G92: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT

The review was definitely worth the wait, Tim, nice one! ;)

so before we get onto the actual hardware, we should probably have a look into the architecture...

That represents a lot of what makes Bit-Tech reviews rise head and shoulders above the rest - it's not just wall-to-wall charts and benchmarks, you provide technical information and informed opinions for those of us keen to know that stuff, and I love that.

I had made up my mind about the 8800GT already (ordered a few days ago, still waiting for stock to come in) but this finishes things off for me and I'm pretty confident about my purchase.

I'm just weeping in despair after reading the Crysis page.
What a game! I'd pay just to see it running, let alone have it running on my machine. It must look amazing...

Nice review :) looks like I'l be giving it a few weeks and seeing what AMD put out, then barring anything miraculous buying one of these :) hopefully by then the gouging will have eased off as a bit more supply comes through.

Will still need to figure out which/if any of the manufacturers will not void a warranty because you fitted a water block (so long as the block didn't cause the problem in the first place) these days I suppose.

Also, I noticed [H] added a note on info they'd had from BFG about the GTS 640mb supposedly getting a new revision with an increased number of stream processors ? were they getting confused somewhere or is that likely to happen in the near future do you think ? would seem to make some sense, as GTS is supposed to be the model between GT and GTX and would sit well with the price point and memory amounts, though it wouldn't stop me from going right to the GT for my 1680*1050 DX10 needs given its very nice price/performance ratio :D

We reported the rumour about the 112sp GTS a few weeks ago and it's coming, but will be available in very limited quantities - it's basically a binned G80. This gives me the signal that G80 is coming to end of life and it's another reason why there might be more stream processors available inside G92.

Think back to when Nvidia said on a conference call that G92 would approach 1Tflop. That's probably with MADD+MUL counted, but still, that's twice as fast as the G92 inside 8800 GT. That suggests there's more SPs and these clocks are VERY conservative... slap a dual slot cooler on and we could see something up around the 800MHz mark quite easily.

There's also bound to be 'something else' up Nvidia's sleeve, but I can't even begin to speculate what - I've really got no indications of what it might be.

Great work Tim, the only review that matters on the net for me.

Originally Posted by Tim S
slap a dual slot cooler on and we could see something up around the 800MHz mark quite easily.

Yup, using the stock cooling and just cranking up the fans sees both my vanilla GTs at 720 core (puts the stream processors near the 1.8Ghz mark) with better cooling and a little increase in voltage it should go farther, as it is the single GT seems to equal or better my GTX at these speeds if I don't go mental with AA/AF.

Originally Posted by jase4772
Bit of a git after not long having bought my 320mb GTS thinking it was the best mid range card, and thats after not being an early adopter. Wonder how many other people will feel hacked off by this cards release?

Yep, it's definitely a kick in the teeth for me. Couldn't bit-tech have announced this card in a news item a few weeks ago when I was building my rig? Feels pretty stupid having bought a GTS 320 for £180 when the 8800GT is about 25% better and cheaper. Couldn't you guys have given us some warning?! :p

Anyway, as always, an awesome review. Thanks for all that effort you put in to make it your usual top quality, Tim.

Originally Posted by DeX
Yep, it's definitely a kick in the teeth for me. Couldn't bit-tech have announced this card in a news item a few weeks ago when I was building my rig? Feels pretty stupid having bought a GTS 320 for £180 when the 8800GT is about 25% better and cheaper. Couldn't you guys have given us some warning?! :p

Anyway, as always, an awesome review. Thanks for all that effort you put in to make it your usual top quality, Tim.

Actually there was an article about the 8800GT "coming soon" a few weeks ago, but it seems to have just burst onto the scene to me.

What kind of card did you get? eVGA do their step-up program that could be of use to you if you got one of theirs...

looks nice , a very tempting upgrade choice.

I agree Crysis appears to be setting the benchmark. Looking forward to reading a full review + tech specs

Originally Posted by sub routine
looks nice , a very tempting upgrade choice.

