Ok folks, back from my small 8 day honeymoon from Singapore and Malaysia. Did quite a bit of shopping for myself. The details of what I purchased can be found at the thread below:
http://www.techenclave.com/forums/what-a-honeymoon-100903-2.html#post696797
If you have read the thread above you probably already know that I have bought Inno3d 8800GT, probably the first in TE!!!:hap2: Though this is the standard edition of the card, as you will find out later its quite an overclocker.
This is a mini review of this card. I am going to compare it to 8800 GTS, HD2900Pro and my outgoing ATI 1900 GT. Though I dont own an 8800 GTS or HD2900Pro, I would be stealing benchies from Funky's review which can be found at:
http://www.techenclave.com/forums/msi-8800gts-320mb-vs-sapphire-hd2900pro-99708.html
This is a mini review. We are just going to look at the card and the 3DMark06 scores. But I am not going to go in the details and run in depth benchmarks like Funky, as this is still my honeymoon period and I dont want my marriage to come to a premature end:bleh: . A special thanks to my wife for sparing me time on our last official holiday of our honeymoon to write this mini-review!!![BREAK=Inno3D 8800 GT Overview]
The Inno3D card I have bought is normal edition. Its got 512MB of DDR3 RAM. The card is clocked at sock speeds of 600 Mhz Core and 900 Mhz Memory. Inno3D also has an oc'd edition of the same card oc'd at 700 Mhz and 1000 Mhz Memory. The card has a 256 bit memory interface. This is Nvidias G92 architecture based card and this is why the G92 has 73 million more transistors than the G80 even though it actually has fewer shader processors.
This card is priced at 250 USD (approx 10k Rupees) though in India it would retail at around 12-14k. The card is priced lower than the outgoing 8800 GTS 320 MB, but as we would find later in this review this card is clearly better perfomer than the 8800 GTS. This is what makes this card even more spcl. At this price point its a STEAL!!!
[BREAK=MSI 8800 GTS Overview]
Thanks to Funky we already have a specimen of 8800 GTS on our forum from MSI. Below are the details of his card directly stolen from his review for the benefit of our community. I could have gotten these from web, but this adds more credibility to our comparison knowing its coming from our own forum.
"I received MSI 8800GTS 320MB for testing purpose. 8800GTS by default is clocked at 500Mhz core and 800Mhz GDDR3 memory with 96 shader processors clocked at 1200Mhz. Memory interface is 320Bit."
Interesting to note this card has a dual slot CPU cooler as opposed to the 8800 GT which has a single slot CPU cooler
[BREAK=Inno3d 8800 GT Pictography]
Here are some pictures of the card....
This is how the card cover looks from the back... its pretty basic and is no where near the 8800 GT Knockout Edition cover that I had scene from XFX...
Inside the components are pretty standard. The card looks slightly bigger than the 8800 GTS but as per online reviews the size is pretty much the same...
A Tombraider game CD along with software is bundled with the card...
To give you an idea of the size, here is the card placed right next to my outgoing ATI 1900 GT (which has served me quite well)...
As you can see the cards are pretty similar sized!
[BREAK=MSI 8800 GTS Pictography]
Thanks to Funky lets feast on the pictures of MSI 8800 GTS 320 MB!
As can be seen its a dual slot card which is a pain if you have a small cabbie!
This card too comes bundled with a game and software cd!
[BREAK=Test System]
Since I am using Benchies from Funky's system we cant really have an apples to apples comparison. But below are the specs of the PC's used for the MSI 8800 GTS and Inno3D 8800 GT comparison. If anything, the 8800 GT could have scored more on Funky's setup:
Test Specs for MSI 8800 GTS:
CPU : Intel Core2Quad E6600 @ 3.6Ghz (overclocked)
Motherboard : ABIT IP35 Pro
Ram : 4GB PDP DDR2 800
HDD : 4x320GB
PSU : OCZ Gamexstream 700W
Sound Card : Creative SBLive 24Bit
Operating System : Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bit
Test System Inno3D 8800 GT:
CPU : Intel Core2Duo E6300 @ 3.3 Ghz (Overclocked_
Motherboard : Asus P5B Dlx Wifi AP
RAM : 2 GB PNY DDR2 800
HDD : 2 * 250 GB
PSU : OCZ StealthXstream 600 W
Soundcard : Bluegear B-Inspirer
Operating System : Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit
As you can see there is an aparthied in the system configurations where Funky's system clearly outshines mine but not by much. My system is definitely more VFM :bleh: Just Kidding!
