The Windows Vista era won't officially begin until Microsoft finally ships its new operating system next January, but PC game enthusiasts will get next-gen PC graphics performance a few months early because Nvidia is ready to ship its new GeForce 8800 GTX and GTS video cards. The GeForce 8800 series GPUs are designed specifically to support DirectX 10, but the chips also feature a new unified shader architecture that will speed up performance in DirectX 9 games on Windows XP.
Nvidia is only shipping the high-end GeForce 8 GPUs for the holiday season. The GeForce 8800 GTX has a $600 MSRP, and the slightly less-powerful GTS will retail for $450. [Update 11/9/06: Online retailers are currently selling the cards for $50 over MSRP.] Instead of the usual 512MB or 256MB memory sizes, the GTX has 768MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 900MHz and the GTS has 640MB clocked at 800MHz.
Choosing the premium GTX model will get you 128 floating-point processors, compared to 96 processors on the GTS. The GTX processors are also faster, clocked at 1.35GHz, which is 150MHz faster than the GTS's 1.2GHz processors. If those processor speeds seem higher than usual, it's because they are--Nvidia clocked the GeForce 8800's processors independently from the rest of the GPU core for higher performance and to increase performance-per-watt power efficiency. The GeForce 8800 has a record-breaking 681 million transistors, twice as many transistors as the GeForce 7900. Nvidia recommends a 450W power supply for GTX-based cards and 400W for GTS cards. The GTX card also requires two PCIe power connectors.
| GeForce 8800 GTX | GeForce 8800 GTS | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $600 | $450 |
| DirectX | DirectX 10, SM4 | DirectX 10, SM4 |
| Transistors | 681M | 681M |
| Core speed | 575MHz | 500MHz |
| Stream processors | 128 | 96 |
| Shader speed | 1.35GHz | 1.2GHz |
| Memory | 768MB | 640MB |
| Memory speed | 900MHz (1.8GHz DDR) | 800MHz (1.6GHz DDR) |
| Memory interface | 384-bit | 320-bit |
Unified Shader Architecture
Traditional graphics processors have separate shader processors dedicated to pixel or vertex processing. The GeForce 7900 GTX, for example, has 24 pixel shaders and 8 vertex shaders. The problem with shader specialization is that games can't always balance out the right ratio of pixel and vertex work to keep shaders of both types running at full efficiency--you'll always end up with idle pixel or vertex shaders in any given time.
The GeForce 8800's unified shader architecture doesn't distinguish between pixel and vertex work--it all runs through the same processor pool. If a frame is light on triangles but heavy on pixel shading, a GPU with a unified architecture can balance the workload to make sure all the processors are properly engaged. A traditional GPU might run all of its pixel shaders at full capacity, while half of its vertex shaders sit idle in that same situation.
Image Quality
On the image-quality side, gamers no longer have to choose between blinding light or jaggy-free graphics. Nvidia has finally added support for antialiasing with high dynamic range lighting. The GeForce 8800 also features a new 16x coverage sample antialiasing mode that provides 16x AA quality at the cost of 4x AA.
Rollover image to see comparison between HDR lighting and HDR lighting with antialiasing.
The GeForce 8800 is also ready for Blu-ray and HD DVD high-definition video playback. The chip can support HDCP (provided the board manufacturer adds the encryption ROM), and the GPU's extra computational power has let Nvidia improve image quality for H.264 and VC-1 high-definition video content by enabling spatial-temporal deinterlacing, inverse telecine, noise reduction, and edge enhancement video postprocessing effects.
Thread Computing
The last GPU generation brought us the first general-purpose-GPU applications that could take advantage of the graphics chip's floating-point, parallel-processing capabilities. However, the GPGPU model is still limited because applications are restricted to the graphics API and a less than ideal memory structure that forces the GPU through additional passes to iterate on data.
Nvidia has added new hardware to the GeForce 8800 specifically for nongraphics computation on the GPU. The GeForce 8800 has a dedicated thread-execution manager and shared data cache designed to keep processors well fed and highly efficient. Nvidia has also developed a complete SDK, including math libraries and a C compiler that will make it easier for programmers to access the GPU's hardware. Gaming applications include physics, but Nvidia chief architect David Kirk believes that the thread-computing-enabled GPU will play a more significant role in supercomputing. It'll be "one of the most effective ways to solve large problems because it'll be easier to program than traditional parallel devices," according to Kirk.
Next: Performance results! >>
What do you think of the GeForce 8800 GTX and GTS? Are you getting one now or will you wait until next year?







1181 Comments
This 8800GTS 640mb is a real monster. I may pick up another one now that it's down to $250... or perhaps I should bite on a 9800GTX instead
S'all good.
