MSI NX8800GTS-T2D640E Review @ Hardwarezone
Hardwarezone reviews the MSI NX8800GTS-T2D640E graphics card featuring the brand new Geforce 8800 GTS with 640MB DDR3 memory. This card supports Shader Model 4 and DirectX 10 which is introduced in Windows Vista. Hardwarezone gives a final score of 4.5 out of 5 and writes in the conclusion:
Based on its US$449 launch price, the GeForce 8800 GTS is obviously the card that more enthusiasts would be able to afford, though spending that amount on a graphics card still seems a bit extreme to the bargain hunters in us, especially with widespread deflation for older cards. If you already have a high-end graphics card now, you should definitely wait before plunging into the DirectX 10 era, because the performance gain may not be as impressive as you hope. ATI’s Radeon X1950 XTX was quite competitive with the GeForce 8800 GTS in a couple of benchmarks, while NVIDIA’s own GeForce 7950 GX2 not only matched the GTS but even beat it more than we expected. It is probably why NVIDIA has not revised the price for the GeForce 7950 GX2 as the ‘SLI in a sandwich’ is set for retirement, paving the path for the newcomer to take its place. So despite the fact that the GeForce 7950 GX2 and the Radeon X1950 XTX offer competitive enough performance, their older GPU technology and DirectX support standards for the same price point immediately reduces their appeal since the GeForce 8800 GTS is the more future-proof of the trio.
As one can expect from hard launches, MSI’s offering is similar to many other vendors. Although its clock speeds do seem to differ from NVIDIA’s official specifications, they are found also in other retail brands as well. So MSI’s GeForce 8800 GTS is hardly unique in that sense. Therefore, with the price and hardware almost exactly uniform in the retail market, the bundle could well play a starring role. MSI’s version is decent but not exactly any more attractive than its competition. However the one thing that differentiates it from the competition is its in-house utilities. The more noteworthy ones are the new Dual CoreCell control and management center, and StarOSD, which is the first ever in-game on-the-fly overclocking tool with display quality controls as well. While not necessarily must-have tools, for those who embrace them, these can be very handy enhancements that very few other vendors can match. So for those who fancy these convenience features as well as top graphics performance, MSI’s GeForce 8 series is probably the right choice for you.
Read the full review of the MSI NX8800GTS - T2D640E here.