I agree Crysis appears to be setting the benchmark. Looking forward to reading a full review + tech specs

Well IMO the best way to go is to buy a GT now (eVGA), then Step Up to the new cards which are released soon or a GTX when they come down in price.

That was a good read :)

I was cosidering getting two new revision GTS's in sli but mmm may just get one of the new revision GTX's instead.

Also i heard that the new GTS may have been pushed back to december now?

I feel cheated now since I bought my 8800GTS 320MB around 6 months ago, I think..

But then again, every piece of software I've used has told me that my card is actually a 640MB variant even though the packaging says 320MB..

So maybe it's not all that bad :) Great card regardless and a must have for anyone who wants value!

Hmmm.... Just bought a 8800GTS/640 on the forums... Then the next day, I spot this card... so I've bought the Gigabyte offering from Dabs.

But which to stick with? On the face of it, the GT is a step ahead of the GTS, but for certain games, the extra memory bandwidth of the GTS will take it ahead,

The card has to last me a year and have a decent resale value so I'm thinking sell the GTS now while it holds it's value and go for the GT. In a years time, I can buy a cheap Ultra or perhaps a 9x00(?).

Very nooby question coming up, dont bite:

will the 8800GT work on my motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe ? It has a PCI Express x16 slot

Heres a link to the mobo:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/08/03/asus_p5b_deluxe_wifi_ap_edn/2

Very nooby question :S im sure it should do because the 8800GT is pci express but iv not kept upto date on hardware after building my computer and im concerned a new connection type may well be out?

Im looking at the 8800GT i have ordered (EVGA superclocked) and it says "PCI-E 2.0 (x16)" - will this still work or is it different? :S

pci-e 2 is backwords compatible with pci-e, so your fine

Half the price of the GTX, and roughly the same performance? If nVidia's 9 series are like this ATI will have some definitive competition. I love how its single slot too, and how it has a nice small cooler, so SLI is easier, and I get some free PCI slots too :P.

Originally Posted by Krikkit

What kind of card did you get? eVGA do their step-up program that could be of use to you if you got one of theirs...

If you "step down" from a gts640 to a gt, do they give you the difference in price back?

What is this "step-up" program? im guessing you can upgrade an old EVGA card for a new one and pay the difference or something? Anyone able to give me more info and how to qualify for it?

Originally Posted by Solidus
What is this "step-up" program? im guessing you can upgrade an old EVGA card for a new one and pay the difference or something? Anyone able to give me more info and how to qualify for it?

Yeah, you basically have to step up, you cannot step down.

You have 3 months after purchase to step up to the new card, and if I can remember, you pay the different of what you paid for the card.

You have to have bought the card yourself though, if it came with a ready built PC, you cannot step up.

Once you step up though, you cannot step up with the new card.

Originally Posted by Major
Yeah, you basically have to step up, you cannot step down.

You have 3 months after purchase to step up to the new card, and if I can remember, you pay the different of what you paid for the card.

You have to have bought the card yourself though, if it came with a ready built PC, you cannot step up.

Once you step up though, you cannot step up with the new card.

Does it have to be within a 3month period? I mean they may not have released anything better by then :S

Yup it's 90 days.

Bang for Buck that is one hell of a card.

now i am thinking about a portable version of this card on a laptop...

edit: and this is just the reference board...... imagine what the other versions will do..... golden sample.....hmmmmm

as an owner of a GTS640MB, a little part of me deep inside my heart is crying...............

....but the rest of me is actually pretty excited to see what's gonna come next with this new family of G9x :D

well, at least i can oc'd my GTS higher than the GT, so its still faster ;) dont forget, the GT comes factory default at 600/1500/1800... GTS is at 513/1200/1600. would love to see a comparison if the GTS is oc'd exactly identical to the GT speed. see who's faster then.............

@Redbeaver
that would be interesting, at a guess the gt would be better at lower resolutions