Best Video Cards

Best video cards overall

Nvidia's GeForce 8800 series models are the fastest gaming video cards. The top-of-the-line Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra (*Est. $700) receives mixed reviews. Reviewers grudgingly admit its performance superiority, but they question whether it's worth the premium cost. Nvidia-centric website NV News reviews the XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra XXX and gives it a Grand Slam award. Reviewer Mike Chambers says, "Potential owners of the XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra XXX Edition can be confident that their system will tackle any game on the market today at the resolution of 2560 x 1600." He adds, "However, the same statement also applies to the GeForce 8800 GTX and to a lesser degree the GeForce 8800 GTS, both of which are cheaper than the XFX GeForce 8800 Ultra XXX Edition."

XSReviews.com reviews a stock version of the PNY-branded 8800 Ultra (*est. $730 for an overclocked version) and the Gainward 8800 Ultra (not sold in the U.S.). The Gainward video card is quieter and earns a higher rating, but reviewer Jon Martindale clearly doesn't see the value in either. He complains, "it really isn't that much more powerful than a GTX and costs quite a bit more." He concedes, "For raw speed the Ultra can't be beat," but thinks an overclocked GeForce 8800 GTX is a much better value. X-bit aLbs' engineers say that the GeForce 8800 Ultra deserves the title of today's fastest gaming graphics accelerator, but they add that the advantage of a GeForce 8800 Ultra over a GeForce 8800 GTX video card averages just 8 to 15 percent.

HardwareLogic.com, X-bit Labs, Bit-tech.net, XSReviews.co.uk, BeHardware.com and many others all recognize the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX (*Est. $550) as the best video card overall. X-bit Labs testers directly compare four branded versions of the same base GeForce 8800 GTX cards. The XFX GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB DDR3 XXX Edition (*Est. $560) is about 8 to 10 percent faster than the others are because it's factory overclocked.

BeHardware's Damien Triolet struggles to find flaws, but mentions that the XFX video card consumes a lot of power and may be difficult to fit into a case. He rationalizes the cost of use by comparing the GeForce 8800 GTX video card with a sports car that gets poor gas mileage.

Before we cover which individual brands of GeForce 8800 GTX video cards reviewers think are the best, we need to discuss what reviewers have learned about individual brands in general. In a Tom's Hardware article, Don Woligroski speaks for many other video card testers by advising, "Don't worry too much about which brand you choose, because all of the cards out there stick close to Nvidia and ATI's reference designs. Just pay attention to price, warranty, and the manufacturer's reputation for honoring the warranty if something goes wrong." Unless a card is overclocked, testers usually measure the same performance for every GeForce 8800 GTX or any other given Nvidia or ATI design.

Computer electronics are generally reliable, but video cards can run hot, which can be risky, so warranties matter. Paul Lilly of HardwareLogic.com says only three Nvidia partners offer any form of lifetime warranty. "EVGA's is perhaps the most flexible," he informs. "You're allowed to overclock your card and/or switch out the stock heat sink/fan for a third party solution without negating their guarantee, provided you don't cause any physical damage while doing so." Tim Smalley of Bit-tech.net says, "One area where BFGTech excels above most other Nvidia board partners is with its warranty service and after sales support." He commends BFGTech's 24/7 toll-free telephone and e-mail support and their lifetime warranty. XFX is the other company that provides a lifetime limited warranty. XFX's warranty is uniquely transferable to a second owner.

So, FiringSquad.com's Brandon "Sandman" Bell summarizes, "While many of today's GeForce 8800 GTX cards are based on Nvidia's reference design and therefore identical from a board-level perspective, picking the right GeForce 8800 GTX card for you is going to come down to several factors." He itemizes those as your budget, interest in the warranty, interest in factory overclocking and games that are bundled with video card.

