I do not even believe that the "new nVidia perfomance king" is going to be released to stores soon. I believe its more Q4 2008 until we see the next step in perfomance on the shelfs. Because there is simply no need for more speed at all. nVidia allready has the fastest range of cards on the market. Releasing a new card in the next couple of months makes no sense unless some compittion is going to actualy make a faster cards then the Ultra.

But there is more...

We assume that that's down to the fact that the GeForce 8800 GT kicks them both into touch for less money, but despite this, it’s not good news for those who have one of the original GeForce 8800 GTS cards and were thinking of an SLI upgrade to improve performance in some of this year’s top games – I would imagine it’s not going to be long before there are very few options left on the market.

This is exactly where i was afraid of is in fact allready happening here. There are 2 mayor flaws in the SLI based system.
1) The whole SLI "hype-thingy" is totaly useless, unless you buy 2 identical cards right now. And all the people that where thinking: "well... i buy a 8800GTS now and when I need more performance in the future I will buy the same card for 'el cheapo' in about 6 months. The problem is: This card is only going to be available secondhand over 6 momths because no retailer has this 8800GTSbrand X anymore on the shelfs.
2) Once the time arrived to actualy upgrade to a second card to work in SLI. All the cards you see then are 2 times faster and have more upgraded stuff like DX10.X or 45nm designs, more memory, etc... etc... So buying a then 'old' card with a lesser featureset to keep up with the then current specs makes no sence at all.

[Da Dego]

Originally Posted by oasked

I wouldn't be suprised, for the GTS thats a reasonable overclock (I've seen 750 with stock cooling on the internet somewhere).

Do you think its possible to enable the disabled stream processors on the 8800GT (via a BIOS flash or such)? After all the 8800GT and 8800GTS both have the same core and the same PCB, linky.

Most of these things are "hard locked" or laser-cut nowadays to prevent that, sadly. Gone are the days where a bios flash could fix you up to top-end speeds. I think the manufacturers realized what a horrible thing that did to their high-end parts sales, despite how much we as poorer enthusiasts appreciated it.

[lamboman]

I personally don't believe that the card is good value enough to be a better choice than the GT. But that is just me.

[Amon]

What the fu**? Is nVidia trying to wring down its products by competing with their own cards? Seems like they can't make up their mind; like an automaker who competes with its own cars for the same market segment, it just doesn't make sense and is unnecessary.