XFX 8800 GTS 512 and Asus 8800 GT 512 - G92 shoot out
XFX 8800 GTS 512 XXX Alpha Dog Edition
Published: 24th December 2007 | Source: Asus and XFX | Price: £225-£235 and £156-£177 |
XFX 8800 GTS 512 XXX Alpha Dog Edition
Coming onto the newer revision of the 8800 with XFX's 8800 GTS 512. This is Nvidia's newest card released a week or so ago and XFX's example looks pretty darn good, as usual.
Packaging
The packaging on XFX's card is much smaller than that on the Asus 8800 GT, more compact.
As usual, XFX have chosen their Cyber Dog on the packaging of their latest "Alpha Dog" offering. This is a cert to stand out on shelves, although I'm not sure how much it actually related to the graphics card.
Even though the XFX card is in a rather diminutive packaging, XFX do a good job of keeping the card safe and secure.
Package
XFX have decided to include the somewhat dubiously dubbed AA title "Lost Planet" in with their 8800 GTS Alpha Dog Edition. The game isn't too bad and again, it does come in a DX10 flavour so at least you can make use of the card straight away.
XFX have included:
* DVI to VGA cable
* S-Video to S-Video cable
* Quick install guide
* S-Video guide
* Hint and tips guide
* "I'm gaming Do Not Disturb" door card
* Driver CD
* Lost Planet full game
All in all not a bad package, although a component cable for HDTV would be nice for HDTV users. Still, it is primarily a gamers graphics card and any gamer worth their salt will be using a monitor with DVI in.
XFX 8800 GTS 512 card close-up
Nvidia have implemented a new and rather novel design with the 8800 GTS 512. Looking kind of similar to the heatsink fitted to the 8800 GTS G80, there's a subtle twist...or should I say dip, added.
Again, XFX have gone with Nvidia's stock implementation of the heatsink/fan combo. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as Nvidia have done very well recently picking some nice coolers for their new cards.
As on their 8800 GT cards, Nvidia have added a nice little GeForce logo onto the side of the card to show what side you're batting on through your case window.
Here you can see clearly the excellent design Nvidia have come up with to solve the problem of heat with dual GPU's. As they are usually so close to each other, Nvidia decided to separate them by adding a slight angle onto the fan part of the heatsink. This also means that the VRMs get cooled as the fan is slightly above their level for optimum cooling.
Here we see the the caps right below the cooler and another angle on the tilt that Nvidia have gone with for this 8800 revision.
The XFX 8800 GTS 512 G92 has the double Dual Link DVI with HDCP that seems to come standard with top-end cards these days. This is great for the consumers as the choice of display is huge. Also included is the TV-out S-Video connection for those with to TV's that can utilise this.
The Cooler
The cooler on the 8800 GTS 512 G92 is akin to that on the 8800 GTS, although at 100% it is significantly louder. Your ears won't thank you for manually ramping up that fan, take it from me!
The fansink combo seems to work reasonably well combined with the 65nm process of the 8800 GTS 512, idling at 51°C and loading up at 63°C. Luckily these temperatures do not cause the fan to ramp up at all, so your ears shouldn't be bleeding at all whilst gaming.
Most Recent Comments
Thing is though there is a BIOS voltmod for the 8800GT that GREATLY increases its overclockability. If there isn't one for the 8800GTS I see them both reaching high limits but so far the 8800GT seems to OC better. With good cooling and the volt mod this thing easily passes 800mhz core, I've seen some at 850+.
What you also go to look at as well is shaders, they seem to be the key thing atm if the shaders OC much better on the 8800GT, which I guess they kinda should since they could simply lock the worst performing ones to get it top out better, it could impact performance in certain titles a lot.
Nice review though I was surprised the 8800GT didn't clock more, there wasn't a heat issue was there?
It should also be said about the supposed problems of the memory modules on the 8800GT, seems that long term use of the memory at 2ghz+ and it brakes. Thats why some companies like Zotac use better memory modules for their cards.Quote
What you also go to look at as well is shaders, they seem to be the key thing atm if the shaders OC much better on the 8800GT, which I guess they kinda should since they could simply lock the worst performing ones to get it top out better, it could impact performance in certain titles a lot.
Nice review though I was surprised the 8800GT didn't clock more, there wasn't a heat issue was there?
It should also be said about the supposed problems of the memory modules on the 8800GT, seems that long term use of the memory at 2ghz+ and it brakes. Thats why some companies like Zotac use better memory modules for their cards.Quote
Great review Kempez, can't wait to open my GTS tomorrow 
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QuoteThe GT was a little hot yes, but I will never change the cooling or take off the heatsink prior to running any tests. I test every card as it would be when it appears on your doorstep 
Volt-modding is not part of the overclocking testing as the percentage of users who do that is small and it voids any warranty you have.
An overclock is dependent on what RAM is used, what cooling is like and also what luck you get with the silicon...the overclocking gods didn't smile on me this time
@Rast: I agree, the ATI card is a great card as I said in the ATI review, but this review was for these two cards. Having said that: would I buy the HD3850 personally? No, I'd go for an 8800 GTS 512mb G92 or an 8800 GT 512 G92 It's simply not fast enough with every game, I'm afraid.Quote
Volt-modding is not part of the overclocking testing as the percentage of users who do that is small and it voids any warranty you have.
An overclock is dependent on what RAM is used, what cooling is like and also what luck you get with the silicon...the overclocking gods didn't smile on me this time
@Rast: I agree, the ATI card is a great card as I said in the ATI review, but this review was for these two cards. Having said that: would I buy the HD3850 personally? No, I'd go for an 8800 GTS 512mb G92 or an 8800 GT 512 G92
It's simply not fast enough with every game, I'm afraid.Quote
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I have to be fair, even tho u`ve got a 1 to 4 positioning, I don`t think there`s that much in it for any of them. I know the Ati slides in the rankings, but it does show itself to be a fine card.
An interesting comparison would have been performance versus costing, seeing as they`re as close as they appear to be.
I`m a bit at odds with the oc results too. I simply can`t achieve the memory overclock on my GT without it having fits. But I can clock the gpu to around 720 (from 670).
What would impress me is some1 buying the cheapest GT, putting it under water, and claiming back those clock hertz with their superior cooling. Sounds nice.
Suprizes me a bit tho that the GTS isn`t launched as a bigger performer. Although pricewize, it does seem to start from stock where the GT limit starts. Leaving u further to climb
Nice review m8, think every1s doing the "going to bed early to get up early" trick