Tuesday 13th November 2007

256MB GeForce 8800 GT on the way

Posted at: 4:10am 13th November 2007 by Ben Hardwidge

Nvidia removes 256MB of RAM from its acclaimed GeForce 8800 GT to produce a bargain graphics card in time for Christmas

Either the guys at Nvidia are feeling particularly generous or they’re turning their trousers brown at the thought of what ATI might have in stall, but whatever the reason, there’s soon going to be a bargain GeForce on the way.

Nvidia’s latest mid-range monster is going to be a 256MB version of the GeForce 8800 GT, which XFX is planning to release before Christmas. Details are thin on the ground at the moment, but we assume it’s going to be otherwise identical to the 512MB version with the exception of the memory. If this is the case, then it will have 112 stream processors clocked at 1.5GHz, and 900MHz (1.8GHz effective) GDDR3 memory.

As such, the performance should hold up well up to a resolution of 1,680 x 1,050, but the card is likely to fall down when you go up to higher resolutions such as 1,920 x 1,200 and start piling on the anti-aliasing, as that’s when the extra memory will be needed. The 512MB card still produced playable frame rates in F.E.A.R., Need for Speed: Carbon and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. at 1,920 x 1,200 with 4x AA, so this is likely to be what you’d lose by going for the 256MB card.

Nvidia estimates that the card will retail for between £135 and £145 inc VAT, making it an ideal graphics card for those on a tighter budget who don’t need super high-res gaming performance. We’ll give you more details as and when we receive them.

Update: XFX has now announced that its version of the card is expected to retail at €149 ex VAT, which works out at just £123.30 at the current exchange rate.Tthis could be a bargain, providing UK retailers don't get too greedy.

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Comments

slizza

u probably get on windows xp, dx 9 rather than 10 with this card to run max on crysis, (just one card) or just one 512mb card

Comment by Lightning_Pete at 4:15pm 17th November 2007

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wait for the new GTS

I don\'t understand the rationale for this card, unless the mysterious texture doubling technology makes 256Mb VRAM viable in Crysis... the massive performance gap in that game between the 320Mb and 640Mb 8800GTS is such that any new GPU with less than 512Mb VRAM seems like a bad investment to me. The reported new \

Comment by thehorsey at 8:24pm 14th November 2007

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seen one...

..for £122 at Komplett.co.uk. But I'd still get a 512Mb version and I'd still love it if someone bought out a 1Gb version with a better cooler. anyone agree?

Comment by EdArch at 5:41pm 14th November 2007

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happy with my 8800gt (512mb)

well i looked on here oneday and seen the gt announced so i went straight on the ebuyer and per ordered my card. i brought the cheapest version (innon) but it only cost me £144.99 (was £154.99 but £10 google check out) and i am so glad i brought this card when i did as i see i got a real bargin, i would not drop down to 256mb, just buy the best you can, dont rush and take your time in looking around, ATi arent even in the race at the moment and with them be so slow and unreliable with release dates i have forgot about then

Comment by jonconlon at 9:24am 14th November 2007

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DX10 is cack, but the DX10 cards with their unified shader goodness are really good. I've seen no evidence that DX10 is worth considering as a factor when buying a card, but while I regret buying Vista and finding that out for myself I don't regret buying a DX10 GPU, the performance in DX9 is monster.

Comment by Grotmonkey at 9:25pm 13th November 2007

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slizza

Hmm this in sli for gaming @ 1440 x 900 could be a all v high settings crysis runner?

Comment by slizza90 at 8:53pm 13th November 2007

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Interesting.....but this doesn't help manufacturers get them into the shops any faster. Still yet to see anywhere even selling the 512 version with more than about 3 copies. Most cards at Scan and OCUK have been due for delivery for about 2 weeks ffs...

Comment by F_A_F at 8:02pm 13th November 2007

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All well an good....

But lets face it, it's just another half-cocked DX10 GPU that cant properly play DX10 games.

Comment by D_Cypher at 7:56pm 13th November 2007

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Have to say I think 256meg could be a little low for that GPU. I mean if you're going to have so much power, it makes sense to pay the little bit more to avoid it choking up on the lack of RAM. If the saving between 256 and 512 was more substantial I'd reckon it'd be worth it, but I think looking longer term the fatter RAM looks more sensible, even for the extra few quid.

Comment by Grotmonkey at 7:37pm 13th November 2007

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The price will probably come down even further after ATI releases it's refresh cards this month. Very good deal indeed. We haven't seen a sub £150 card this good for some time.

Comment by combatus at 6:43pm 13th November 2007

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OK, so that sounds the death knell for the 8600GTS. The 256Mb 8800GT is perfect for a proper mid range card. OcUK lists them for pre-order at 146.86 inc vat

Comment by Spreadie at 4:43pm 13th November 2007

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£135 sounds too good to be true

I wonder if the lower memory will have much of an impact on what textures it can support - apparently the 320Mb GTS has some problems with games with very hi-res textures (Oblivion, LotR online etc)

Comment by marcgear at 4:36pm 13th November 2007

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