Take 2 hot-to-trot 8800GTS

1 reviewer with an overclocked Core2Duo system

Mix with plenty of benchmarks

Lets see what you get

Excellent review Kemp.

Definatly made a good read

looks like a good deal, does that GTS

but i am waiting to get a X1950XTX, when the R600 comes out, the price should plumit!

or so i hope

Hey Kempez, do you thing a XFX XXX 320Mb version would be better than a regular 640Mb version?

I didn't try the 320mb version I'm afraid mark - but I put it in the conclusion as a consideration

nice review kemp =P

@ markkleb out of the box, GTX is better, GTS stock is 500 whereas GTX is 550-575. I dont think price/performance wise thou a GTX is worth more to get.

ai_01, he means XFX XXX 8800gts 320mb vs. the XFX 8800gts 640mb

i think

One hell of a review there Kempez!

Really nice read.

Both cards coming out with pretty good results too.

i look like an idiot :iamwithst

its about 100-90 US more for an extra 320mb of ram. my vote is the XXX, or any GTS w/the lower 320mb, and just overclock it, i like evga and XFX, they both clock well.

Btw, very nice review Kemp!

i went with the 640mb version because it was only 50 bucks more... and ill still overclock it

great review!

Yep, thanks for explaining better what I was trying to say.

It seems in other reviews of 512Mb cards VS 256 mb cards most said the extra memory didnt to too much.

So it seemed to me the XFX XXX 320Mb GTS may be better "in the real world' than the reg 640Mb GTS.

I would NEVER say that, thanks for pointing out the need for me to be more specific in my posts.

maybe in dx9 but i think the 640mb version will pull ahead in dx10 when it is avail to use

i think the 640mb is more future proof, and games use more than 320mb now anyways

Good read, review, and comparison. XFX really seems to have hit a homerun with the higher paced stream processors, it looks to make all the difference. Now how to figure out how to do this yourself, muahahaha.

i was talkin to myself =P

probly something in the bios.. now im starting to think

Deffo - 640 is the better one IMO - already there is proof that the 320mb version has a bottle neck in COH, sure, that is just one game, but what about future, more taxing games? For a little extra cash I'd rather have that extra performance!

That is what I wanted to know too! So, currently no one knows how?

@ Kempez - damn fine review my man!

Edit: Overclocking stream processors - aparently a feature to overclock this seperately in later Forceware drivers was announced way back in November 06. It seems that nothing has happened but it all has something to do with CUDA which is not too far from C language. So, er - get on it! Write that code!

Also - another source suggested that when you OC the core the stream proccy OC's in a ratio (a ratio that nvidia won't confirm!). Furthermore, drivers seem to play a bit part in controlling the stream proccy speed... Just food for thought

Review Amended with UK pricing and a supplier with available products

Good review, Kemp

As markkleb asked which is 'better', I think a review between the 640 and 320mb versions should be on the shortlist. I personally think the 320mb version should be pretty good even with the memory cut in half, especially if you can cut off roughly $75 (which equates to a excellent HSF of almost another GB or RAM).

I'm in line behind Frag and Herr Smith, would like to know how to overclock all aspects of the 8800GTS. I've taken mine to 600/1010 with no problems, currently run it at 600/924 (stock is 513/792, do a little math, wanted the core at 600 so 924 is where the memory should be). I've been using Riva Tuner since the ol' Coolbits is gone (couldn't figure out that regedit download from Tox), only see the core and mem sliders, where is the stream slider (or some other way we can OC it).

TJS

As far as I am aware you can't do an easy OC on the stream processors, although I haven't had time to fully look into it as I am really busy catching up after a family illness.

There's a few cool reviews to come and a 320mb card is on the offing somewhen, just not right now.

i use ATitool for my oc'ing and you can have it load the oc on startup and it tells the temp... i have mine running at 640/1000

havnt seen the temp go above 70*c yet cuz i got some insain air fed to my card at all times... two 80mm fans and a 120mm all blowing on it

Yeah, thanks to your review, i bought the xxx gts 640, WOW wont need to look at staticice for another18 months!

Aye they do pwn somewhat

9500 on 3dmark06 - *sigh*, yeah. . . . .. they really DO pwn!

very interesting review

Great review Kemp.

Somewhere along the line I was wishing u`d take a screw-driver to those coolers, the pcbs look almost identical asif these guyz are working extremely close together. Like in the same building

I see many are already posing whether it`s better value to get a base card and do all the clocking uself. Meh.

They're all the same as the reference boards i expect.

As for the clocking we can oc the core but not the stream processors

Aye they're all reference boards basically so the coolers the same as the reference. I could have taken em apart but not sure how much use it would have been.

I took the 8800GTX apart in that review.

If your particularly interested I could take apart another GTS and post some pics?

And ye you can OC the core clocks/memory clocks but I haven't found a way of doing the stream processors yet

Is the stream process likely to involve some kind of firm upgrade that some guy is probably working on in his pc room as we speak ? lol Now these are out I guess theres a further reference for him to work off.

If I`m the only one looking for hardcore up-cooler shots, I wouldn`t bother, if I do some searching there bound to be something out there

I have pics of my EN8800 GTS nekkid if you want to have a look at them