• Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX Review

    Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX Review

    Punit Lodaya, Nov 09, 2006 0010 hrs IST

    The battle between ATI and Nvidia moves on to a new battlefield, and Nvidia just made the first strike and a massive one.

    Phenomenal Performance, Unified Shaders, Quantum Physics Engine, DirectX 10 compliant.

    Slight Expensive, Yet to be tested in DirectX 10 applications.

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Test Bench


We finally got our hands on two things. First is the Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 after quite some time. Well, if that is not interesting enough; we also got the Nvidia 680i Chipset motherboard. The reason, we selected this motherboard over the Intel 975X chipset is the lack of SLI; and over Nvidia 590 SLI due to limitation of 667 MHz DDR2 Memory. With 800 MHz DDR2 Memory becoming a fast standard de-facto, we had to choose a better platform. Besides this, the Nvidia 680i is very fast due to implementation of Hyper Transport in certain parts of the motherboard. Also, this motherboard is claimed to be over-clocking friendly and extremely stable. Stay tuned to Techtree for an full fledged review on Nvidia 680i motherboard.

Another thing to note is that this motherboard also supports Quad Core Kentfield.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93 GHz)
Motherboard: Nvidia 680i Chipset Reference Motherboard
Memory: Kingston 2 * 1 GB DDR2 800MHz (Dual Channel)
Graphic Card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX Reference Model
ECS Nvidia Geforce 7950 GX2
AMD ATI Radeon X1950XTX
Sound Card: Onboard Realtek HD Audio
Hard Disk Drive: 2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200GB RAID-0 (Total 400GB)
Optical Disk Drive: LG 16X DVD Writer
PSU: Zebronics 750W SMPS
Cabinet: Zebronics Tower

Software
Operating System: Windows XP Proffesional SP2 w/Autopatcher Oct 2006
Motherboard Driver: Nvidia Nforce 9.53
Graphic Card Driver: Nvidia Forceware 96.94 for Nvidia Cards
ATI Catalyst 6.10 for ATI Card

Benchmarks Suite

3D Mark 2003
3D Mark 2005
3D Mark 2006
Quake 4 Patch 1.2
F.E.A.R. Patch 1.07
Half Life 2: Lost Coast Steam Version
Serious Sam 2 Patch 2.070

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ATI X1950 XTX 512 MB
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Upcoming Technologies of 2007
Tag keywords
Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX Review ATI X1950 XTX Quad SLI 7950 GX2 DirectX 10 Geforce 8800 GTS Vertex Shaders Pixel shaders unified shaders Geforce 8800 series graphic cards graphic accelators benchmarks Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 3D Mark 2003



