Final Words
As with our recent 8800 GTX/GTS article, the most exotic card in this roundup is the Sparkle Calibre card. The P880 LV factory overclocked 8800 GTS 320MB card features thermoelectric cooling by MACS and moderately boosted clock speeds. While we love the idea of including unique and innovative cooling technology on graphics hardware, we just can't recommend this card for everyone.
For those who want a cooler running, quiet card but don't want to modify the hardware themselves, the Calibre P880 LV may be an option. The average user will benefit more by either saving the money or spending the difference on a more aggressively clocked 320MB part like the EVGA 8800 GTS 320MB KO ASC3. The extreme enthusiast on the other hand will be utterly unsatisfied with the cooling capacity of this card, as other TEC solutions, liquid, and phase change cooling methods are capable of achieving significantly lower temperatures which are of more interest to those who really want to push their hardware.
While we are talking about higher priced hardware, the EVGA 8800 GTS 320MB KO ACS3 certainly leads in performance in all of our tests. At a price lower than that of a stock 8800 GTS 640MB, this 8800 GTS 320MB is a good option for people who want spend less than $400 without sacrificing performance and quality at resolutions at or below 1920x1200. While MSRP is $350, we expect the street price of the ACS3 320MB card to be a little lower. The major advantage of the 320MB hardware is its low price and high performance, and there is only so much of a premium that can be charged before it stops making sense to look at the lower memory part.
The MSI, and EVGA SuperClocked card performed nearly the same, but from what we have found the EVGA card is the cheapest of the three coming in at between $300 and $310. The lower price of the EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB KO ACS3 edges out the MSI card, but we won't count it out, as prices change all the time. If you can find the MSI card for between $300 and $310, it is just as good an option as the EVGA SuperClocked. For this reason, we are giving both the MSI NX8800 GTS 320MB OC and the EVGA SuperClocked cards our Gold Editor's Choice award. They are reasonably overclocked versions of the standard 8800 GTS 320MB reference design, with a price that is only slightly higher than stock.
In spite of the fact that the Sparkle card performs on par with both the EVGA SuperClocked and the MSI cards, the Sparkle card is at a disadvantage. The added benefit of the TEC does not, in our minds, outweigh the cost. End-user overclocking may be slightly better due to the lowered temperatures, but without a warranty that covers overclocking it just falls short.
The XFX card is priced near the EVGA SuperClocked and the MSI card, but performance is a little lighter coming in between these two and the stock hardware in most cases. While our stock clocked ASUS card is also priced in the area of $300, there are cheaper stock speed 8800 GTS 320MB parts available from other manufacturers, and we would have to recommend one of these over either the XFX Extreme or the ASUS cards. For those who don't need or want the added performance boost, stock hardware can be had for about $275, providing a decent savings and offering performance near that of the stock 640MB card at the most common resolutions.
As with our recent 8800 GTX/GTS article, the most exotic card in this roundup is the Sparkle Calibre card. The P880 LV factory overclocked 8800 GTS 320MB card features thermoelectric cooling by MACS and moderately boosted clock speeds. While we love the idea of including unique and innovative cooling technology on graphics hardware, we just can't recommend this card for everyone.
For those who want a cooler running, quiet card but don't want to modify the hardware themselves, the Calibre P880 LV may be an option. The average user will benefit more by either saving the money or spending the difference on a more aggressively clocked 320MB part like the EVGA 8800 GTS 320MB KO ASC3. The extreme enthusiast on the other hand will be utterly unsatisfied with the cooling capacity of this card, as other TEC solutions, liquid, and phase change cooling methods are capable of achieving significantly lower temperatures which are of more interest to those who really want to push their hardware.
While we are talking about higher priced hardware, the EVGA 8800 GTS 320MB KO ACS3 certainly leads in performance in all of our tests. At a price lower than that of a stock 8800 GTS 640MB, this 8800 GTS 320MB is a good option for people who want spend less than $400 without sacrificing performance and quality at resolutions at or below 1920x1200. While MSRP is $350, we expect the street price of the ACS3 320MB card to be a little lower. The major advantage of the 320MB hardware is its low price and high performance, and there is only so much of a premium that can be charged before it stops making sense to look at the lower memory part.
 |
In spite of the fact that the Sparkle card performs on par with both the EVGA SuperClocked and the MSI cards, the Sparkle card is at a disadvantage. The added benefit of the TEC does not, in our minds, outweigh the cost. End-user overclocking may be slightly better due to the lowered temperatures, but without a warranty that covers overclocking it just falls short.
