Power Consumption
The 8800 GTS has the highest idling power consumption out of all the competitors here -- it draws a full 27W more than the X1900 XT. On the other hand, it has the second-lowest power consumption when it's actually doing something useful. Props to NVIDIA for packing 2.5x as many transistors into this GPU, but still keeping power consumption while gaming at very reasonable levels!
Conclusion
Naturally it's quite difficult to judge a new video card technology in its entirety based on a card that isn't the representation of the best available in the series, however we will be looking at the bigger picture when we receive our 8800 GTX. What this review does give us is a look into the underpinnings of the 8000 series which will doubtless be expanding into the other price segments presumably next year. NVIDIA have put together an extremely competitive package and the value to be had in the future proofing through DX10 support as well as the current DX9 performance is really high.
The 8800 GTS is a very quick card and for the money (expected to be over or around $450) does offer alot of features. As you've seen in the charts, performance is quite good even against the best of class from ATI. You did also see that it's performance in current games doesn't necessarily outgun the current heavyweights. Its worth noting that at the price range that is intended however, its hard to imagine a person choosing an X1950XTX over the 8800 GTS simply based on the performance and future proofing offered by the GTS. This card is sure to shine in future DirectX 10 games and anyone in the market at this price range would be silly not to consider this card. Our verdict on 8000 series performance however will not come until we've had a chance to look at the 8800 GTX in the near future.
Retailers are expected to stock both cards today and despite rumors of a delay, there should be plenty of cards available on e-tail shelves.
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Hard Drive
Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB SATA II 7200RPM 16MB Cache
£75.99
Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 (2.13Ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
£123.14
DVD/CD Drive
LG GSA-H42LBL 18x DVD±RW DL/RAM Lightscribe Internal - Black Bare OEM
£19.97
Motherboard
Asus P5N-E SLI 650i Socket 775 Onboard Audio ATX
£68.71
PSU
Antec Basiq Power 500W ATX 12V PSU
£37.65
Case
PCICASE CS2600-BKS1 Hyperline II Black/Silver ATX Tower Case - No PSU
£21.98
RAM
Corsair 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Performance Memory CL5 1.9V Matched Pair with Heat Spreaders
£89.36
Graphics Card
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/125183
BFG 8800GTS OC 320MB DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E
£185.65
Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64Bit OEM 1PK DVD
£71.66 (Bought with hardware)
Monitor
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/118009/rb/27417150681
Xerox XM3-19W 19" Widescreen (1440 X 900) 5ms 800:1 Black 'plug & play' TFT Monitor
£122.23
Offers:
- £10 off for orders over £30
- Free delivery on orders over £89
Bearing in mind that I am not a hardcore gamer, and the PC is primarily for Uni work - but I would also like to be able to play Call of Duty 4 as well as possible when it comes out.
What is your opinion of the BFG card in the setup? I think the price difference between the GS and the GTX make the GTX far too expensive.
ATi really screwed up if the R600 doesn't absolutely demolish the G80. Well, sure, some hardcore ATi fans are still waiting on the R600, but come on, I'm tired of waiting on it.
And secondly, the mods will yell at you if you start bumping up threads 2 years old...
There are rules against that. So you DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT to bump up any thread you want.
In fact, i think you had to agree to compling with the rules when you joined... so you really shoujld have had a look...
You should seriously read the rules before making a comment like that (3 years...pff)
Also R600 is gonna be 65nm which was why it was delayed so AMD could make some power savings, ramp up the core speed possibly, and prevent transistor leakage that was heavy @ 80nm.
Please don't post in threads that old unless it is really necessary. i.e. user system threads etc...
And lots has changed since this thread has begun.
For a start.
Kilgore mentioned a die shinkage.
The G90 core coming out later this year while have a 65mm core.
Th R600 may have the same sizec ore.
And the G100 coming out in Q1 2008 for nVidia will be even more effecient.
The 8800 card prices have gone down.
This thread is old and out of date, please don't bump it.
the fact that the games i want are going to be direct x10 is a major factor for me...thank god i kept with my X550 for a while.
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTIxOCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
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