[BREAK=3DMark 2006 Benchies Stock]
Here is a small comparison of 4 cards at stock speeds. The cards comapred are HD2900Pro, MSI 8800 GTS Stock, Inno3D 8800 GT Stock and my outgoing ATI 1900 GT stock.
As its clear by the above comparison, that even on a slower machine the Inno3d 8800 GT clearly blows away the 8800 GTS and even the 2900 Pro.
The 1900 GT is just thrown in to show how far the cards progress in an year.
[BREAK=Overclocking Results]
I did not spend much time overclocking, but was easily able to OC by 8800 GT to 715 Mhz Core and 1000 Mhz Memory.
The card was pitted against 8800 GTS @660/100 and 2900Pro @ 789/989. Below are the results:
As you can clearly see the card is ahead of 8800 GTS and outdoes the 2900Pro in SM2 and SM3 results though is behind the 2900Pro in the final rating. However at the pricepoint its a no brainer that this card is way better than 2900Pro when we take into account the price. Also note the card is faster at stock in the 3DMark06 benchies.
[BREAK=Power Consumption]
This is very important for Indian buyers as we dont have quality PSUs at low price. There is good news on this front as well, this card has a considerably lower power consumption when compared to 8800 GTS.
Image taken from: BFG 8800 GT OC Review - Page 14 - Conclusion & Power Usage
[BREAK=Verdict]
Priced at 250USD to begin with (200 USD after a while), this card clearly blows away the $300 8800 GTS. The Inno3D 8800 GT has finally given the gamers something to smile. Nvidia has a winner at its hands. I am wondering what ATI's response would be. The new Nvidia architecture outshines the 8800 GTS memory interface limitation notwishtanding. We can finally conclude its time to jump into the DX10 bandwagon!!!
A spcl thanks to my wife (newly wed) whose taunts and rebukes couldnt stop me from writing this review. Though they did make this review quite a bit short.
Here is for some bragging rights (my system as ranked by 3DMark06):
Your system compared to all 2826409 system configurations. There are 98228 systems with a higher score and 2728181 systems with a lower score than your system.
Drool!!!:tongue:
http://www.techenclave.com/forums/what-a-honeymoon-100903-2.html#post696797
If you have read the thread above you probably already know that I have bought Inno3d 8800GT, probably the first in TE!!!:hap2: Though this is the standard edition of the card, as you will find out later its quite an overclocker.
This is a mini review of this card. I am going to compare it to 8800 GTS, HD2900Pro and my outgoing ATI 1900 GT. Though I dont own an 8800 GTS or HD2900Pro, I would be stealing benchies from Funky's review which can be found at:
http://www.techenclave.com/forums/msi-8800gts-320mb-vs-sapphire-hd2900pro-99708.html
This is a mini review. We are just going to look at the card and the 3DMark06 scores. But I am not going to go in the details and run in depth benchmarks like Funky, as this is still my honeymoon period and I dont want my marriage to come to a premature end:bleh: . A special thanks to my wife for sparing me time on our last official holiday of our honeymoon to write this mini-review!!![BREAK=Inno3D 8800 GT Overview]
The Inno3D card I have bought is normal edition. Its got 512MB of DDR3 RAM. The card is clocked at sock speeds of 600 Mhz Core and 900 Mhz Memory. Inno3D also has an oc'd edition of the same card oc'd at 700 Mhz and 1000 Mhz Memory. The card has a 256 bit memory interface. This is Nvidias G92 architecture based card and this is why the G92 has 73 million more transistors than the G80 even though it actually has fewer shader processors.
This card is priced at 250 USD (approx 10k Rupees) though in India it would retail at around 12-14k. The card is priced lower than the outgoing 8800 GTS 320 MB, but as we would find later in this review this card is clearly better perfomer than the 8800 GTS. This is what makes this card even more spcl. At this price point its a STEAL!!!
[BREAK=MSI 8800 GTS Overview]
Thanks to Funky we already have a specimen of 8800 GTS on our forum from MSI. Below are the details of his card directly stolen from his review for the benefit of our community. I could have gotten these from web, but this adds more credibility to our comparison knowing its coming from our own forum.
