nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS Grapics card

nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS Review
Reviewed by: Denny Atkin
Review Date: December 2006

The nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX earned the 3D-graphics crown by decimating both its 7900 GTX predecessor and the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX in all our benchmark tests. Its $600 to $650 price, however, is more than some are willing to pay just for the bragging rights to the fastest PC on the block. If you feel the need for speed, or want to prepare for Windows Vista's DirectX 10 (DX10) technology even before games using it are available, you have a less expensive solution: The nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS. A slightly pared-down version of the 8800 GTX, the 8800 GTS offers much of the same performance for about $150 less.

In our tests, the 8800 GTS fell between the 7900 GTX and the 8800 GTX, scoring 144 frames per second (fps) in our Half Life 2: Lost Coast test, compared with 105 fps for the 7900 GTX and 165 fps for the 8800 GTX. Likewise, the chip's Futuremark 3DMark06 score of 9,770 was centered between the 7900 GTX's 6,870 and the 8800 GTX's 12,144.

ATI's high-end card, the Radeon X1950 XTX, manages to approach the 8800 GTS's performance in a few tests at very high resolutions, but the 8800 GTS still trumps it with its full support for Windows Vista's DX10 technology and Shader Model 4, which promise more-elaborate graphics effects and an additional level of realism compared with DX9 graphics (that is, when DX10-enhanced games start shipping in mid-2007). ATI won't have a DX10 card available until early 2007.

The 8800 GTS's cost savings and slightly slower performance come from architectural differences from its GTX big brother, such as 96 shader cores instead of 128, and a 320-bit path to memory instead of a 384-bit one. The 8800 GTS clocks its GPU at 500MHz, compared with 575MHz on the GTX; its memory speed of 800MHz is also slower than the GTX's 900MHz. And 8800 GTS boards are currently shipping with 640MB of memory, compared with 768MB on the 8800 GTX.

The 8800 GTS is somewhat smaller than the GTX, but it still blocks the slot adjacent to its PCI Express (PCIe) slot. Make sure you have a good power supply because the card requires a single PCIe power connector (compared with two for the GTX). Also, nVidia recommends a 400-watt or greater power supply with a 12-volt rating of 26 amperes. The card also features dual DVI outputs and a component-high-definition-television (HDTV) output.

The 8800 GTS offers plenty of power to run today's most-demanding games at extremely high resolutions, and its DX10 support means it's primed for 2007's top titles, as well. Sure, the 8800 GTX is somewhat faster, but the 8800 GTS is still plenty fast for the vast majority of gaming junkies.
Benchmark Results± GeForce 7900GTX GeForce 8800GTS GeForce 8800GTX
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast 4xAA 16X AF 1600x1200 105 144 165
Company of Heroes 1600x1200 56 77 108
F.E.A.R. all setting max 1600x1200 soft shadows 29/47/101 30/58/134 40/81/192
3DMark06 6870 9770 12144


See all of our NVidia GeForce 8800 GTS coverage