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** The Official 8800GT 512/256mb Review/Overclocking Thread **

Associate
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We have too many threads so lets have just this 1 thread, I along with moderators will update this first post with updated information as it comes.

Basically the 8800GT 512Mb seems to be 2-8% off a 8800GTX for normal resolutions and 5-10% for 1920*1200 resolution, but it can be had for as little as £135 compared to £290+ for an 8800GTX.

Please Note: the NEW 8800GTS cards will be out Nov 19th and new Ati 3000 series cards out on Nov 15th, so you may want to wait until then to decide which Gpu you want, the new GTS will be faster than this 8800GT card.

Reviews:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce_8800_gt/
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/121...ard/index.html
http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/ind...=482&Itemid=27 (link doesnt work 100% of the time)
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140
http://www.bootdaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=849&Itemid=51
http://translate.google.com/transla...00710281890.html&langpair=es|en&hl=en&ie=UTF8
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQxMCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/hardware/1728_1.html
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/bfg8800_GT_OC/
http://techreport.com/articles.x/13479
http://hardware.gotfrag.com/portal/story/40512/

Latest Beta Drivers:

XP: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_169.04.html
Vista (x86): http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_169.04.html
Vista (x64): http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x64_169.04.html


Overclocking:

With stock cooling some review have overclocked it from 600/900/1500 to: 700/1050/1755 using stock cooling:)


Important 8800GT info you should be aware of:

* Toms Hardware and the GPU company Biostar have confimed that this Pci-E 2.0 card is backwards compatible with Pci-E 1.1 AND 1.0, so no need to get a new board guys! Press release confirming this by Biostar: http://www.digitimes.com/Backgrounde...ges=PR&seq=206

Anandtech also confirm this: The cards and motherboards are backwards and forwards compatible. PCIe 1.0 and 1.1 compliant cards can be plugged into a PCIe 2.0 motherboard, and PCIe 2.0 cards can be plugged into older motherboards. This leaves us with zero impact on the consumer due to PCIe 2.0, in more ways than one.

* The 8800GT does not have DirectX 10.1, only 10.0.

* The 8800GT does not have VC-1 decoding, however, it does have purevideo 2 and h264 decoding.

* The Only Board currently supporting Pci-E 2.0 is the Intel x38 chipset boards, P35 boards have Pci-E 1.1

* The Card takes up just 1 slot rather than 2 which the older 8800GTS cards used. This is because the card uses less power due to 65nm die shrink and lower default voltage.

* HDMI connector on the card is optional, the card manufacturer can decide whether or not to add this, users with htpc's may want this as some flatscreen tv's can only get 1900*1080 via hdmi and not via dvi or vga. Users could use a Dvi to HDMI cable it they wanted to get full res on a flatscreen tv though.

Game Bundles for 8800GT's:

Asus 8800GT - Company Of Heroes
BFG OC 8800GT - NONE
EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GT Superclocked - Quake Wars Enemy Territory
EVGA GeForce 8800 GT Superclocked "Crysis Edition" - Crysis
Inno3d 8800GT - Tomb Raider Anniversary
Gigabyte 8800GT - Nevernights 2
Msi 8800GT Overclocked (NX8800GT-T2D512E-OC) - "Dirt” and “The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
Point Of View 8800GT - Settlers
XFX Alpha Dog 8800GT - Company Of Heroes
XFX Alpha Dog Extreme 8800GT -
XFX Alpha Dog XXX 8800GT - Company Of Heroes


Ocuk 8800GT Cards: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...=56&subid=1008
 
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Associate
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Here's some photos of the Inno3d 8800GT:

2959459_983753.jpg


2959461_572626.jpg


2959462_999243.jpg
 
Associate
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The 8800gt has VP2 hardware acceleration which can also decode the vc-1 codec.