"I received MSI 8800GTS 320MB for testing purpose. 8800GTS by default is clocked at 500Mhz core and 800Mhz GDDR3 memory with 96 shader processors clocked at 1200Mhz. Memory interface is 320Bit."
Interesting to note this card has a dual slot CPU cooler as opposed to the 8800 GT which has a single slot CPU cooler
[BREAK=Inno3d 8800 GT Pictography]
Here are some pictures of the card....
This is how the card cover looks from the back... its pretty basic and is no where near the 8800 GT Knockout Edition cover that I had scene from XFX...
Inside the components are pretty standard. The card looks slightly bigger than the 8800 GTS but as per online reviews the size is pretty much the same...
A Tombraider game CD along with software is bundled with the card...
To give you an idea of the size, here is the card placed right next to my outgoing ATI 1900 GT (which has served me quite well)...
As you can see the cards are pretty similar sized!
[BREAK=MSI 8800 GTS Pictography]
Thanks to Funky lets feast on the pictures of MSI 8800 GTS 320 MB!
As can be seen its a dual slot card which is a pain if you have a small cabbie!
This card too comes bundled with a game and software cd!
[BREAK=Test System]
Since I am using Benchies from Funky's system we cant really have an apples to apples comparison. But below are the specs of the PC's used for the MSI 8800 GTS and Inno3D 8800 GT comparison. If anything, the 8800 GT could have scored more on Funky's setup:
Test Specs for MSI 8800 GTS:
CPU : Intel Core2Quad E6600 @ 3.6Ghz (overclocked)
Motherboard : ABIT IP35 Pro
Ram : 4GB PDP DDR2 800
HDD : 4x320GB
PSU : OCZ Gamexstream 700W
Sound Card : Creative SBLive 24Bit
Operating System : Windows Vista Ultimate 64Bit
Test System Inno3D 8800 GT:
CPU : Intel Core2Duo E6300 @ 3.3 Ghz (Overclocked_
Motherboard : Asus P5B Dlx Wifi AP
RAM : 2 GB PNY DDR2 800
HDD : 2 * 250 GB
PSU : OCZ StealthXstream 600 W
Soundcard : Bluegear B-Inspirer
Operating System : Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit
As you can see there is an aparthied in the system configurations where Funky's system clearly outshines mine but not by much. My system is definitely more VFM :bleh: Just Kidding!
[BREAK=3DMark 2006 Benchies Stock]
Here is a small comparison of 4 cards at stock speeds. The cards comapred are HD2900Pro, MSI 8800 GTS Stock, Inno3D 8800 GT Stock and my outgoing ATI 1900 GT stock.
As its clear by the above comparison, that even on a slower machine the Inno3d 8800 GT clearly blows away the 8800 GTS and even the 2900 Pro.
The 1900 GT is just thrown in to show how far the cards progress in an year.
[BREAK=Overclocking Results]
I did not spend much time overclocking, but was easily able to OC by 8800 GT to 715 Mhz Core and 1000 Mhz Memory.
The card was pitted against 8800 GTS @660/100 and 2900Pro @ 789/989. Below are the results:
As you can clearly see the card is ahead of 8800 GTS and outdoes the 2900Pro in SM2 and SM3 results though is behind the 2900Pro in the final rating. However at the pricepoint its a no brainer that this card is way better than 2900Pro when we take into account the price. Also note the card is faster at stock in the 3DMark06 benchies.
[BREAK=Power Consumption]
This is very important for Indian buyers as we dont have quality PSUs at low price. There is good news on this front as well, this card has a considerably lower power consumption when compared to 8800 GTS.
Image taken from: BFG 8800 GT OC Review - Page 14 - Conclusion & Power Usage
[BREAK=Verdict]
Priced at 250USD to begin with (200 USD after a while), this card clearly blows away the $300 8800 GTS. The Inno3D 8800 GT has finally given the gamers something to smile. Nvidia has a winner at its hands. I am wondering what ATI's response would be. The new Nvidia architecture outshines the 8800 GTS memory interface limitation notwishtanding. We can finally conclude its time to jump into the DX10 bandwagon!!!
A spcl thanks to my wife (newly wed) whose taunts and rebukes couldnt stop me from writing this review. Though they did make this review quite a bit short.
Here is for some bragging rights (my system as ranked by 3DMark06):
Your system compared to all 2826409 system configurations. There are 98228 systems with a higher score and 2728181 systems with a lower score than your system.
Drool!!!:tongue:
dont talk about games here .
.