Page 17 - Conclusion

The Verdict

Besides the 8600 series, pretty much any NVIDIA product these day's are still showing leading performance, which considering the lack of cutthroat competition in this market isn't really a hard thing to do for NVIDIA. We have to acknowledge that the 8800 GTS 512MB version of graphics cards is a charming product. I like what NVIDIA did here. You roughly get equal to close 8800 GTX performance for a lot less money. Expect sales prices of the 8800 GTS 512MB cards to be roughly 350 USD and in Europe roughly 300 EUR. I spoke with some vendors and they stated that after volume is high enough here in Europe prices will drop to roughly 265 EUR, making this a truly interesting purchase. However I do feel the price needs to be under 300 EUR.

By doing so NVIDIA made a pretty nice move, as you will get the raw horsepower to play your DX9 titles as you want to. I'm leaving DX10 out equation here though, because for me personally this year's biggest disappointment was to find out how incredibly hard it is for current DX10 class graphics cards to render actual DX10 games, it's pretty horrific.

But hey DX9 still kicks ass, and with the 8800 GTS 512MB you are bound to have a lot of fun. Admittedly though ... the 8800 GTS 512 MB is more of the same. The same stuff we tested in early November 2006 under the label; 8800 GTX. Sure some of the specs & die size have changed, and the product has gotten cheaper but your gaming experience is pretty much right on par with that year old GTX. I for one am looking forward to the next generation of graphics adapters.

Yeah, what we have here today is bang for bucks. A products that is one of the fastest cards to date, yet priced significantly lower compared to it's older brother; and that's a good thing.

We tested two products today, so let's break them down one by one, well figural speaking of course.

BFG as always has a rock solid product to offer to you guys. Now besides slight frequency changes these cards are all based off the same reference model. Meaning the performance is just really close to each other. What makes the BFG product shine though is that their standard version already is the OC model, the OC version is their standard card. And that OC model has slightly faster core and memory frequency. Hey, it's another few percent more performance for the same amount of money. BFG will bring this product onto the market slightly over 300 EUR / 360 USD which is just a solid price for this kind of performance. Where BFG excessively shines though is their warranty policy. In the USA you receive a life-time warranty, outside the USA you'll still have ten years warranty. This service makes the cards slightly more expensive compared over run of the mill baseline cards, yet the warranty alone is obviously worth it. This product comes very recommended and could easily be in the top three of your Christmas wish list.

Point of View then, that Dutch NVIDIA board-partner. I've seen these guys grow larger and larger over the years and it's very interesting to see what they achieved. Their EXO edition 8800 GTS 512MB is again a reference based product, yet pre-tested and overclocked towards 700 MHz and 2 GHz on the memory. That makes it a more aggressive overclock. And where BFG focuses on the warranty, POV focuses on that higher OC and bundle. For roughly the same money as the BFG card you get the faster clocks and thus slightly more performance, your warranty however is now two years. Bundle wise Point of View always tries to do a little extra, and they include The Settlers: Rise of an Empire, the full game recently released. A title that's still 50 bucks in the stores. That's where you need to find your value. Point of View is also the first to include a HDMI dongle with the card. I feel if you sticker your box with HDMI ready (or something similar) you need to include some sort of connectivity. Props for them doing that. Again a product that comes really recommended and thus a product you can safely add to that Christmas gift wish list.

So this is the situation you have to face: do you opt better warranty or the better bundle with normal warranty? Because the performance differential between the BFG & POV card really remains close to nothing. Choices .. aah nobody ever stated that life is easy, eh?

The all-in concluding last paragraph, for the end-user the 8800 GTS 512MB is a small step forward in the series 8 products. The trick is however that you get to play around with GTX performance at a lower price which is obviously welcomed very much. Personally I'd rather pop in two 8800 GT's in my gaming rig, but due to the lack of volume availability the prices still are artificially inflated and thus too high at 275 USD. But once they come down in price .. that's where the real value is to be found.

With the release of the GeForce 8800 512MB GTS, a really charming product has entered the long 8800 product line. My advise, forget about the 8600 series and skip the 8800 GTX or Ultra's. Just go for either a GeForce 8800 GT 512MB or 8800 GTS 512MB, leave the rest as it, as these two products are where the real value versus a joyful gaming experience is to be found. You'll enjoy the 512MB GTS very much, any game to date can be played at the nicest image quality settings and resolutions, just don't touch DX10 and you are home-free enjoying the games the way they are meant to be played.

Mucho gracias go out to BFG and Point of View for submitting their samples.

BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC (512MB)
Info: BFGtech
Point of View 8800 GTS OC (512MB)
Info: Point of View   For those interested we have a discussion thread open on this article & product right here. The GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is available in the stores as we speak.