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The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB
We were not able to obtain a reference card from NVIDIA. Fortunately, we had a chance to test the card when Chai bought one for himself - an ASUS EN8800GTS.
The ASUS EN8800GTS is identical to the reference card and all other GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB cards in the market. In fact, from what we understand, they were all manufactured in the same factory. Over time, companies like ASUS and XFX may modify their cards (with different PCB designs or components) but right now, all GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB cards are virtually identical, irrespective of the brand.
The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is a dual-slot card that is slightly shorter than the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. Unlike the very sleek GeForce 8800 GT, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is a bit of an ugly duckling. When you think about it, the slightly-canted end of the shroud does look like a duck's bill... This card will certainly not win any beauty contest.
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While the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB's PCB (printed circuit board) is shorter than that of the GeForce 8800 GTX, its cooler is actually a little bulkier. In these two pictures, you can compare the size of the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB against the GeForce 8800 GTX, the GeForce 8800 GT and the GeForce 8600 GT. As far as looks go, the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT wins hands down.
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The GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB has a board power requirement of about 150 W. This is more than what the GeForce 8800 GT requires, but a single 6-pin PCI Express power connector is sufficient to provide the additional board power.
The card comes with two dual-linked DVI ports which are capable of supporting resolutions of up to 2560x1600. There is also a 7-pin analog TV-out port that supports S-Video directly as well as composite and component outputs via an optional dongle.
Incidentally, the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is the second graphics card (after the GeForce 8800 GT) in the world to support PCI Express 2.0 with a 5 Gbps signalling rate. When used with a motherboard that supports PCI Express 2.0, the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB will have effectively double the PCI Express bandwidth of standard PCI Express cards.
Of course, that does not mean the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB will be twice as fast as older PCI Express graphics cards. In fact, PCI Express bandwidth will only have a minimal effect on its graphics processing capability.
If you are worried about the compatibility of the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB's new PCI Express 2.0 interface, you can rest assured. The GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB will still run fine on your current motherboard even if it only supports the PCI Express 1.1 standard. It is backward compatible with PCI Express 1.1 and will merely revert to the 2.5 Gbps signalling rate and a lower 8 GB/s bandwidth with these motherboards.
Specifications
Manufacturing Process |
• 0.065 Micron (65 Nanometers) |
Transistor Count |
• 754 Million |
DirectX Support |
• 10 |
Interface |
• PCI Express 2.0 |
Stream Processors |
• 128 |
Vertex Shader Version |
• 4.0 |
Pixel Shader Version |
• 4.0 |
Textures Per Clock |
• Average 64 |
ROPs |
• 16 |
Core Clock Speed |
• 650 MHz |
Shader Clock Speed |
• 1625 MHz |
Fill Rate |
• 41600 MTexels/s |
Memory Bus Width |
• 256 -bits |
Memory Size |
• 512 MB |
Memory Type |
• GDDR3 |
Memory Speed |
• 972 MHz (1.94 GHz DDR) |
Memory Bandwidth |
• 62.2 GB/s |
Maximum Board Power |
• ~ 150 W |
RAMDAC |
• 400 MHz |
Display Support |
• Two dual-linked HDCP-enabled DVI-I outputs |
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