EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Superclocked Graphics Card Review

[MikeC]

We just completed our belated review of EVGA’s e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Superclocked graphics card. In this review we examine the performance of the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB against the 512MB GeForce 7900 GTX in order to determine the areas where less video memory has an impact on performance.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/evga_geforce_8800_gts_320mb/images/card_1s.jpg

Armed with the freeware utility program VidMemWatcher, we were able to determine the memory requirements in the games we tested. After the results were tallied we found that under certain conditions, the e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Superclocked graphics card could be a diamond in the rough.

Check it out here:

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/evga_geforce_8800_gts_320mb/index.shtml

[jAkUp]

Great review :)

[MikeC]

Thanks. It took more time than I expected to complete the review. Blame it on VidMemWatcher - a very handy program:

http://www.nonatainment.de/web/Default.aspx?tabid=62

Interesting how Dark Messiah memory usage shot through the roof with 4x AA enabled. Now that I look back, it's probably the same reason performance dropped to 10fps on a GeForce 8800 GTX in SLI at 2560x1600 with 16xQ.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/msi_geforce_nx8800gtx/page_6.shtml

[slaWter]

Hehe I had the same slowdown in Dark Messiah Mike ;)

Great review, thanks! The card looks like a winner!

[J-Mag]

Thanks. It took more time than I expected to complete the review. Blame it on VidMemWatcher - a very handy program:


I am glad to see that you are putting in memory analysis. It is pretty rare these days in reviews.

[TiKiMaN1]

Awesome review Mike!:D Keep up the great work.

[jakelong]

great review but I feel its a tad overpriced for its performance. Given that the 8800s are still really maturing, mainstream gamers who are being targetted will give it a skip . they are really waiting for stability in drivers and games on Vista before jumping on the bandwagon. and the enthusiast crowd have already gone for the 8800 GTS/X

[MikeC]

I am glad to see that you are putting in memory analysis. It is pretty rare these days in reviews.Thanks. It seemed appropriate given the 320MB memory limitation on the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB model.

I just discovered that RivaTuner also provides video memory monitoring via its hardware monitoring feature. This was taken a few moments ago on the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB in Dark Messiah at 1600x1200 with 4x AA.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/evga_geforce_8800_gts_320mb/images/rivatuner_video_memory_usage.png

I ran the same test with Video Memory Watcher, which reported that 297MB was being used.

When the GeForce 7900 GTX was installed, Video Memory Watcher reported that 436MB was being used in Dark Messiah at 1600x1200 with 4x AA. I had inadvertently put 408MB in the graph on page 5, which I already updated.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/evga_geforce_8800_gts_320mb/images/video_memory_watcher_s.png

I also updated page 2 with the information about RivaTuner.

[MikeC]

great review but I feel its a tad overpriced for its performance. Thanks. I agree that it may be a tad overpriced, but for another reason. I believe that it is too close in price to the 640MB model - especially when a $30 rebate brings the price of the 640MB model down to the $350 range.

http://nvnews.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=29159636/search=geforce+8800+gts

It would like to have seen the 320MB model priced closer to the GeForce 7950 GT. Let's check prices again in a couple of weeks.

[zer0]

thanks for the review MikeC! :)

[|JuiceZ|]

:thumbsup:

[Q]

Thanks. I agree that it may be a tad overpriced, but for another reason. I believe that it is too close in price to the 640MB model - especially when a $30 rebate brings the price of the 640MB model down to the $350 range.

http://nvnews.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=29159636/search=geforce+8800+gts

It would like to have seen the 320MB model priced closer to the GeForce 7950 GT. Let's check prices again in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for explaining about the rebate for our more "challenged" members who want to threaten legal action for their own retardedness. ;)

Very nice review, btw.

[rabblerouser]

Nice review.

Assuming that the memory is primarily beneficial for higher resolutions, would you be able to use 1280x1024 4xAA and 8xAF for most games with this card?

[Mr_LoL]

Would you say the 640MB model is more future proof than this? Looking at other reviews there seems to be nothing in it between the two models even at moderately high resolutions.

[MikeC]

Nice review.

Assuming that the memory is primarily beneficial for higher resolutions, would you be able to use 1280x1024 4xAA and 8xAF for most games with this card?Thanks. That is a good question and I will be glad to run a few tests at that resolution. Also, let me know if there is a particular game you would like tested.

I actually ran a test before leaving for work this morning, but then I realized that I mis-read your question and thought you wrote 8xAA instead of 4xAA :)

Anyway, Doom 3 demo1 with 8x AA at 1280x1024 = 81fps.

[MikeC]

Would you say the 640MB model is more future proof than this? Looking at other reviews there seems to be nothing in it between the two models even at moderately high resolutions.I'm not sure that I follow your question. Would you mind providing links to the benchmark results that you are referring to? Thanks.

[toxikneedle]

This review is making me wanna sell my 7800GTXs for a 8800GTS

[rabblerouser]

Thanks. That is a good question and I will be glad to run a few tests at that resolution. Also, let me know if there is a particular game you would like tested.

I actually ran a test before leaving for work this morning, but then I realized that I mis-read your question and thought you wrote 8xAA instead of 4xAA :)

Anyway, Doom 3 demo1 with 8x AA at 1280x1024 = 81fps.

Thanks. 81 FPS sounds pretty damn good.

[DarkOneX]

I'm offloading this 7900GT Signature Series for that Superclocked 8800 320, get it tomorrow w00t!

[MikeC]

:headbang:

[htotheizzo]

I realize that the last post about this was way back in Feb 07; but I just got "onboard" nvnews as a new member so hoping to learn as much as i can from you folks.
Just bought this card (evga 8800gts 320 superclocked) as the last piece of my computer assembly puzzle and i noticed none of the reviews I've read use Flight Sim as a benchmark...anyways; I'm gonna run an E4600 (OC'd to 3.00Ghz) with 2 x 1024MB ddr2 6400's from OCZ on an ECS G33-M2 (I know, the mobo aint impressive).
But how do ya think my rig-to-be-soon would handle Flight Sim? I hope to run it at 1280 by 1024 at 4xAA

[MikeC]

Hi htotheizzo and welcome aboard. I've used flight sims in the past to measure performance in graphics card reviews and your post is inspiring me to include them again ;)

You're off to a good start with a fast CPU and 2GB of memory. Although the GeForce 8800 GTS you picked up "only" has 320MB of memory, it has enough to support your target resolution of 1280x1024 while using 4x AA.

Although I'm limited in what applications are benchmarked during a review, the nV News forum has many gamers who are always willing to lend a helping hand. For example, the games forum is often the best place to determine how they perform with various hardware. In particular, browse the Flight Simulator X Full Version Feedback Thread:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=78216

With 84 pages of feedback, I'm sure you'll find performance information from someone who has similar hardware. If not, then ask for feedback by posting a message there.

Also, another excellent resource for flight sims is SimHQ. In particular, visit this thread on balancing performance and image quality.

http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2487217#Post2487217

One thing I learned about flight sims is that they have a myriad of settings that can be tweaked and a handful of them typically have a huge impact on performance and image quality.

Hope this helps and be sure to report back to let us know how things work out for you!