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I Love this Card
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It's twice as powerful and the same price as a PS3. Anyway dnp25 you should get some facts right. Sure it has more processors. But they are clocked at half the speed of the processors of the GTX and GTS. Do the math idiot. Anyway the 2900 XT just barely beats the 8800 GTS and it uses alot more power so the 8800 GTS is alot more of a bargain since your power bill isnt as high and its cheaper than the 2900 XT by like 50 bucks. Plus the annoying whine from its fan is also a reason to stay away. NVIDIA FTW!
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Incredibly how the HD2900 can't beat the 8800GTX
HD2900 - F.E.A.R. 1600 x 1200 = 59 fps
8800 GTX - F.E.A.R 1600 x 1200 = 84 fps
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quote: nvidia 8800gtx 128 stream processors,ati 2900xt 320 stream processors do the maths haters.
actually, i've read something that shows that 8800gtx has 128 phisical stream processors(each one doing 2 calcs/clock), but 256 logical, and 2900xt has 64 phisical stream processors(each one doing 5 calcs/clock), but 320 logical ones, so saing 2900xt has 320shaders is like saying P4 with HT is a dual-core, it's just AMD/ATI marketing
so unless games start being optimized just to 2900xt, send 5 commands to the stream procs at once(whichis hard to happen, but may be used in Ruby demo), it won't be using all 320stream procs.
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nvidia 8800gtx 128 stream processors,ati 2900xt 320 stream processors do the maths haters.
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wait until next year
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Meh..this card will suck soon...I wouldn't buy it yet, especially since dx10 games don't even exist on the market as of now =\
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I'll be buying a single 8800 GTX, but won't be running it on vista till its at least on service pack 1, and with FINISHED drivers, but i have a feeling it'll run like a charm on Windows XP Professional SP2
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I bought the geforce 8800 Gts, and i downloaded CyberLink Powercinema to watch Tv.

But says i need a tv tuner device, dosnt it come along with the geforce ? if it dosnt, shall i buy the tv tuner device? will it work to watch tv then? and how do i get the tv tuner to work.
Hope its okey to be asking this here
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im savin up to get two of these and a SLI mother board, imagine how fast that will be.
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There has been a disturbance in the ... force lately over at the official nVidia forums. 8800 buyers are complaining about the bad quality vista drivers (which are still BETA) and the "vista ready" but not-so-ready-after-all nVidia promises.
Check http://www.nvidiaclassaction.org for more info.
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omg!!! just waitin for my xams to get over and booom gonna get my comp upgraded wit this baby!!
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i just ordered my 8800 gts from futureshop, i just got a new computer with vista its a AMD x2 5200+, with 2gb ram. My old computer was a piece of....never mind. I can't wait till i get this new card, and play oblivion, and fear at max. I only have a 19 inch. Woot!
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I thought my 7800GTX was good, but this just takes the mick!
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I have this card but sacrificed upgrading my age old P4 3Ghz HT cpu....
Still runs great though!
Oblivion max settings (ish) runs at 40+ no probs
Im gonna OC this baby soon
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the 9800 isn't coming out for like a year. And you should just get an 8800gts when ati r600 comes out. Or you could wait for 8600 or 8900 to come out
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any one know how can we recognize B2 or L2 revision from tha box of core 2 duo E6400 ? is there any sign ??
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when will the 9800 come out so i will know worth buying the 8800 gtx
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[Kind of old News]
It's no longer a question.
"NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) IS the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies." - http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_38910.html
ATI had some good stuff but they just didn't prevail. Hopefully AMD can make something of them.
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hiway2hell: core 2 duo extreme are highly superior to any AMD 64 Athlon FX processorin the present days.
Intel engineers just redesigned all his processor architecture when they realized that was the problem with their dual core processors. Their technology right now is unbeatable. AMD needs to redesign their processors as well.
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i dont think there is a need of 8800 right now as this year as i suppose all the games will also be released in sp2 along with vista.so i will wait another year. i am reight now happy with my 7600 gs
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Its not really core duo. Its really..... I guess you could call it quad-duo because it comes with 4 proccessing cores.
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Renn: Would u reccommend the Intel Core 2 duo extreme over the AMD 64 Athlon FX
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lol i work 5 days a week making only 7.10 and i make only 234$ a week so dont forget to count in taxes plus most people have to pay bills it would take me forever to buy that card
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Go with the core duos, intel is definatly leading the way in processors right now.
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WWAWW!! i can't imagine if this GPU was installed on Mac Pro.
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anyone got a physix card?
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1 week old gtx w/ old school p4 3.6 x 4 gig crucial ddr2 4300
4 75 gig raptors raid 0 650 watts works for me.. 24" wide just finnishing up exstraction point............money was worth it to me
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Alchael, don't be retarded. Where do you think you're going to get a job cleaning for $20/hr in America? We contract our cleaning out to companies who then in turn hire illegals for $5/hr.
