XFX Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS Review: Great Manufacturer, Great Card, Just Not As Good As The GTX

The Nvidia 8800GTS is a step-down from their monster card; the 8800GTX and remains part of the G80 series of cards. But how does it compare to other cards out on the market, and ultimately its brother; the GTX?

XFX is a well known manufacturer of Nvidia cards, and they boast good quality components, a great warranty, high performance and unrivaled endurance. On top of these features, you usually get some awesome box artwork when you get your card. If you’re going for any manufacturer get a XFX card, and you’ll be safe in the knowledge that you have spent your money wisely (Even if it costs you a bit extra)

The 8800GTS provides excellent performance on current games such as BioShock, S.T.A.L.K.E.R and remains solid up to resolutions of 1,920×1,280. On S.T.A.L.K.E.R on medium settings, you can get a solid 43FPS on a resolution of 1600×1200 with 16x anti-aliasing. Not as good as the GTX, but remember, you are paying quite a bit less. Similarly, unless you’ve got a massive monitor, you’ll get better performance.

The card boasts flawless performance with High-Definition output, and likewise it has HDCP compliance.

However, Vista drivers for the card aren’t fully optimised yet and also, there’s no knowledge of similar cards from ATi coming on the horizon. If you’re spending this much money on a graphics card, I’d really recommend you just save it, and actually put it towards a GTX. Yes, it is more expensive, but at the same time you’ll get so much more out of your card and you won’t regret it. I promise.

Overall, the GTS is a nice little card, provides good performance on demanding games, and the manufacturer adds to the solid, rigid aspect of the card. However, at its price; it’s hard to not imagine that you could have spent that money on a GTX even if you have to wait a few months.

What do you think of the GTS? Is it worth saving your money to get a GTX? Let us know.

Get the latest news in our RSS Feed, Newsletter or follow us on Twitter.