ASUS EN8800GTX Graphics Card

Even with the advent of the GeForce 8800 Ultra, the ASUS EN8800GTX is still a top-dog. As our test results in this review and the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra review have shown, it is just 7-13% slower than the GeForce 8800 Ultra, and yet costs 28% less. This gives the ASUS EN8800GTX far better price-performance value than the GeForce 8800 Ultra.

Frankly, the card is so fast, you can run all DirectX 9 games in the market at 1920x1200 (the highest resolution we tested) at 8x AA and 16x AF without worrying about frame rates. Just set everything to the highest resolution and rendering quality and enjoy the game! Anything less than that would be sacrilege.

Do note that we have been testing it in Windows Vista. As you know, none of the graphics drivers for Windows Vista (for either NVIDIA or ATI) are really up to par just yet. So, you can count on better performance as newer drivers for Windows Vista are released in the future.

We are really counting on that to really improve the card's DirectX 10 performance, as we saw a 35-44% drop in frame rate just switching from a DirectX 9 renderer to a DirectX 10 renderer in Company Of Heroes. As things stand, even a powerful (and expensive card) like the ASUS EN8800GTX can only provide okay frame rates in the 30-40 fps region.

With the G80 GPU undergoing a silicon refresh for faster clock speeds and improved timings, it is possible that current ASUS EN8800GTX cards will also be using the same, improved GPUs. That would mean that these cards would have really interesting overclocking potential.

Although the ASUS EN8800GTX is a really powerful card and one would be a fool to deny its appeal, it is still one of the most expensive desktop graphics cards you can buy. Only the advent of the incredibly expensive GeForce 8800 Ultra relegated it to second place.

If you are looking to buy a top-of-the line card, you should certainly consider the ASUS EN8800GTX. While it is no longer the king of the hill, it's a very close second-in-command and far cheaper. It would certainly offer you much better value for your money at this moment, compared to the GeForce 8800 Ultra. In addition, ASUS packs a really nice bundle, consisting of two games and 3DMark 06, together with a faux leather CD case.

As such, we have no qualms in giving it our Editor's Choice Award. We would love to have ASUS drop the price on the EN8800GTX, but still, it was a very nice GeForce 8800 GTX bundle. Great job on the EN8800GTX, ASUS!

For more details, read our Comprehensive Review!

MSRP

• $599

Lowest PriceGrabber Price

Review

• Comprehensive Review

Architecture

• G80

Process Technology

• 90 nm

Number of Transistors

• 681 Million

Die Size

• Est. 484 mm²

Stream Processors

• 128

ROPs

• 24 ROPs

Core Clock

• 575 MHz

Shader Clock

• 1350 MHz

Fillrate

• 36.8 Gigapixels / sec.

Memory Interface

• 384-bits memory interface

Memory Buffer

• 768 MB GDDR3

Memory Clock

• 900 MHz
• 1.8 GHz DDR

Memory Bandwidth

• 86.4 GB/s

Power Consumption

• 145.5 W

Graphics Bus

• PCI Express

Shader Model Version

• SM 4.0

NVIDIA IntelliSample Technology

• 4.0

NVIDIA SLI Technology

• Yes (Two SLI connectors)

NVIDIA Quad SLI Technology

• NA

NVIDIA TurboCache Technology

• No

64-bit Texture Filtering and Blending

• Yes

DVI Support

• Two dual-linked DVI, both integrated into the GPU

Software Bundle

• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
• GTI Racing
• 3DMark06

Package Contents

• One ASUS EN8800GTX Graphics Card
• One DVI-to-VGA Adapter
• One S-Video-to-RGB Cable
• One Molex-to-PCIE Cable
• One Faux Leather CD Wallet
• One ASUS Speed SetUP Manual
• One ASUS Manual CD
• One ASUS Driver CD
• One 3DMark06 Full Edition CD
• One Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter CD
• One GTI Racing CD

Warranty

• 3 Years Manufacturer's Warranty