Nvidia GeForce 640MB 8800 GTS Columbia MD

The original 640MB 8800 GTS was launched as a cheaper alternative to the now-classic 8800 GTX, and was later joined by a cut-down model that had just 320MB of memory.







Both original 8800 GTS cards had exactly the same G80 GPU, which has 96 stream processors running at 1.2GHz, while the rest of the GPU is clocked at a more sedate 500MHz. Regardless of whether your 8800 GTS had 320MB or 640MB of GDDR3, it would run at 800MHz (1.6GHz effective) and communicate with the GPU via a 320-bit memory controller.







While neither of the original 8800 GTS cards has aged as gracefully as the 8800 GTX, the 640MB 8800 GTS was able to play X3: Terran Conflict smoothly at 1,920 x 1,200 with 4x AA and 8x AF, and Fallout 3 at 1,680 x 1,050 with 2x AA and 4x AF. In contrast, the 320MB 8800 GTS has aged very badly, as the only game it could play smoothly was X3: Terran Conflict, and that was only at the lowest setting - 1,280 x 1,024 with 2x AA and 2x AF.







Just over 13 months following the launch of the original 8800 GTS cards, Nvidia launched the 512MB 8800 GTS. However, this card had almost nothing in common with the original cards, as it was based on the more advanced G92 GPU. Its 128 stream processors were clocked at 1.625GHz, but it only had a 256-bit memory controller, although the RAM ran at a heady 970MHz (1.94GHz effective).







The superior specs of the 512MB 8800 GTS gave it an edge in our tests, in which it was capable of playing X3: Terran Conflict and Fallout 3 at our highest settings, and Far Cry 2 at 1,280 x 1,024 with 2x AA. However, the 512MB 8800 GTS still isn't powerful enough to play Crysis Warhead.







Although all three 8800 GTS cards are competent folders, none was capable of running many DirectX 10 games smoothly. As such, it's definitely time to start thinking about an upgrade.

Author: James Gorbold & Mark Mackay

Custom PC Online