Zotac 8800 GTS 512 MB

[W1zzard]

To read this review go to: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Z...00_GTS_512_MB/

Please Digg the review to help us promote it.

[zOaib]

nice review ................ just bought one of newegg, just to check out how much better it is than the 8800 gt ................ though i like my CF setup , just wanna play around with this card too =)

[newtekie1]

Very nice looking card. I was thinking about the 8800GT, but seeing this makes me think an 8800GTS would be a good option.

[erocker]

Great review! I have to disagree with "affordable" though, these cards are selling for $100 bucks over msrp!

[W1zzard]

Originally Posted by erocker

Great review! I have to disagree with "affordable" though, these cards are selling for $100 bucks over msrp!

it is normal that the first days merchants run rip off prices... i consider a price of 299 for a highend card very affordable, dont you?

[OrbitzXT]

Ugh this is awful, I'm trying to sell my eVGA 8800GTX on ebay still. Can AMD and nVidia please pause releasing even more reasons not to buy a GTX!?

[erocker]

Originally Posted by W1zzard

it is normal that the first days merchants run rip off prices... i consider a price of 299 for a highend card very affordable, dont you?

Sadly, yes.

[Tatty_One]

Excellent review, a very nice card, I like the reviews here at TPU, they give real world performance comparisons on common mid ranged hardware which has got to beat artificial figures from top end components that only 5% of us can afford.

It looks to me that I will stick with my GT for 6 months as I would of course lose on resale as well as the extra price for the GTS for around a 10% performance improvement but after about 6 months prices will have settled and this card could be a real bargain!

This cards release may well settle GT prices and availability down, currently if you want a decent GT in the UK you are having to pay these GTS prices!

[Weer]

Why do I like Wizzard's reviews the best?
I mean, they're just always so great.

[OnBoard]

Originally Posted by W1zzard

Actually I'm a bit worried for NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTX sales, because I don't see any reason to get a much more expensive, power hungry card to see only a slight increase in performance.

Posted this already in another thread, but fits here as well. It's not official? but still a great price as it's ~same as 8800GTS 512MB.

8800GTX drops to € 369
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?op...=4653&Itemid=1

[DrunkenMafia]

And nvidia comes thru with the goods yet again.... I wonder if ati is gettin sick of seeing the back of a green shirt all the time.

Great review w1zz. Those graphs you have are by far the best on the net that I have seen. It takes a couple of minutes to rank 20 or so of the latest cards in all the popular games and benches and see which is the quickest and best bang for buck.

Kudos to you m8..

[theonetruewill]

I've said it once and I'll say it again, I have a weird belief that the 8800GTS cooler looks incredibly sexy!

Onto the review, thanks W1z, well detailed and incredibly thorough as usual.

[Tatty_One]

Loads of the 8800GTS 512MB cards already on shelves in the UK, best price I can see at the moment is actually this Zotac at £210 from Novatech:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s....html?ZOT-GTS5

W1zz, are you of the impression that higher clocks could be gained from better cooling? I only ask because many GT owners on stock cooling said that at max overclocks their cards were hitting 90C, some went out to buy aftermarket cooling to find that they got no increase in clocks so to me that would indicate these GPU's can take that kind of heat.

[btarunr]

"Could kill 8800 GTX/Ultra sales"

Is that a con? In a way it's good for you and me, right?

Nice review. NVidia lives upto the Awesome Power, Awesome Price promise

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by W1zzard

it is normal that the first days merchants run rip off prices... i consider a price of 299 for a highend card very affordable, dont you?

Considering I paid $400 for my first 7900GT, yeah I think $299 is a steal!

[Exavier]

My friend is ordering one for me as he's on holiday in the US.
Paying £160 for it instead of £210+ is a nice bargain, I'm thankful for the opportunity.
I was sold on the GT, but as Tatty pointed out, people have hit the 800mhz mark, and thus seem to be a little better OC-wise...but time will tell...

[Tatty_One]

Originally Posted by Exavier

My friend is ordering one for me as he's on holiday in the US.
Paying £160 for it instead of £210+ is a nice bargain, I'm thankful for the opportunity.
I was sold on the GT, but as Tatty pointed out, people have hit the 800mhz mark, and thus seem to be a little better OC-wise...but time will tell...

Nice, and at the end of the day you are getting the GTS for GT prices......no lose there, even if it didnt OC beyond say 780mhz you would still have a card faster than the GT for the same price.......bonus!

[Exavier]

exactly, and it's thanks to you I'll be happy later

I'm only buying one for now, though; I'm sure these puppies in SLi would be quite a nice deal.

Also, it's worth pointing out W1zzard's mention of the cooler-adaptability; if you DO have a GT, then be sure to pick up the GTS cooler as it's much nicer.

[bigmacks433]

lol, magic drivers will save 2900xt/3870 i still call bs i wish i had the card to test myself.

i cant see how those card would be slower.

[DaMulta]

How would this run at 8xaa?

The game is set at high right?

[largon]

Originally Posted by W1zzard

Just like on the GeForce 8800 GT, the GPU is the NVIDIA G92. It is fabricated in a 55nm process, with 756 million transistors.

I guess that's a typo, G92 is 65nm.

[newtekie1]

Even though a two slot cooler is installed, the card gets pretty warm during heavy use. On the other hand the cooler is not too loud so it seems NVIDIA sacrificed some temperature for a quieter experience.

Now that I have one of these cards, I can agree entirely to this. However, using rivatuner to adjust the fan speed easily solves the problem.

I have it set up with my own fan profile, that kicks the fan up to 75% when the temperature goes over 60°C. The fan keeps the core under 65°C under load with my overclock of 777/1080/1890, which is higher than the clocks of the Zotac. And at 75% the card is just barely audible in a silent room. I would suggest everyone do this with rivatuner if they have these cards, especially since it seems nvidia just locked the fan speed at a constant 36%, which isn't enough to keep these babies cool.

[Tatty_One]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

Now that I have one of these cards, I can agree entirely to this. However, using rivatuner to adjust the fan speed easily solves the problem.

I have it set up with my own fan profile, that kicks the fan up to 75% when the temperature goes over 60°C. The fan keeps the core under 65°C under load with my overclock of 777/1080/1890, which is higher than the clocks of the Zotac. And at 75% the card is just barely audible in a silent room. I would suggest everyone do this with rivatuner if they have these cards, especially since it seems nvidia just locked the fan speed at a constant 36%, which isn't enough to keep these babies cool.

Yeah, I do the same, I game at 800mhz on the core and by coincidence, I set my fan as you do, at 75% it is a little noisey but damn effective!