first preview of 8800GT 256MB (VS 3850/86GTS/88GT 512)

[expreview]

source: Expreview (http://www.expreview.com/news/hard/2007-11-19/1195454030d6980.html)(English version coming soon)

http://www.expreview.com/img/news/071119/gpuz_88gt_256mb.png
GPU-Z

Testbed:

Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit SP1 RC Preview v.658 with Aero
Core 2 Quad Q6700 OC 333MHzX9
Asustek P5E3 Deluxe/Wifi-AP with DDR3-1066 6-6-6-18-1T
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 256MB/512MB: 169.02 WHQL
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB: 163.75 WHQL
ATi Radeon 3850 256MB: 7.11 hotfix

Round1: 8800GT 256MB VS 8600GTS 256MB:
http://www.expreview.com/img/news/071119/score01.png

Round2: 8800GT 256MB VS HD3850 256MB:
http://www.expreview.com/img/news/071119/score02.png

Round3: 8800GT 256MB VS 8800GT 512MB:
http://www.expreview.com/img/news/071119/score03.png

[kite7]

Looks good for peoople who want to play at 1280x1024 or lower

[RPGWiZaRD]

Even though I'm currently using 1280x960, I would rather choose the 512MB since in Crysis and other demanding new titles and upcoming ones wants more than 256MB even in this res when applying filters. 512MB is really the lowest I'd go today, heck that's what I've used for a year already and this card was cheap (but slow today). :p:

256MB sounds too low for other than people on a budget.

[HKPolice]

price difference?

[takamishanoku]

If priced right it should own that section of the market. Looks like Nvidia are going all out.

[[XC] gomeler]

Sub-$200 to compete with the HD3850. Great for 1280x1024, glad to see it scales rather nicely though. Crushes the 3850 that's for sure.

[grimREEFER]

saying its good at a particular resolution is a little misleading. saying its good for older games is more accurate.

[Eastcoasthandle]

Interesting tid bit:
The HD 3950 loses 26.11 FPS using 4xAA/16xAF in EP2 from 1280 to 1920
The 8800GT 256 loses 29.92 FPS using 4xAA/16xAF in EP2 from 1280 to 1680 then errors out at 1920.

[Krizby87]

Interesting tid bit:
The HD 3950 loses 26.11 FPS using 4xAA/16xAF in EP2 from 1280 to 1920
The 8800GT 256 loses 29.92 FPS using 4xAA/16xAF in EP2 from 1280 to 1680 then errors out at 1920.

Probably thanks to ATI 's memory ring bus technology capable of handling high resolution and AA with limited memory i guess.

[eric66]

how much it will cost 250 haha cause 512 version is higher than $ 300

[Pacha]

so a 1GB card is not worth buying for me as I play at 1280*960 full AA AF, even 256MB could be enough, though I'd pick a 512MB for sure. interesting

[takamishanoku]

Interesting tid bit:
The HD 3950 loses 26.11 FPS using 4xAA/16xAF in EP2 from 1280 to 1920
The 8800GT 256 loses 29.92 FPS using 4xAA/16xAF in EP2 from 1280 to 1680 then errors out at 1920.

Yeah but on average it's 30fps faster so that extra 3fps isn't much overall. The error is strange, maybe a driver issue. Anyway as stated the res for this card should be 1280 max and the lack of ram would make any recent game crash at 1920.

Competition is a wonderful thing. To think of the crap of the 8600, etc. Should be a great card for the average gamer.

[SKYMTL]

I'm calling BS on this one. I have seen time and again the HD3870 beat the living crap out of the 8800GT 512MB in Half Life 2: EP2 and now these guys are saying the 256MB 8800GT beats the HD3780? Puhlease.

Rule of thumb = don't pay attention to pre-review benches.

[takamishanoku]

No not the 3870 it's actually against the 3850. You're right tho nothing is real until it's released...but their track record is pretty good for this kind of stuff.

[leomax]

Quite interesting,those with those 19" (1.3Mp<) may just manage with 256MB without AA.
The question is will crysis and UT3 will fit in without too much sacrifice?

[Yakyb]

well i bought a 3850 this weekend shoud arrive tomorrow seeing as it will only be a htpc card im going to be very happy but i will be interested to see what results this brings around (and whether its availible or not)

[Kingcarcas]

But i don't see that big of a performance difference @ 1680, why do you guys say i need 512mb?....

[DeathReborn]

price difference?

In the UK it is approx as follows.

HD 3850 256MB - £112
8800 GT 256MB - £118

HD 3870 512MB - £150 (started out at £130)
8800 GT 512MB - £176 (started out at £140)


www.scan.co.uk - all ZERO STOCK, last 8800GT sold a few days ago.

[Shintai]

But i don't see that big of a performance difference @ 1680, why do you guys say i need 512mb?....

You dont. But if I were you i would get a 512MB card. Simply due to bigegr textures and such with time and DX10.

[mascaras]

Even though I'm currently using 1280x960, I would rather choose the 512MB since in Crysis and other demanding new titles and upcoming ones wants more than 256MB even in this res when applying filters. 512MB is really the lowest I'd go today, heck that's what I've used for a year already and this card was cheap (but slow today). :p:

256MB sounds too low for other than people on a budget.


yep , i also think 512MB its minimum today


But i don't see that big of a performance difference @ 1680, why do you guys say i need 512mb?....

HL2 not too heavy and its more CPU dependent than VGA.

i think it&#180;s better wait for more tests in games like Crysis , COD4 ......................


btw: 8800GT 256mb used in this pre-view has 1800Mhz memory , the Nvidia reference cards are 1400Mhz


regards

[Jacky]

8800 GT 256 > hd 3850 > 8800 GT 512MB - is this right?
neither is really available in europe.. and price difference is next to zero.
So AMD/ATI lost once again in price and price/performance? I guess the only positive thing *may be* 55nm yields, die size and thermals...

