XFX 8800 GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition - G92 Performance
Game Benchmarks - DirectX 10 Performance
Published: 1st November 2007 | Source: XFX | Price: £210 |
DirectX 10 is currently in it's infancy. Using more advanced features and some pretty cool techniques (details here), DirectX 10 is the future of gaming. For all benchmarks I've included the associated numbers for DirectX 9.0c and the DirectX 10 numbers for the 8800 GTX for reference.
The trouble is, there are few titles out that are currently available that use DX10. What do we do?
Bioshock is based on the UT3 engine and there is currently a Multiplayer beta out of the same name. I am using both Bioshock and the UT3 Beta to try out DirectX 10. Another game that some people are rather excited about is Crysis...so we'd better include the current beta of that too hadn't we?
Remembering that these two are beta's, let's take a look.
Bioshock
Bioshock was played at 1920 x 1200 with full in-game settings.
How does the 8800 GT match up to Bioshock?
Features specifically associated with DirectX10 in Bioshock are smoke/dust effects and water ripple effects.
Here the 8800 GT does exceedingly well and indeed outperforms the 8800 GTX in DirectX 10 performance.
UT3 Beta
Remembering that UT3 is currently in the beta stage and so figures will not be final, let's see what the performance is like for UT3. UT3 was played at 1920 x 1200 with full settings in-game.
DirectX 9.0c screenshots
DirectX 10 screenshots
In UT3 the 8800 GTX seems to give slightly higher framerates and copes with the advanced engine a little better than the 8800 GT. Having said that, framerates are still high and more than acceptable.
The DirectX 10 version of the game looks a little more "cinematic" and gives a few more post processing effects. I think this makes the game look that little bit more polished on DX10 than DX9.0c.
Crysis Beta
Crysis is also currently in beta stage so please be aware of this as you read the numbers. It is looking to be the game that really takes graphics forward and the only game coming out soon that fully utilises DirectX 10. DirectX 10 really looks like it is going to be taken to the next level with Crysis.
Note that Crysis was played at 1368 x 768 with details on "Very High" with 2 x AA, which was only very barely playable in DX10. DirectX 9.0c was set to 1680 x 1050 with 2 x AA and settings on "High", which is the maximum you can set it to without DirectX 10.
DirectX 9.0c Screenshots
DirectX 10 Screenshots
Crysis has a far more major hit on FPS when you start playing in DirectX 10. It also looks far superior in quality and in-game effects, in my opinion. It has to be said that whilst 1368 x 768 was barely playable on the 8800 GTX, it was not playable on the 8800 GT. I set the settings to the same for consistency.
Crysis under DirectX 9.0c was easily playable on the 8800 GT at 1680 x 1050, 2 x AA...but it doesn't quite have that touch of magic and realism that the DX10 path does. Of course, the game is only in beta so it's a little early to judge performance solely on this.
DirectX10 Thoughts
It seems flexible engines such as the UT3 engine that have been designed with DX9.0c in mind will be fine for the 8800 GT to handle. However, I believe titles like Crysis will need significantly more firepower as they really show off what the API can do.
Most Recent Comments
Wow, pretty nice card, eh? 
I am guessing the 10% is an error... :eh:
Loving thing review Kemp, Well done mate.
I am guessing the 10% is an error... :eh:
Loving thing review Kemp, Well done mate.
Clear your cache mate, it's 92%
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
Clear your cache mate, it's 92%
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Brilliant write up none the less Kemp!
Lovely review Kempez
Nice review........that's one of the cards I'm currently looking at getting......
One small question for you all though, with those 2 sets of mounting holes around the core, what type of GPU water blocks will fit w/wo adapter plates/fittings????? Just wondering if my current Swiftech MCW60 will fit without having to get any sort of adapters.
One small question for you all though, with those 2 sets of mounting holes around the core, what type of GPU water blocks will fit w/wo adapter plates/fittings????? Just wondering if my current Swiftech MCW60 will fit without having to get any sort of adapters.
Outstanding review.
Completely agree with the summation in the conclusion.
Does beg a question as to what they test the Crysis engine with in-house. Unless they test it at lower resolutions than they think the community are using.
Theoretical Quad SLI, Quad X6850, best mobo, best memory, all overclocked under sub-space temps - and u`ll be "playable" ? - sounds pretty poor dev to me. DX9 tho and it kicks.
Anywho, it`s gotta be the card of choice atm, particularly bang per buck.
Drivers will improve, theres no doubt. Kinda widens the gap between generations when this happens, be interesting to see the same cards tested with those drivers in so many months time. Or maybe by then the top of the range card will be out and the others will be fairly insignificant.
Excellent read, been really looking forward to a trusted opinion on these cards, and the choice of this XFX model caps it all off.
Speaking of the HSF houver tho - can the usual suspects be fitted to this as a replacement ?
Completely agree with the summation in the conclusion.
Does beg a question as to what they test the Crysis engine with in-house. Unless they test it at lower resolutions than they think the community are using.
