PC Perspective - G92 Take Two - BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB Review

	G92 Take Two - BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB Review
	Author: Ryan Shrout Date: Dec 11, 2007 Subject: Graphics Card Manufacturer: BFG Tech

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Summary

The following is a summary of the more detailed analysis of the BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB graphics card. For all the in-depth analysis and testing you'd expect from us, be sure to click this link to get all the details!

Click this link to get the full article

The graphics world has been going through a turbulent couple of months recently, what with the release of AMD's RV670 GPU and NVIDIA's initial G92 product, the 8800 GT. Gamers have been reveling in the low-cost and high-performing parts, when you could actually find them, and NVIDIA is set to add another part into the mix today with the new and improved 8800 GTS.

The specs would appear to make the new 8800 GTS 512MB cards a great offering for gamers looking to play the latest and greatest titles. Let's see how BFG Tech is packaging up their first model.

The first thing to notice about the new 8800 GTS 512MB card is the return to a two slot cooler design. All of the rumor mill pictures turned out to be right and the fan located on the right side of the card has a slight angle on it towards the front of the PCB to improve airflow ever so slightly. In my testing, the fans on these coolers were pretty damn quiet - much more so than the original heatsinks on the 8800 GT cards which were of a single slot design. Some readers might prefer the single slot coolers but in this instance we'd rather side with the cooler option.

And just to wrap things up on the retail board side of things, here is a shot of the clock speeds our BFG model was running at. This first model from BFG basically runs at the reference clocks of 650 MHz core speed and 972 MHz memory speed.

Okay, enough with the techno-babble, how does this baby perform?

Overall though, in our various game tests, the 8800 GTS 512MB was a screamer and was actually able to outperform the 8800 GTX in a couple of instances and remain close in a few more. The 8800 GT setup a high target for new products from NVIDIA and the 8800 GTS 512MB is able to meet it.

Pricing and Availability

The pricing on the 8800 GTS 512MB cards is expected to be between $299 and $349 according to NVIDIA documentation. Seeing as the original pricing on the 8800 GT hasn't been met yet, I would expect the prices on 8800 GTS cards to spike here at launch until we see the true availability sink into the channel. Seeing as though you can find 8800 GT cards for well over the $299 mark, you would be forgiven for taking the initial pricing data with even less than a full grain of salt.

Check back in this section throughout the day and week to see updates as we get them.

Update (12/11/07): Just stopped by Newegg and see these babies are in stock now:

Now the prices are sitting a bit higher than the $299 - $349 that NVIDIA told us to expect, but not by much. Let's see how long these last.

Final Thoughts

The new NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is an outstanding performer and proved to more than up to the challenge in our tough array of gaming tests. Combining the energy efficient design of the G92 architecture and the pure processing power of the 8800 GTX/Ultra cards creates a new product that is cheaper yet performs surprisingly well against its G80 elders. If you can find these cards for $299-$349 price point that NVIDIA claims you will, then it would be one of the best deals in graphics cards today.

Be sure to use our pricing engine to find the best prices on NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards and anything else you might need:

Click here for the Detailed Review