Discussion Board
(45) Comments
Anshuman
,Lucknow, on Jun 15, 2007 10:22 PM
Call yourself a gamer!Buy a 8800 GTX at Rs 25000-26000.Available in Delhi
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samal
,ludhiana, on Jun 17, 2007 12:31 AM
im greatly interested in buying this card..give me ur phone numbers and contact details
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dfsdgsg
,sdfsgdg, on Jul 28, 2008 04:50 PM
bhenchoot salee... itne maenga gamer bhi nahi hona.....
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manish
,pune, on Jun 22, 2007 09:58 AM
i like the conversation of vicky of the card its very much useful for us
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Vicky
,pune, on Jun 21, 2007 02:13 PM
Get going with the new geforce HD
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Bill
,Stoney Creek, on Nov 09, 2006 04:51 AM
This isn't a very good graphics card, if the tests end-up CPU limited. The whole point of a graphics card is to move processing required for animations and rendering off the CPU.
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bomb
,boiledbeansplace, on Jun 01, 2007 03:38 PM
Exactly!! Why,just the other day, i was playing my fave DOSgame, Dangerous Dave, and it was HANGING!! I mean, wtf?? 40 k for FRAMING dosgames? Noooooo!!
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vijay
,chennai, on Dec 28, 2006 12:31 AM
guys wait till ati releases its competition for 8800 series.itll be much more advanced and maybe a lot friendlier to our earth .even if i had the money ill wait for the gpu on cpu from ati and amd instaed of investing n this crap which consumes more power and makes more noise than a vaccum cleaner.
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Deadman
,Bangalore, on May 04, 2007 10:22 AM
Due to the use of unacceptable language, the comment has been removed by the moderator.
** Message edited by moderator **
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Deadman
,Bangalore, on May 01, 2007 12:33 PM
Ps3 is already outmatched. Tis just a sony pile of shit...
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Rahul
,Thane, on Apr 23, 2007 06:10 PM
Rs.36,000 for just da graphics card...!!! r da graphics so gr8 to be worth it......is'nt it better to buy a new PS3 wich is supposed 2 hav far bettr graphics than any PC......??
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Surya Prakash
,Bangalore, on Feb 17, 2007 05:22 AM
I had ordered two days back the 8800 GTX 768 MB from Bangalore and it is send from chennai.I am waiting to get my hands on this monster!It cost me Rs36000 + Tax
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Gamer4life
,Mumbai, on Nov 17, 2006 01:48 AM
remember when ATI launched their first DX9 card and it blew nVidia away by leaking Doom 3! Now Crysis should be leaked so that nVidia can prove a point!
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David
,Dubai, on Jan 17, 2007 07:01 PM
what is the diofference on Dx 9 and DX 10?
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mj_bobo
,egypt, on Jan 06, 2007 07:28 AM
i want to buy one via internet and iam from egypt, how?
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Saravana Prasat
,Chennai, on Jan 05, 2007 10:14 PM
ok its like this..... my Display Device and Driver done not support a game ok.. that can be solved by graphic card... fine my Sound Device does support the game but not its Driver why? i even updated Directx.... pls help.... my pc is intel D845GVSR P4 2.66GHz 512MB RAM
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Amol
,Solapur, on Dec 29, 2006 06:26 PM
hi any one know Asus 8800GTX Cost?
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Bharat
,Bangalore, on Jan 02, 2007 12:20 PM
I think its $650 a piece but no clue what it costs in India. I'd like to know Im planning on buying one
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muzu x2
,Srinagar, on Nov 23, 2006 01:04 PM
now another battle has begin...DX 10 battle.....wait for AMD ATI'S R600 core... this also will kick 8800GTX out from his position....presently on seeing performance, features & image quality of 8800GTX all i can say is Daaammn...
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shanX
,, on Nov 19, 2006 12:06 PM
Are there are any e-stores in India selling stuff like vga cards that could be shipped internationally. Im from Srilanka.
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vikas
,mumbai, on Nov 21, 2006 07:17 PM
contact us we can ship u from h.k
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Bake Bihari
,Batna, on Nov 17, 2006 12:29 PM
Can I play RoadRash on this Karadwa?
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vijayshimla
,Shimla 171001, on Nov 09, 2006 08:18 AM
While Architecturally, G80 is a gigantic leap from the previous generation of GPUs and this is a compact review of this new family of GPU. But of course this review is relevant to only a small percentage of members-perhaps less than 1 per centum who can buy this overpriced monster- which is going to require a 700 watt power supply & in India a Air conditioner special for the comp- because it is also a heater!! A cut-down version would be nice from my perspective actually. Early 2007 is when I'm considering getting a new system as my existing one is a bit long in the tooth already. I was hoping to get a mid-range system built around a G80, Core 2 Duo and Vista. Something like 8800 GT or GS, around late spring 07. Look forward to the $ 200 ?G-80. Incidentally as on today- 5 brands of 8800 cards are available in Newegg-GTS for US $ 499 ?GTX for 659.
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dookie
,Bangalore, on Nov 16, 2006 10:54 AM