Toms Hardware says that it cant decode VC-1:

"First and foremost, from the PureVideo 2 integration (more on that very soon). Nvidia hasn't made the same mistake again by denying its mid/high end cards the ability to decode HD videos. However, it hasn't evolved and still doesn't decode VC-1, a deficit that's more marketing than anything else (given the small demand for VC-1 videos compared to H.264) but that appears to be a preoccupation for the chameleon. HDMI support is also integrated on the chip."

Anandtech says:

Most of the VC-1 pipeline is also offloaded by the GPU, but the entropy encoding used in VC-1 is not hardware accelerated by NVIDIA hardware. This is less important in VC-1, as the decode process is much less strenuous.
 
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Associate
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Okay... which reviewer has a broken decibel meter?

One says it's louder than the jet (2900XT) and the other says it's quieter than the current 8800 GTS, both are using the MSI version too.

TomsHardware said:
Of all the cards tested, the MSI version of the GeForce 8600 GTS is the noisiest with its double slot cooling system (that doesn't slow down in 2D), followed by the HD 2900 XT whose blowing noise is really dreadful in 3D. After that, we enter discreet grounds, and the GeForce 8800GT still walks a flawless path by still being as discreet as, if not more so than, the other GeForce 8800. Its fan is only noisy for two seconds when the PC is turned on, but noise never increased during games.

TweakTown said:
At load the card was the loudest out of the bunch with a significantly big jump on the 8800GTS.

EDIT: Whoops, the TomsHardware one was LeadTek not MSI. My bad... the coolers look exactly the same though surely there can't be as much difference as the two reviews state?
 
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Soldato
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Okay... which reviewer has a broken decibel meter?

One says it's louder than the jet (2900XT) and the other says it's quieter than the current 8800 GTS, both are using the MSI version too.

EDIT: Whoops, the TomsHardware one was LeadTek not MSI. My bad... the coolers look exactly the same though surely there can't be as much difference as the two reviews state?

Maybe we've got a repeat of the fan issue with the 6600GT. There were basically 3 different types: those with fan control, those without and those that had it but it was disabled by default. My inno3D 6600GT ran its fan at 100% all the time until I got Expertool to shut the thing up.
 
Soldato
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Location
London
Maybe we've got a repeat of the fan issue with the 6600GT. There were basically 3 different types: those with fan control, those without and those that had it but it was disabled by default. My inno3D 6600GT ran its fan at 100% all the time until I got Expertool to shut the thing up.

From FPSLabs:

The fan gets disgustingly loud when you really load the card heavily. You will notice this vast noise emanating from your computer when you first plug in your 8800GT and every time you start your PC once it is installed. When motherboard voltage regulation takes over, chances are pretty good there is another fan in your system that overshadows the fan on the card. In fact, the card is dreadfully silent under normal conditions. In fact, only once or twice during our three-day marathon of testing did we notice the 8800GT fan ramp up to its full deafening speed. This may or may not be a con depending on who you are and how you look at it, but it definitely made an impression on us so we thought it was worth mentioning.

But Techreport says:

Nvidia's single-slot coolers have too often been gratuitously small and noisy in the past year or two, but the 8800 GT is different. This may be the quietest single-slot cooler we've ever tested (save for the passive ones), and it doesn't grow audibly louder under load. That's a pleasant surprise, since the thing can get very loud during its initial spin-up at boot time.

So I'm really not sure - my impression is that the fan will be noisy under high loads or if it's OC out of the box.
 
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Associate
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And from hothardware:
Acoustics and Heat:
As we noted earlier, the GeForce 8800 GT's heatsink and fan solution is certainly svelt, with its single slot design but unfortunately that comes at the cost of heat and noise. In fact, the 8800 GT is probably the noisiest product to come out of NVIDIA in a long time. The card will likely only annoy users that are looking for exceptionally quiet computing solutions but for the average usage model, these new cards will be tolerable. We're hopeful however, that some third-party board partners will come up with more innovative, quiet cooling solutions.

In terms of its thermal profile, the GeForce 8800 GT runs relatively hot. We measured 155ºF on the exterior of the heatsink face plate and 145ºF on the backside of the board directly under the GPU, with a digital infrared thermometer.
?????
 
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