[realsmasher]

Ok come on, 12,5k in 3dmark for 8800gt but only 10,5k for 3850gt ?

Show me THAT system !

Oh of course you could underclock the 3850 to make it possible :rolleyes:

[Scubar]

I thought this would happen, nVidia have done it again, the 8800GT 256 crushes the 3850 in performance.

It seems that nVidia have won every single segment of the market. They have the highend crown, the midrange crown and the low end crown aswell as best bang for buck.

Ouch for ATI they have been given a beating.

[Chuck232]

I'm calling BS on this one. I have seen time and again the HD3870 beat the living crap out of the 8800GT 512MB in Half Life 2: EP2 and now these guys are saying the 256MB 8800GT beats the HD3780? Puhlease.

Rule of thumb = don't pay attention to pre-review benches.

I'd say you're being a little optimistic. Most of the HD3870 reviews I've seen put the HD3870 quite a ways back of the 8800GT in HL2:EP2, except for your review, where the HD3870 absolutely dominates at 1600x1200 w/ 8XAA. Take a look at the discrepancy.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/3270-his-radeon-hd3870-review-crossfire-performance-preview.html#post26213

http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3151&p=6
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_rv670_performance_preview/page9.asp
http://www.hothardware.com/articles/ATI_Radeon_HD_3870_and_3850_55nm_RV670/?page=5

[Nicksterr]

lol, try playing eq2 @ 1280x1024 with 256mb of vram, that 8800gt 256mb will cry.

[HKPolice]

I'd say you're being a little optimistic. Most of the HD3870 reviews I've seen put the HD3870 quite a ways back of the 8800GT in HL2:EP2, except for your review, where the HD3870 absolutely dominates at 1600x1200 w/ 8XAA. Take a look at the discrepancy.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/3270-his-radeon-hd3870-review-crossfire-performance-preview.html#post26213

http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3151&p=6
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/amd_rv670_performance_preview/page9.asp
http://www.hothardware.com/articles/ATI_Radeon_HD_3870_and_3850_55nm_RV670/?page=5

True.

[ghost101]

Are the reference memory clocks for the 256mb 8800gt definitely 1.8ghz?

Because i was going to get this

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=708007

but the memory was rated at 1.4ghz. Typo? Well not according to XFX

http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce&#37;26tra de%3B+8800&productConfigurationId=1631615

[The_Beast]

hmm nice card

[GAR]

AMD/ATI just got crushed again, ouch!!!!!!!!!! these guys just cant get a break.

[Eastcoasthandle]

Yeah but on average it's 30fps faster so that extra 3fps isn't much overall. The error is strange, maybe a driver issue. Anyway as stated the res for this card should be 1280 max and the lack of ram would make any recent game crash at 1920.

Competition is a wonderful thing. To think of the crap of the 8600, etc. Should be a great card for the average gamer.

We need to see more game benchmarks. Also, the ram is clocked higher in those test. However, the amount it drops with AA/AF should make it obvious what's going on here, regardless of the FPS.

[Gambit_2K]

Availability=Zero ?

[takamishanoku]

AMD/ATI just got crushed again, ouch!!!!!!!!!! these guys just cant get a break.

Well when you think about it. Nvidia has had an entire year just to sit and twidle its thumbs. It had ample time to come up with cards that can easily beat anything AMD could put out. ATI had to deal with a meger and delay of the R600, which required a lot of work as it's pretty complex. The new releases HD 3800 are merely a die shrink of the R600 with some little tweaks. Nvidia really dropped an A- bomb with the 8800 series, so unless AMD have a revolutionary card in the works, Nvidia have a substantial lead.

[alpha_tot]

When do we expect availability/decent pricing? The best Canadian pricing I can find is ~$40 premium for a 512mb 8800gt vs a 3870. The 8800gt is OOS, and the 3870 comes with a couple free games, which makes it a much sweeter deal if you're one of the few who pay for software. These numbers are useless unless someone actually gets some stock, and we see what actual pricing is like

[saaya]

256mb? :rolleyes:

[adamsleath]

Scaling looks pretty good from the Radeon HD 3850, however it's still not as good as what NVIDIA is able to achieve with the 8800 GT. NVIDIA consistently achieves about 11&#37; better scaling from one to two GPUs than AMD.

The other problem with CrossFire is that it simply doesn't always work, so a pair of 3850s is not necessarily a better option than a single 8800 GT or GTX. Case in point would be the two other games that we wanted to include here: Quake Wars and Call of Duty 4, both gave us lower frame rates with CF enabled than without. AMD's release notes for the Radeon HD 3800 drivers informs us that some applications may show a performance decrease with CF enabled, so we're not too surprised.

While it'd be nice to be able to purchase two cheap cards and get better performance than the best out there, there are simply too many caveats to really embrace the idea.
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3151&p=10

....but 256mb...is flogging a dead donkey it seems.
...
..
.

i spose my query is that if 3850 cf can produce gtx like fps at high res...(as per the linked article)...but once you turn up all the in game settings the lower ram amount will 'crap out'..? is that right?

[Metroid]

What I wanted to see is 2 x 256 8800GT on higher resolutions with/out AA. That would be something to think about.

Metroid.

[thepfy]

More in depth review (http://en.expreview.com/?p=64). :)

Looks good for 1280x1024

[ghost101]

In the UK, the 8800gt 256mb is available for &#163;118 for the 1.4ghz memory clock version (ocuk have a 1.8ghz version for &#163;146), and the 3850 costs &#163;106. The powercolor ecs extreme 3850 is priced at &#163;130.