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Power

The XFX 8800 GT saps a bit more power than the NVIDIA 8800 GT. Nonetheless, thanks to the efficiencies of the new G92 65nm GPU, this power drain probably isn't sufficient enough to warrant worrying about having to upgrade your power supply any time soon.

Conclusion

I have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised with the performance the XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog can deliver. I was expecting the comparably low amount of memory to hold the card back further then it did. But besides one game -- Call of Juarez -- the 256MB XFX 8800 GT compared favorably to the competition.

So it comes down to price. For price-to-performance ratio, from the testing that Neoseeker has done, it looks like the XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog XXX Edition 256MB card is definitely one of the strongest in the class -- comparing quite well against the 512MB versions of the card, as well as 8800 GTS 512MB, as far as bang-for-buck is concerned.

Retailing between $200 and $250 dollars, as of mid January, '08, the most serious competition that this mean machine faces in the sub-$250 category comes from the HD 3870. Prices on this ATI offering have been dropping recently, and are now being offered around the same price range as the XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog Edition, at many online retailers. In our benches today, we used a Asus HD 3870 T.O.P (overclocked) edition card, which often retails for over $250, and as for price-to-performance goes, the XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog held its own there. But against less expensive HD 3870 video cards, the competition would be a little more fierce.

Perhaps a year from now or so, once prices invariably fall further, getting a second Alpha Dog for a two card SLI solution might also be an attractive upgrade path.

That being said, the XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog XXX edition, at a low $200 price-point, is unarguably a fine deal, and a good purchase. It really held its own against the 512MB 8800 GT in our tests, and the 256MB of memory does seem like enough GDDR3 to deliver smooth gaming experiences. However, if you have a higher resolution monitor (let's say above 1440x960), and generally keep video cards for two years or more, than maybe a 512MB card might be a better choice for you -- but for most, the XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog XXX really delivers for the price, and has enough snap to it to keep you from lagging in any monster-laden dungeons, terrorist stand-offs, or intense interstellar space-battles that you might come across.

This XFX video card surprise delivers, and is recommended.