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i do have a good PC but i am tired of my 6800 and am about to buy an Alienware that comes with the 8800 GTX but i just dont know to choose from the Intel Core or the Athlon FX
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i am trying to decide between two Alienware ALX Computers. What do u guys prefer. Intel Core 2 Extreme or AMD 64 Athlon FX
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ahahaha...alcheal wants to kill people for a 8800 GTX??? people have lost there minds...
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I actually need 8800 GTX with 600$ in Egypt 3600 pound !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????
I will wait until next 5 yeas!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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To all unfortunate poor folks out there, there's a solution!
If you live in the US of A, there's plenty of money to be made there if you're not so lazy and stupid, given your IQ level doesn't fall near the moron threshold. I just wish I live there, I could've made lots of bucks and I'm willing to do anything from licking Ferarri tires clean to assassinating Columbian druglords.
If I were in USA, I could buy that musclebound Geforce 8800 GTX in one week time! How?
Find a job, say, cleaning houses or killing people (easy mode) that gets you paid not less than 20 bucks an hour. Work on that for 5 hours a day for 6 days...and voila! GeForce8800GTX! .:.
Geforce 8800 GTX = $600. Cash/Day: $20/hour x 5 hours = $100
Cash/Week: $100 x 6 days = $600
Therefore, I conclude that Geforce 8800 GTX = $600 and I could earn it in a week!
For once in your life, get your fat, lazy ass out there and start working for that Geforce 8800 GTX!
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Oh.. mine is a GTX... btw, I started out with 2 of them in SLI BUT!!! more problems than it's worth... dropped back to a single GTX... the way to go... dualvision cannot be employed if in an SLI configuration...
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I have it! It is AWESOME.. F.E.A.R. at maximum everything.... 75FPS Min 150+ Average.. ona 6700 core2duo..
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Man I also ordered my GTS yesterday, and I'm just desperated to put it in. I wanna see the Lord of the Rings The White Council that I think it will arrive on this end of the year , on this massive destruction video card. yeah!!!!
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damn....it does seem like the R600 is going to blow out the 8800 GTX. ehh but thats what they all say....well some. just cant wait to see the real deal benchmarks. see who has the last laugh on the 1st ever dx10 cards.
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I think I'll wait some DX10 games reviews with the 8800 GTX and when crysis will be in store (end of the year) I'll get a maingear F131 with 2 8800 GTX and a quad core CPU!!! : p CRYSIS WILL BE S.I.C.K.!!!
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I don't care what ATI has coming out. They burned their bridges with me some time around 2000 when I bought a high end card (I can't even remember what it was anymore as that was about fifteen cards ago for me). It was horrible. There were a number of games I could not even play as the entire screen was just constantly gray. There were a number of very well known problems with the card and it was many months before they released the first driver or firmware updates. I believe it was at least four months and possibly as long as six or seven. By the time the drivers finally fixed the problem, it was no longer the high-end card it was purchased to be!
NVIDIA, on the other hand, has always provided great, quality, frequently updated drivers and shown a lot of love to their customers. It will take a lot to ever sway me back to trying out an ATI card, just as it has taken a long time to sway me back to trying an Intel CPU (which I may do in the next machine I build, after more than a decade of AMD-only).
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I have just build a new gamer PC with the Geforce 8800 in and its a pretty sight, connected the box to the 42 " HD ready TV and played all night. This baby really kicks a**
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Intel Boxed Core2 Duo E6400 Processor - 2.13 GHz (clocked at 2.66)
AOpen 1000Watt
DDR2-800 Corsair TwinX (3 x 1GB) DDR2-800 - 6-Layer,DOMINATOR
IDE 0 Seagate Barracuda 7200 250GB Gigabyte nVidia 2 x GeForce 8800GTX Asus P5N32-E Sli Motherboard Runs the game 100% with all eye candy set to max
Is great
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I just ordered the GTS yesterday. The GTX was tempting but I only have a 19" monitor so the extra muscle of the GTX really wouldn't be necessary. Lets see if this card hold strong over the next year or two as Nvidia claims it will.
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@Jose619
http://level505.com/2006/12/30/the-full-ati-r600-test/1/
go through the pages it beats the 8800 in almost every single test. ofcourse were gonna have to wait till its released to really see what its capable of.
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Im getting a 8800 GTX in a few days. I was still apprehensive about some compatibility issues that might arise with my older hardware and software, but this article cleared all that up. I mostly looking forward to the DX 10 game Crysis, and I will have the best card to play it on when its released, later this year.
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Find out about the GPU that's twice as powerful as the PlayStation 3's RSX in our GeForce 8800 GTX hands-on report.
Why on earth are you comparing PC & console hardware? LOL
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hey klash, can you give us the link to the specs of the R600 please? thns =)
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