NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT: The Only Card That Matters
by Derek Wilson on October 29, 2007 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
GeForce 8800 GT MultiGPU Scaling
It will still be quite a while before we see multiGPU solutions provide the stability and consistency of a single GPU. For those interested, though, NVIDIA has left enough of an opening in their product line up this time around that SLI actually makes sense as a high end solution rather than just a potential upgrade path.
With the elimination of the 8800 GTS lineup, and the fact that performance of the 8800 GT is much faster than half the speed of the 8800 GTX, 8800 GT SLI looks pretty good under games that scale with SLI. Not only that, but 2x 8800 GT cards will cost, at most, as much as an 8800 GTX. Once the price of the 8800 GT approaches $200, as we expect it to, the price of a solution faster than the 8800 GTX will be available for much less money.
We do have to keep in mind that not everything scales with SLI, and we still have the occasional minor problem with stability or consistency. The scaling issue can be eased through the use of SLIAA in games that are able to benefit.
It will still be quite a while before we see multiGPU solutions provide the stability and consistency of a single GPU. For those interested, though, NVIDIA has left enough of an opening in their product line up this time around that SLI actually makes sense as a high end solution rather than just a potential upgrade path.
With the elimination of the 8800 GTS lineup, and the fact that performance of the 8800 GT is much faster than half the speed of the 8800 GTX, 8800 GT SLI looks pretty good under games that scale with SLI. Not only that, but 2x 8800 GT cards will cost, at most, as much as an 8800 GTX. Once the price of the 8800 GT approaches $200, as we expect it to, the price of a solution faster than the 8800 GTX will be available for much less money.
We do have to keep in mind that not everything scales with SLI, and we still have the occasional minor problem with stability or consistency. The scaling issue can be eased through the use of SLIAA in games that are able to benefit.
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defter - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Yes it has VP2 processor for video decoding. But why would you need a fast gaming card for HTPC? Wouldn't 8400/8600 be a cheaper/cooler solution?Hulk - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Thanks for the reply.This card looks to be pretty cool running and when not running 3D intensive apps I'm sure power consumption and noise is really low.
So it might be nice to be able to play a little on a 52"LCD!
DerekWilson - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
also, if you go with a less powerful card for HD HTPC you'll want at minimum the 8600 GTS -- which is not a good card. The 8800 GT does offer a lot more bang for the buck, and Sparkle is offering a silent version.spittledip - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Nothing like cherry picking the games... I don't understand why games like Stalker and Prey weren't tested as the 2900XT has superior performance on those titles, as well as other titles. Seems like a biased test.AssBall - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
They didn't test The Sims2 or DeerHunter either...DerekWilson - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
lol ... stalker and prey?we tested quake wars, which is effectively updated prey (id's engine).
and stalker runs better on nvidia hardware -- when tested properly (many people use demo flybys that point up at the sky way too much rather than fraps run throughs).
abe88 - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Hmmm I thought ATI's RV630 and RV610 chips both support PCI-E 2.0?Wirmish - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
Yeah but it's not worth mentioning because theses GPU are not from nVidia.defter - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
G92 has the same amount of SPs and MORE texturing power (twice as many addressing units) than G80. However, 8800GT card has some SPs and texture units disabled.
DerekWilson - Monday, October 29, 2007 - link
well, first, if G92 has those units disabled, then it can't claim them.second, NVIDIA would not confirm that the G92 as incarnate on 8800 GT has units disabled, but it is fair to speculate that this configuration was chosen to work out yields on their first 65nm part.