The XFX card is priced near the EVGA SuperClocked and the MSI card, but performance is a little lighter coming in between these two and the stock hardware in most cases. While our stock clocked ASUS card is also priced in the area of $300, there are cheaper stock speed 8800 GTS 320MB parts available from other manufacturers, and we would have to recommend one of these over either the XFX Extreme or the ASUS cards. For those who don't need or want the added performance boost, stock hardware can be had for about $275, providing a decent savings and offering performance near that of the stock 640MB card at the most common resolutions.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
24 Comments
View All Comments
leousb - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
Having read the article, I must say that I much rather get a stock card than pay 20+ (minimum) just to get 15 or 20 FPS at the most! all of this owning a 19" LCD wich BTW is what most people have and not 1920x1200 stated here, and at these resolutions you won´t see a difference in real life situations.Sunrise089 - Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - link
There is info at 1280x1024 provided, but there is a much more important point to be made. No doubt 1280x1024 is the most common res around, but WHY WOULD YOU BUY A $325 GPU WHEN YOU HAVE A $250 DISPLAY? Also, at that res a X1900 card will play any game just fine.Carfax - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
N/TDerekWilson - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
yesVisual - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
Say now, why do you still keep a 7900 GT, at a higher price, in the Anand's Picks section instead of this beauty?yyrkoon - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
Honestly, and personally, I really do not think there is really an option to buy anything other than eVGA these days. The reason for me, are simple:XFX, their cards have had mixed reviews on multiple fronts, ranging from plain user reviews on newegg, to other well known sites. I have read multiple times also, their customer support still needs a lot of work, and more than once I have also read their rebate plans, are not always honored ( Of course, we AL need to take this with a grain of salt, but it seems to be mentioned enough, that I tend to 'listen' )
Asus, what can I say, I will probably never buy one of their motherboards again, why would I want one of their cards, especialy one that that does not see mto be reviewed well . . .
Sparkle, costly / cutting edge technology, that does not seem to be embraced by anyone else but them, and has no proven track record.
MSI, well this is one of the tougher ones. MSI undoubtedly makes some very good motherboards, but has proven to me many times in the past, that anything other than motheboards purchased from them is a gamble, which really is a shame in my opinion. I wont name the part, , but as recent as about a year and a half ago, I purchased one of their non motherboard items, and was thouroughly disgusted with it after a few months, when it died a very painfull death, and whats more, I still feel the reverberations of this to this day, because it was a DVD burner ( Yeah, yeah, I know, not a video card, but still . . .), and the data DVDs I burnt with it, will not read on any player I have purchased to date. Again, I would really like to trust their non motherboard type products, but this recent incident, and a few others in the past, have ruined the reputation with me, although, not quite as badly as Asus has.
In contrast, I have not even have had the option to replace any of my eVGA parts, ever. However, from what I have read, in many reviews, all over the web, it would probably be about as pleasant as RMAing an item could be. Not to mention the fact that every item I have purchased from them, seems to function very well, seems very overclockable ( even though, after loads of testing, I really dont even see the point of overclocking any video card period ). I know that every company makes their dogs, and eVGA is probably no exception, but I have yet to purchase a part from them that has let me down, and let us hope that day never comes. I suppose you could say I am a fan of the company, but seriously, if any other company left me with the impression that eVGA has, I would feel the same way about them as well ( actually Leadtek has left a very good impression on me also, but their cards typically seem to cost more by comparison ).
ANyhow, that is how I feel about the situation.
drebo - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
I've been using eVGA almost exclusively in my system builds for nearly a year (that's well over 250 builts) and I have yet to have to RMA a single one, with the exception of the 7900GT KO I purchased for myself.At the time I purchased it, there was a bad batch of Samsung memory installed into many of them. It was a widespread problem, and eVGA took care of it. When I submitted my RMA, I was informed that they were going to be receiving a new batch of the cards with an updated SKU and new memory, and that they were going to wait until they had that before they sent me the new card. They then told me that many users had success in underclocking to keep their system stable. I did this, and everything worked fine. About a week and a half later, I received an email saying my new card shipped. They overnighted me a new card with a pre-paid return shipping label. The new card has given me exactly 0 problems and I've been running it at about a 10% overclock since.
The only exception is low-profile cards. I sell a lot of low-profile book-end PCs and eVGA doesn't really make them. So, I use XFX, which is nice because XFX sells a low-profile bracket kit which makes everything extremely easy.
I believe I will continue to use eVGA for a long time coming. They are, perhaps, the best reference card manufacturer and their support is second-to-none.
yyrkoon - Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - link
Sounds very simular to my one time bad stick of Crucial memory. ALthough, they did not send me a pair back in advance, because I did not purchase dirrectly form them. That being said, a week after Isent my memory off to them, they sent me back a better pair, and I havent had a single problem since.It is a shame that companies like these are the exception in the 'business' and not the rule. Even my motherboard manufacter of choise, does not offer this level of customer support, albiet, most of the time, their 'support' is not needed.
drebo - Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - link
Eh. Crucial. I'm feeling kind of bitter about them. We've given them probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in business over the last three years, but their sales person being a complete dick can change that pretty much instantly. I had an order for about 10 systems for which I needed 2gb DDR2-667 kits. What do they send me? Laptop memory. The SKUs aren't even close to the same, so there's no way my purchaser screwed it up. Yet, my sales rep refused to give me an advanced RMA and actually try to fix the issue. My order was two days late in fulfillment.Needless to say, on the 40 systems I've built this month, there's been no Crucial, and I don't really have any plans to use it again. They gave us fairly good pricing, but I did not have good luck with their Ballistix performance memory. Kingston I can get from my regular supplier, it's closer, and ordering is much more flexible. It's a win-win for me, really.
yyrkoon - Thursday, March 29, 2007 - link
Well, to get advanced replacement, you have to buy directly from them. However, I would contact Crucial, and notify them what this sales reps name is, and what he did to 'piss' you off. Crucial is VERY customer oriented, and one of the few computer companies inside the USofA (Idaho).We also build systems here, and I have yet to experience this sort of meltdown with them. That being said, we usually order from the cheapest etailer out there, because buying directly from Crucial can be pretty expencive (like a 33%-50% mark up it seems). Which is wierd, becasue Micron OWNS Crucial, and Crucial usually uses their own chips . . .