PNY 8800GTX 768MB XLR8 Overclocked Edition

Reviews: Hardware

Motherboards | Power Supplies | Memory | Systems | Video Cards

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Max Slowik
Kurtis
PNY
Jun. 22, 2007

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Performance Summary

Given the good stock overclock on this card it just clobbers an 8800GTX running at stock speeds.

However, this particular sample was not without its peculiarities. When it was first turned on, the fan made a slight ticking noise. Pressing on the fan and otherwise messing around with it took care of the mechanical noise, a noise that had concealed a very slight electric whine. The whine only becomes audible when the card is running a 3D application, and seems to come from the power regulation hardware. It is a moderately high pitch whine and isn't noticeable when the video card is installed in a proper case (as opposed to our open-air test bench).

This noise probably has nothing to do with PNY. The board is a reference design, and the MOSFETS, capacitors, and everything else is identical to the Asus 8800GTX we've compared it to. In other words, it's most likely a glitch having to do with this single sample; PNY doesn't make the cards, after all. They make the stickers.

And again, the 8800GTX proves to be the best card for those high-resolution displays, as anything less will strain to produce both high framerates and all those pretty special effects.

Overclocking

Core:

Stock 8800GTX: 575MHz
Stock 8800 Ultra: 612MHz
Overclocked Asus 8800GTX: 620MHz
Stock PNY 8800GTX XLR8 Edition: 621MHz
Overclocked PNY 8800GTX XLR8 Edition: 636MHz

Memory:

Stock 8800GTX: 1800MHz
Overclocked Asus 8800GTX: 2000MHz
Stock PNY 8800GTX XLR8 Edition: 2000MHz
Stock 8800 Ultra: 2160MHz
Overclocked PNY 8800GTX XLR8 Edition: 2220MHz

There wasn't much headroom to speak of on the core clock speeds, and in light of the significant stock overclock that's not too surprising. The memory, on the other hand, turned out to have an impressive ceiling. The only drawback is that the card doesn't have much of a bandwidth issue, and the extra memory boost didn't make a huge difference in final performance gains.

Taking a look from a few steps back, on the other hand, this card is capable of clocks higher than an 8800 Ultra, and that's something to be proud of. (Ed: Sort of.)

Conclusion

Since last year, the only card that has given the 8800GTX a run for its money is the 8800 Ultra. But, come on, under that monster heatsink it's just a GTX, and no-one outside of NVIDIA is going to tell you that the Ultra is really worth the extra money.

And this is the proof: a relatively cheap 8800GTX that's fully capable of the same (and potentially higher) performance, without the massive price tag. Sure, to get there it still needs a little tweaking, but even the stock speed of PNY's XLR8 OC 8800GTX is on par with a reference Ultra. (Higher core, lower memory speeds; it works out pretty evenly.)

Then there's the price. It's tied for cheapest of the 8800GTXs. Sure, it's got nothing resembling a bundle, but priced like it is, the money saved can buy any custom bundle your heart desires: games, T-shirts, booze. . .

Work up the courage to chat up, er, buy this card, she'll show you a few new things.

Pros

Stock overclocked
Black PCB
Not-unsexy stickers
Inexpensive for an 8800GTX

Cons

Still costs a little over $500

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Page 10 of 10

Home >>

Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: The Card & Bundle
Page 3: Test Setup
Page 4: Testing - HL2 Episode 1
Page 5: Testing - F.E.A.R.
Page 6: Testing - Company of Heroes
Page 7: Testing - Prey
Page 8: Testing - Need for Speed Most Wanted
Page 9: Testing - 3DMark 06
Page 10: Performance Summary, Overclocking & Conclusion

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4 User Comments

1 - Posted by aireiq on June 26, 2007 - 7:14 pm

"Ed: Sort of."

What/why? I am not a computer hardware enthusiast, so I guess I would like a little explanation of the remark. Do you mean that higher clock speed capability isn't a good thing?

Which card would the editor choose and why?

Thanks.

2 - Posted by Kurtis on June 26, 2007 - 10:42 pm

Here's the comment in its full context for reference:

"Taking a look from a few steps back, on the other hand, this card is capable of clocks higher than an 8800 Ultra, and that's something to be proud of. (Ed: Sort of.)"

Basically, the 8800 Ultra is a joke of a card, so I was poking fun at it.

3 - Posted by aireiq on June 27, 2007 - 6:25 pm

@Kurtis

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't know that the 8800 Ultra was crap.

Thanks again for explaining.

4 - Posted by Kurtis on June 27, 2007 - 8:48 pm

The problem with the 8800 Ultra is that the price / performance ratio is just a little absurd. There is no competitor to the Ultra right now from AMD/ATI but I don't think AMD/ATI is losing any sleep over that fact. :)

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