NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT: The Only Card That Matters
by Derek Wilson on October 29, 2007 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
NVIDIA Demolishes... NVIDIA? 8800 GT vs. 8600 GTS
This is almost a silly comparison, but it's one we must do in order to illustrate a very valid point: the GeForce 8800 GT all but destroys any reason to purchase the 8600 GTS. The price difference between the 8600 GTS and the 8800 GT can be as little as $50, and as you're about to see, the performance difference more than justifies the price.
The specs alone should give you an indication of the thrashing that the 8600 GTS is about to receive: 112 SPs vs. 32 on the 8600 GTS, 3.5x the texture address and filtering power, and virtually twice the memory bandwidth; and all this for only $50 more?
One of two things needs to happen in order for the 8600 GTS to make sense in NVIDIA's lineup; it either needs to get a lot cheaper, or the 8800 GT needs to be closer to $250 in price. You know what our preference is, but at $200, the 8800 GT is the best card in NVIDIA's lineup.
This is almost a silly comparison, but it's one we must do in order to illustrate a very valid point: the GeForce 8800 GT all but destroys any reason to purchase the 8600 GTS. The price difference between the 8600 GTS and the 8800 GT can be as little as $50, and as you're about to see, the performance difference more than justifies the price.
The specs alone should give you an indication of the thrashing that the 8600 GTS is about to receive: 112 SPs vs. 32 on the 8600 GTS, 3.5x the texture address and filtering power, and virtually twice the memory bandwidth; and all this for only $50 more?
One of two things needs to happen in order for the 8600 GTS to make sense in NVIDIA's lineup; it either needs to get a lot cheaper, or the 8800 GT needs to be closer to $250 in price. You know what our preference is, but at $200, the 8800 GT is the best card in NVIDIA's lineup.
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gamephile - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Based on benchmarks and price this card is finally in the sweet spot for me which means I can finally ditch my ATI X300! I only have one question remaining and that concerns the noise level. How does it compare to the 8800GTS? Why was this omitted from your review?Vidmar - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Ditto! Noise please!!!DerekWilson - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
we didn't measure noise, as it's a reference board which doesn't necessarily reflect final boards available from OEMs.of course, since you guys want this, we'll try to add it to future GPU launch articles.
For now, it'll have to suffice to say that it isn't a loud card, and it doesn't seem any louder than the 8800 GTS.
Missing Ghost - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 - link
Theses times most retail cards are pretty much the same as the reference cards...michal1980 - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
I want to know too. If its bettern then my 8800gts 640. I'll ebay that card now for the 8800. esspically with the smaller cooler and quiter.Dantzig - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Tom's Hardware did a noise comparison and found that the 8800GT was as quiet or quieter than any of the other 8800 series cards, the 8600 series, and the 2900XT.gamephile - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Yeah I saw that, I would just like confirmation from a source I trust.mpc7488 - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Lol - nice.The Tech Report did a good review, they have noise figures on page 7. http://techreport.com/articles.x/13479/7">Tech Report 8800GT Noise Levels
gamephile - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Also the power consumption image doesn't load for me either. I'm not behind any firewall or proxy.DerekWilson - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
i'll look into the power graph thing