The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Graphics Card

The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT is a single-slot card that is slightly shorter than the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. But it looks like a very sleek card, thanks to the black plastic shroud which make it look slim. The shroud extends from the bracket to the far end of the card, ending with what appears to be tiny vents.

Note the 6-pin PCI Express power socket next to it. With a maximum board power requirement of 105 W, this card requires more power than the PCI Express slot can provide. Hence, the need for a 6-pin PCI Express power connector.

The shroud does not fully cover the top of the card. At the top of the card, there is a very large vent next to the single SLI connector. As this is a single-slot card, the hot exhaust from the cooler cannot be vented out of the case through vents in the bracket. So, NVIDIA chose to have them vented away from the motherboard (when the card is installed in a tower case).

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 GT is the first graphics card 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 GT will have effectively double the PCI Express bandwidth of standard PCI Express cards.

Of course, that does not mean the GeForce 8800 GT 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 GT's new PCI Express 2.0 interface, you can rest assured. The GeForce 8800 GT will still run fine on your current motherboard even if it only supports the PCI Express 1.1 standard.

Look at its PCI Express connector. It is the same x16 connector as that of the Sparkle GeForce 8600 GTS. The GeForce 8800 GT will fit all current PCI Express motherboard. 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.