I agree. When purchasing this card, one has to think of the amount of initial investment, new PSU, probably a larger cabinet, chance that it will stress other components due to poor ventilation and all that just to achieve a few fps more. A better way would be having a multi core cpu, multithreading in games, optimizing game code for efficiency, 45 nm manufacturing to reduce power requirements, playing older games that have acceptable graphics and gameplay. Also, today's games seem to have become very inefficient if they require hardware like this gto function.
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sharad
,delhi, on Nov 15, 2006 09:04 PM
y not review it with a mi range processor to c how much this card relieves the processor of its work.....lets say a normal amd 64-3000+ we wud really wanna know if this monster can hold its own without the support of a very high end cpu
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subhash
,Pune, on Nov 15, 2006 11:49 AM
very powerful ! but what is the price in pune
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Daniel
,Kolkata, on Nov 14, 2006 06:45 PM
IT TOTALLY RULEzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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ab1
,mumbai, on Nov 09, 2006 03:09 AM
That is on sun of a gun graphics card.Imagine this card is cpu limited on 6800x ..lol.I wonder what ddr4 upgrade will do to the scores.FOR 36000 bucks this card seems good enough to eat.LETS cross r hands for dx10 and hope for the best.And last but not the least good job techtree for such a quick and good reveiw of this card.
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Ryan
,Hyderabad, on Nov 14, 2006 08:49 AM
Nice review Punit, When r u gonna SLI the beast on a 680i?..cant wait :D
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Jigar
,New York, on Nov 09, 2006 04:26 AM
Please remove the Dell add from the middle of page.. it's blocking information. Thank you.
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gopinath billav
,mysore, on Nov 09, 2006 11:30 AM
Use Firefox. period
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SAJ
,Colombo, on Nov 12, 2006 10:11 PM
using forefox can help, but not many of us may be having forefox. ;) so please techtree remove the add as soon as possible coz' its a real bother to IE users
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atanuroy
,Kolkata, on Nov 10, 2006 11:14 AM
This is gr8 news from all those avid gamers like me. Well done nVidia & TT,Punit for churning out the review
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Alok Gupta
,Mumbai, on Nov 10, 2006 07:37 PM
Hey, check out XFX GF 8800 Graphic card!! Already in stock, offering Free Sandisk 1GB Pen Drive which the pen drive contains official Game: Prince Of Persia. Didn't get the street prices yet. But they i.e. GTS expected around 34000 and GTX around 40000. But then check the prices in the market. You may end up paying a boom for that pen drive.
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absmas
,Kolkata, on Nov 09, 2006 07:39 AM
Kudos TT & Punit, you deserve a pat on the back of churning out this review before most international sites. *pats TT on the back*
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vijayshimla
,Shimla 171001, on Nov 09, 2006 08:26 AM
Reviews of 8800 have been around since some time- best is on Anandtech a real hand on review spanning 20 pages- a must read.
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rip
,Delhi, on Nov 10, 2006 12:10 AM
vijayshiimla can u ever be positive dude..
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vijayshimla
,Shimla 171001, on Nov 10, 2006 07:09 AM
eip from delhi, i think i am very positive & the post is only stating what is a fact- man have U read the article on anandtech ?
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MaxAxe
,Chennai, on Nov 09, 2006 07:39 PM
Common ..... why did you guys completely ignore the 680i chipset ? from my prospective, you guys got the 2 best products for a massive review. But it seems to have been completely ignored. Though I like the way everything has been explained about the card and the tech. behind it. Kudos TT
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Punit
,Techtree Test Labs, on Nov 09, 2006 09:17 PM
We would had love to review even the 680i chipset. But we recieved the whole thing just three days before the review. Well, keep a lookout, we will be reviewing it really soon. Right now, we are also waiting for kentsfield to arrive (expected in a weeks time)
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alien
,z13-c, on Nov 09, 2006 04:31 PM
This is going to be a great companion for my my Intel Core 2 Quad.. and the best part is nForce 680i.. that means after couple of months I can slap in another one of this beast in SLi config... muhaahhahaha... I feel Evil.
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absmas
,Kolkata, on Nov 09, 2006 06:19 PM
so how much will you sell your Kidney for? ;)
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satyanjoy
,New Delhi, on Nov 09, 2006 01:00 PM
wow...good job techtree team..thats called a timely review
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Bhari Bhaiya
,Bhari-city, on Nov 09, 2006 09:51 AM
nice 1......2 good.....one sided.....i say Bhari bhari bhari....... :D
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Steve
,New York, on Nov 09, 2006 05:27 AM
"This isn't a very good graphics card, if the tests end-up CPU limited. The whole point of a graphics card is to move processing required for animations and rendering off the CPU." you can never take 100% of the load off of the cpu.
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