Three versions of the XFX GeForce 8800 GTX (*Est. $560) receive the most specific recommendations. The hard-to-find overclocked XXX version is the fastest. Scott Sherman of Bjorn3d.com enthusiastically raves, "[It] would be a huge understatement [to say] it's the finest graphics card I've used. It gives you one of the most vibrant and enriching gaming experiences that I've ever seen." He's bowled over by image quality as well as pure speed, but cautions that the 10.5-inch-long card may not easily fit in all cases. He also warns that the 450-watt power supply requirement is too minimal. Clock speeds range from 575 MHz to 630 MHz. All versions have 768 MB of DDR3 RAM.

TechPowerUp.com and others give ardent support to the EVGA-branded GeForce 8800 GTX (*Est. $550) . However, no reviewer particularly makes a case for EVGA over another brand.

The Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS (*Est. $325) is considerably cheaper than the GTX, but as discussed above, reviewers generally think it's a poor value. However, the EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS (*Est. $325) stands out for a handful of reviewers. Kyle Kerley of NV News explains, "I won't lie: when I first saw the (seemingly) 'crippled' specs of the 8800 GTS, I scoffed at the thought of using one or two of those cards when the GTX has so much more power. But after using these for the past few weeks, I can say without a doubt that these cards are amazing."

[H] Enthusiast gives the EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS an Editor's Choice gold award. Mark Warner raves about its relative value, overclocking performance and real-world use in gaming. He says the EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS is "one of the highest clocked GeForce 8800 GTS video cards on the market and it has a great warranty and support plan in place as well as a step-up program that EVGA customers have been enjoying for a long while now."

FiringSquad's Brandon "Sandman" Bell achieved extraordinary performance with the EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS. "In our performance testing, the GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB often outperformed ATI's Radeon X1950 XTX, in some cases by double-digit margins," he reports. It usually beat GeForce 8800 GTS cards with 640 MB of RAM in his tests, too. X-Bit Labs measured little meaningful difference among six tested GeForce 8800 GTS cards, but the EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS was the top performer in the group.

The EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS is sold in several configurations. Reviewers prefer the "superclocked" version, which runs at 588 MHz, considerably faster than the stock 500 MHz. The card comes with 320 or 640 MB of RAM. The stock version was voted the winning video card in the October 2007 Newegg.com Customer Choice Awards.

Reviewers generally agree that you don't have to spend $300 or more to get a very good video card. Jason Cross of ExtremeTech.com believes, "The sweet spot is $200-250, where cards aren't over 10 inches long and don't devour so many watts that you need a new case and power supply just to operate them." The Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT (*Est. $270) is a tad more expensive than that, but most reviewers think it is the best value in a high-end gaming card.

[H] Enthusiast, bit-tech.net, Tom's Hardware, ExtremeTech.com, AnandTech, TrustedReviews.com and others all honor the Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT as the high-end gaming card for the masses. [H] Enthusiast says that the 8800 GT video card is easily the best blend of performance and value. Edward Chester of TrustedReviews.com amplifies, "While the Nvidia 8800 GT doesn't beat the established 8800 GTX, it provides close to the performance for a fraction of the price and also packs in more features to sweeten the deal."

Other reviewers agree, and in some tests, the GeForce 8800 GT outperformed some more expensive video cards, both Nvidia and ATI based. In short, we found a complete consensus about the GeForce 8800 GT video card. The Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT has a 600 MHz core clock and 512 MB of video RAM. Except for the Zotac GeForce 8800 GT, which currently has no U.S. dealers, we found no brand preference among reviewers for any particular GeForce 8800 GT card. Reviewers were delighted with all the individual brand cards they reviewed. These cards are apparently more popular than manufacturers expected. At press time, we found that dealers were out of stock on many major-brand cards. We found favorable reviews for the XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog Edition (*Est. $300) , XFX 8800 GT XXX (*Est. $300) , PNY XLR8 GeForce 8800 GT (*Est. $280) , BFG 8800 GT OC (*Est. $300) and MSI GeForce NX8800GT .