Clock Speeds and Test Setup
First up we'll take a look at the clock speeds of all the hardware we're testing today compared to the stock 8800 GTS 320MB hardware.
The consumer looking at most overclocked 8800 GTS 320MB cards can expect to spend just over $300USD, which is a very good price for the performance. Stock hardware generally runs for something closer to $275, but our ASUS card comes in a little higher than that and is priced similarly to most of the rest of the cards we are investigating. The two highest priced cards are the EVGA KO ACS3 and the Sparkle Calibre P880 LV. The price premium on the EVGA comes from the increased core, shader, and memory clock, while the Sparkle card costs more due to the cooling hardware used.
The EVGA SuperClocked, MSI, and Sparkle cards are all clocked very similarly, so we will expect to see performance that reflects this. We will want to pay attention to see if the performance of these cards is high enough over stock to justify price increase. These won't be the fastest cards, but we expect these to have the most value in terms of performance per dollar.
Our test setup is the same we've been using for the past few graphics card articles.
First up we'll take a look at the clock speeds of all the hardware we're testing today compared to the stock 8800 GTS 320MB hardware.
| GeForce 8800 GTS Specifications | ||||
| Core clock | Shader Clock | Memory clock | Price (USD) | |
| Stock NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB | 500 | 1200 | 1600 | $275 |
| ASUS GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB | 500 | 1200 | 1600 | $305 |
| EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB KO ACS3 | 588 | 1450 | 1840 | ~$350 |
| EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB SuperClocked | 576 | 1350 | 1700 | $305 |
| MSI NX8800GTS 320 OC | 575 | 1350 | 1700 | $315 |
| Sparkle Calibre P880 LV | 580 | 1350 | 1780 | ~$350-$400 |
| XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Extreme | 560 | 1200 | 1700 | $310 |
The consumer looking at most overclocked 8800 GTS 320MB cards can expect to spend just over $300USD, which is a very good price for the performance. Stock hardware generally runs for something closer to $275, but our ASUS card comes in a little higher than that and is priced similarly to most of the rest of the cards we are investigating. The two highest priced cards are the EVGA KO ACS3 and the Sparkle Calibre P880 LV. The price premium on the EVGA comes from the increased core, shader, and memory clock, while the Sparkle card costs more due to the cooling hardware used.
The EVGA SuperClocked, MSI, and Sparkle cards are all clocked very similarly, so we will expect to see performance that reflects this. We will want to pay attention to see if the performance of these cards is high enough over stock to justify price increase. These won't be the fastest cards, but we expect these to have the most value in terms of performance per dollar.
| System Test Configuration | |
| CPU: | Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz/4MB) |
| Motherboard: | EVGA nForce 680i SLI |
| Chipset: | NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI |
| Chipset Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce 9.35 |
| Hard Disk: | Seagate 7200.7 160GB SATA |
| Memory: | Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 (1GB x 2) |
| Video Card: | Various |
| Video Drivers: | ATI Catalyst 7.2 NVIDIA ForceWare 97.92 (G80) |
| Desktop Resolution: | 2560 x 1600 - 32-bit @ 60Hz |
| OS: | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
Our test setup is the same we've been using for the past few graphics card articles.
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gus6464 - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
yeah same here, my first evga purchase was a 7800gt over a year ago and the next month the 7900gt came out so I sent my card to evga and they upgraded to a 7900gt at no extra charge. Shipping was fast and have had 0 problems with the card ever since. Now all I buy and recommend is evga.drebo - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
From Page 12.
I don't quite agree with your conclusion here. Sure, the temperatures are only a few degrees cooler than the other stock cards, but the ACS3 card is also clocked higher than the rest of the cards. I think when you take that into account, the fact that the ACS3 solution cools better than nearly every other card is pretty impressive.
Other than some of the conclusions, very informative article. Definitely considering the eVGA card as an upgrade for my "aging" 7900GS KO.
RaistlinZ - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
I usually enjoy AT's video card reviews, but this one seemed very rushed and with not much effort put into it at all. It reminded me of reviews you'd find from newbie review sites run by high-school kids.Sorry to say, but it's the truth. The whole "review" seemed like it only took you an hour to test the cards and post the review. :( Which is fine I guess, if that's what you were going for, but I expect more from Anandtech.
Anyone else feel this way?
yyrkoon - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
You would probably be better served by waiting until nVidia irons out their drivers for these cards. However, I also must admit, I am tempted myself to buy one of these 8800GTS cards ( Titan Quest on my 7600GT does not seem to perform 'optimaly'). This being said, the games I play, for the most part play well enough, I think, for me to wait until nVidia gets their act together. Still, it IS tempting . . .