Theoretical Quad SLI, Quad X6850, best mobo, best memory, all overclocked under sub-space temps - and u`ll be "playable" ? - sounds pretty poor dev to me. DX9 tho and it kicks.
Anywho, it`s gotta be the card of choice atm, particularly bang per buck.
Drivers will improve, theres no doubt. Kinda widens the gap between generations when this happens, be interesting to see the same cards tested with those drivers in so many months time. Or maybe by then the top of the range card will be out and the others will be fairly insignificant.
Excellent read, been really looking forward to a trusted opinion on these cards, and the choice of this XFX model caps it all off.
Speaking of the HSF houver tho - can the usual suspects be fitted to this as a replacement ?
Full cover blocks won't fit at all so I've heard, but blocks fitting just the core should be OK.
As far as Crysis is concerned I don't think it's bad development, it's just a far more stressful game in DX10 mode. You really can tell (even at a low res) why the current gen cards are having problems, there's some awesome effects and detailing in there. The current gen cards (sort of including 8800GT) are still the first batch of cards to come to the market supporting DX10...remember the FX series? You get my point.
Crysis will look truly stunning once we have hardware that can play it at an appropriate level
As far as Crysis is concerned I don't think it's bad development, it's just a far more stressful game in DX10 mode. You really can tell (even at a low res) why the current gen cards are having problems, there's some awesome effects and detailing in there. The current gen cards (sort of including 8800GT) are still the first batch of cards to come to the market supporting DX10...remember the FX series? You get my point.
Crysis will look truly stunning once we have hardware that can play it at an appropriate level
Amazingly well done review Kemp 
Cant wait to give mine a proper go when I find some free time
Cant wait to give mine a proper go when I find some free time
Excellent review
Can't wait to get my hands on one of these myself!
Can't wait to get my hands on one of these myself!
Nice review Kept... Very detailed.
Just wanna crack open my GT now but gotta be up early so its gonna have to wait until tomorrow. Ahhhh sucks!
Just wanna crack open my GT now but gotta be up early so its gonna have to wait until tomorrow. Ahhhh sucks!
Great review, can't wait to see how this preforms with an aftermarket cooler!
nice review kemp as regards to crysis you said beta?
i saw SP demo shots? is that classed as beta?
just a nit pick i guess as i'm unsure :P
nice card
and hopefully a winner with matured drivers ?
i saw SP demo shots? is that classed as beta?
just a nit pick i guess as i'm unsure :P
nice card
and hopefully a winner with matured drivers ?SP demo is in beta stage afaik
I did not have at any stage any issues with drivers
I did not have at any stage any issues with drivers
This card seems pretty good, 3dm06 score is ~15.5K with one stick of turd ram.
I think the ram issue is preventing me from getting more from the card.
Clocks like a champ, see sig. Not even at max yet!
Edit: The mcw60 does fit this card with the standard/old mounting plate (read non g80 plate). I'm in two minds wheather or not to stick this on water as the temps seem ok to me, 81 max at load after a few hours...
After playing with the card more I'm leaning towards it's 'OK' rather than amazing, seems to be a lot of hype. This is possibly due to me swapping out the GTS for the GT and expecting some GTX-esque performance as people were stating, I've yet so see/feel that tbh. Probably because my rig is crippled with one stick of ram.
The hsf is small, I beleive iirc 500cm2 where as the GTS is 2000cm2, but seems adequate.
Once my ram arrives I'll re-edit this post with a more definitive opinion.
I think the ram issue is preventing me from getting more from the card.
Clocks like a champ, see sig. Not even at max yet!
Edit: The mcw60 does fit this card with the standard/old mounting plate (read non g80 plate). I'm in two minds wheather or not to stick this on water as the temps seem ok to me, 81 max at load after a few hours...
After playing with the card more I'm leaning towards it's 'OK' rather than amazing, seems to be a lot of hype. This is possibly due to me swapping out the GTS for the GT and expecting some GTX-esque performance as people were stating, I've yet so see/feel that tbh. Probably because my rig is crippled with one stick of ram.
The hsf is small, I beleive iirc 500cm2 where as the GTS is 2000cm2, but seems adequate.
Once my ram arrives I'll re-edit this post with a more definitive opinion.
I'm not a gamer, even though I won't mind playing with this new system I got. I got a Dell with the Q6600 Quad processor. I am a videographer though and I'd like to be able to show HD video to my clients on large monitors that support 1920x1080 with no stutter. Newegg has this card for about 259 and a cheaper version of this card the XFX PVT88PYHF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...XFX-_-14150272
for about $30 less. Are the extra $30 for this version worth it? Also, I've read that these GT8800 cards run pretty hot. What's a decent inexpensive cooling system that would fit in a small case, like the ones the Dell Inspiron 530 have?
for about $30 less. Are the extra $30 for this version worth it? Also, I've read that these GT8800 cards run pretty hot. What's a decent inexpensive cooling system that would fit in a small case, like the ones the Dell Inspiron 530 have?
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