Introduction

The 8 series of nVIDIA cards have been around for over a year and have almost completely dominated the market in terms of high end support. Now with the 9 series just around the corner, partners are finishing up with their last set of performance cards before focusing on the next generation. One of these last cards is the 8800GT; near performance of a GTX with a sub GTS price tag.

MSI might be a bit late in the game to release an 8800GT model, but they've done it none the less and it's here with me today. Let's see if it lives up to the 8800GT's sterling reputation.

Features

• NVIDIA unified architecture
  Fully unified shader core dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operation, delivering up to 2x the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs.
  
  
• Full Microsoft DirectX 10 Support
  World's first DirectX10 GPU with full Shader model 4.0 support delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects.
  
  
• NVIDIA SLI Technology
  Delivers up to 2x the performance of a single graphics card configuration for unequaled gaming experiences by allowing two cards to run in parallel. The must-have feature for performance PCI Express graphics, SLI technology dramatically scales performance on today's hottest games.
  
  
• PCI Express Support
  Designed to run perfectly with the PCI Express bus architecture, which doubles the bandwidth of AGP 8X to deliver over 4GB/sec in both upstream and downstream data transfers.
  
  
• NVIDIA nView Multi-Display Technology
  Advanced technology provides the ultimate in viewing flexibility and control for multiple monitors.
  
  
• Dual-Link DVI Support
  Able to drive the industry's largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays up to 2560*1600.
  
  
• Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing
  Sharpens HD and standard definition interlaced content on progressive displays, delivering a crisp, clear picture that rivals high-end home-theater systems.
  
  
• Inverse Telecine (3:2 & 2:2 Pulldown Correction)
  Recovers original film images from films-converted-to-video (DVDs, 1080i HD content), providing more accurate movie playback and superior picture quality.
  
  
• Noise Reduction
  Improves movie image quality by removing unwanted artifacts.
  
  
• Edge Enhancement
  Sharpens movie images by providing higher contrast around lines and objects.
  
  
• Bad Edit Correction
  When videos are edited after they have been converted from 24 to 25 or 30 frames, the edits can disrupt the normal 3:2 or 2:2 pulldown cadence. PureVideo uses advanced processing techniques to detect poor edits, recover the original content, and display perfect picture detail frame after frame for smooth, natural looking video.
  
  
• 16x Anti-aliasing Technology
  Lightning fast, high-quality anti-aliasing at up to 16x sample rates obliterates jagged edges.
  
  
• 128-bit floating point High Dynamic-Range (HDR) Lighting
  Twice the precision of prior generations for incredibly realistic lighting effects -- now with support for anti-aliasing.
  
  
• NVIDIA Quantum Effects Technology
  Advanced shader processors architected for physics computation enable a new level of physics effects to be simulated and rendered on the GPU -- all while freeing the CPU to run the game engine and AI.
  NVIDIA ForceWare unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
  Delivers a proven record of compatibility, reliability, and stability with the widest range of games and applications. ForceWare provides the best out-of-box experience and delivers continuous performance and feature updates over the life of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs.
  
  
• OpenGL 2.0 Optimizations and Support
  Ensures top-notch compatibility and performance for OpenGl applications.
  
  
• Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
  Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rate-up to 2048x1536@85Hz.
  
  
• Build for Microsoft Windows Vista
  NVIDIA's fourth-generation GPU architecture built for Windows Vista gives users the best possible experience with the Windows Aero 3D graphical user interface.
  
  
• NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology
  The combination of high-definition video decode acceleration and post-processing that delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for movies and video.
  
  
• Discrete, Programmable Video Processor
  NVIDIA PureVideo is a discrete programmable processing core in NVIDIA GPUs that provides superb picture quality and ultra-smooth movies with low CPU utilization and power.
  
  
• Hardware Decode Acceleration
  Provides ultra-smooth playback of H.264, VC-1, WMV and MPEG-2 HD and SD movies.
  
  
• HDCP Capable
  Designed to meet the output protection management (HDCP) and security specifications of the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats, allowing the playback of encrypted movie content on PCs when connected purchase purcconnected to HDCP-compliant displays.
  
  
• High-Quality Scaling
  Enlarges lower resolution movies and videos th HDTV resolutions, up to 1080i, while maintaining a clear, clean image. Also provides downscaling of videos, including high-definition, while preserving image detail.
  
  
• PCI Express 2.0 Support
  Designed to run perfectly with the new PCI Express 2.0 bus architecture, offering a future proofing
  bridge to tomorrow's most bandwidth-hungry games and 3D applications by maximizing the 5GT/s PCI Express 2.0 bandwidth (twice that of first generation PCI Express). PCI Express 2.0 products are fully backwards compatible with existing PCI Express motherboards for broadest support.
  

Specifications

The G92 Chip

The 8800GT was code named G92 and is the first NVIDIA card to transition to a 65nm manufacturer process; GTX and Ultra cards of the same series are 90nm and 86XX cards are 80nm. It still features the same unified shader architecture as previous 8 series cards, but due to the size reduction, the power needs of the card are reduced, and by proxy its heat output. This means that a single slot cooler will suffice; and perhaps even a quiet one during loaded operation. This card was the first of nVidia's to make the jump to PCI-e 2.0 and one of the first to have the PureVideo 2.0 chip which adds a Bitstream processor and enhanced video processing to completely offload AACS-decryption and H.264 decoding.

More recently, the 8800GTS 512mb was released which also features the G92 chip. This card still has a dual slot cooler however.