Foxconn 8800GTS 320MB Overclocking Edition

Reviews: Hardware

Motherboards | Power Supplies | Memory | Systems | Video Cards

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Max Slowik
Kurtis
Foxconn
Mar. 27, 2007

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Overclocking

Using Riva Tuner I did some simple overclocking. Stability was tested by running rthdribl.exe right along side ATITool's artifact scanner until it detected errors. The final results had to stand up to an hour of that on top of Orthos (Prime95 x2) keeping the whole computer nice and toasty. Remember, overclocking results are unique to each individual card, and your mileage may vary a bit.

The "Overclocking Edition" moniker sounds a little Engrish, but is it ever apt. There's a huge amount of headroom with this, a factory-overclocked card. Without getting close to a thermal barrier this card exceeded the overclock by an additional 90MHz on the core and 115MHz on the DDR2, running at an incredible 665MHz core and 1015MHz on the memory. That's 33% on the core and 26% on the RAM over stock, and gameplay reflected the bonus like a mirror.

Conclusion

Foxconn's Overclocking Edition 8800GTS 320MB is available in the same price range as other 8800GTS 320MB cards, so unless the looks of the thing and the bundle are an affront to your sensibilities this shouldn't be a hard decision to make.

Combining best-in-class performance with incredible overclocking headroom, there's really no other $300 card that competes. So if you have the money right now, and need a video card right now, get this one already. DX10 is just frosting on the cake.

That isn't to say this is the video card for everyone. It is one of only three DX10 cards on the market. The real bulk of DX10-compatible hardware is just around the corner, and there's the promise that when ATI begins to retail their parts that NVIDIA is going to cut their prices for competition's sake. If you're looking for the future-proofing, getting an 8800GTS 320MB may be jumping the gun.

Add to this the peculiarities of the card with the odd color correction and frustrating driver support--problems that will take time to resolve--and you're left with a card that really smacks of being a rush job.

This card does seem like a quick-and-dirty attempt at a mainstream product rather than a clean addition to the series. Not that quick-and-dirty means bad, not by a long shot. Again, this card is a powerhouse.

If you have any reservations about dropping the cash, however, it may pay off to wait and see what the next month or so will do for the video card market. But as it stands today, you simply will not find a better video card for the money.

Pros

Currently unmatched Price:Perfomance
DirectX10 support
Cheaper than all the other DirectX10 cards
Banshee'esque overclocking

Cons

Some kinks still need to be worked out with the drivers
A lot of DirectX10 cards are just around the corner
Not quite enough for really high resolutions

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Page 12 of 12

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: The Card and Bundle
Page 3: Test Setup
Page 4: Testing - HL2 Episode 1
Page 5: Testing - F.E.A.R.
Page 6: Testing - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Page 7: Testing - Company of Heroes
Page 8: Testing - Prey
Page 9: Testing - NFSMW
Page 10: Testing - 3DMark '06
Page 11: Performance Summary
Page 12: Overclocking and Conclusion

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