PNY XLR8 8800 GT Video Card Review

Features & Specifications

Today we are checking out the latest video card form NVIDIA called the 8800 GT. The particular card we are looking at here is the PNY XLR8 8800 GT. This graphics card has 512MB of RAM, runs the default clock speeds of 600MHz on the core, 1.8GHz on the memory, and has a 1500MHz shader clock. The memory interface is 256-bit and this is the first video card from NVIDIA to be PCI Express 2.0 compliant. The PNY XLR8 8800 GT is HDCP capable and has NVIDIA PureVideo technology along the same feature set as the other 8000 series graphics cards from NVIDIA. One of the best features of the PNY XLR8 8800 GT is the MSRP of $269.99.

Test Machine

Before we get to the benchmarks for the PNY XLR8 8800 GT video card we need to look at the specifications of the test machine I will be using:

• CPU- Intel QX6850
• Mainboard- XFX 680i
• PSU- PC Power and Cooling 1KW
• Display- Dell 30-inch
• OS- Windows XP Pro
• RAM- 2GB DDR2 PC6400

Benchmarks & Testing

To test the PNY XLR8 8800 GT I will be using 3DMark06, FEAR, