Nvidia 8800GT 512MB Review

Move over HD 3850 the Nvidia 8800GT is in town. With current prices of the 8800GT 512MB around £108 you might find it difficult choosing the HD 3850 over the 8800GT even at its lower price.

The 8800GT is clearly the gaming king at the moment for the gamer on a budget. It is roughly 5-10% slower then the £160 8800GTS 512MB making it the best price/performance card on the market today.

With the Nvidia Flagship: the 8800GTX approximately 15% faster in games at then the 8800GT at double the price, it is almost unfathomable for even high end gamers to purchase a 8800GTX at that price take.

It would seem that Nvidia have finally made up for the unimpressive performance of the 8600GT and provided the price conscious gamer with an extremely powerfully card for their money. Any computer gamer currently in the market for a new graphics card wont find a better card.

ATI HD 3850 Review

The ATI HD 3850 provides a lucrative buy for the dedicated gamer on a medium budget. Essentially the HD 3850 is an updated 2900XT, providing last generations top of the range performance but for as low as £110.

The cards overall gaming performance is impressive, putting it about 20% slower then the 8800GT 512MB that is priced approximately 30% higher. The HD 3850 then gives you better value for your money making it the best value card on the market today.

Anyone who is looking to spend around £100 on a new card should without a doubt go for the HD 3850 as you will not find a better card for that budget. For those of you that need to squeeze that extra performance out of your games then spend a little more and go for the Nvidia 8800GT 512MB or even the 8800GTS 512MB.


ATI X1950 PRO The Budget Gaming King?

With prices as low as £73 inc VAT the X1950 Pro 256MB provides impressive gaming performance at an unbelievable price. Greatly outperforming the latest 8600GT(£80) and even the 8600GTS(£120).

With 36 pixel pipelines the X1950 is capable of maintaining high frame rates at high resolutions. For those that are running AGP 8x systems and are looking for an upgrade to PCI-E you wont find a better value card.


Nvidia 8600GT: lacking performance?

It has been some time since the launch of the DX10 cards leaving us with the 8600GT as a medium budget card from the Nvidia camp. With prices starting at £70 the 8600GT follows in the footsteps of its predecessors the 7600GT and the 6600GT Yet comparatively performance seems to be lacking in comparison to the launch of the 6600GT. The new 8600GTS can be blamed, creating yet another category of cards separating the flagship chipset (8800) and the mid range 8600GT. Perhaps Nvidia are moving away from the GS rating that can be seen on the 6600GS and 7600GS cards.

The 8600GT takes advantage of streem processors symbolising a significant step forward in graphics technology, yet their efficiency is left lacking, especially in the 8600GT where the X1950 Pro with 36 pixel pipelines is clearly faster in virtually every scenario.

One of the benefits of the 8600GT is the support of Direct X 10. It must be noted that very little difference can be noticed between direct X 10 and DX9 at this point in time. It is likely that DX10 will not show its true colours for another 6 months or so once game developers become accustomed to the new DX.

Perhaps the best feature of the 8600GT is its overclocking ability. Reports show that an overclock of 30%-40% are achievable without too much effort. For those looking to upgrade within the next month might want to consider the ATI X1950 Pro 256MB, otherwise the 8600GT is still a decent upgrade.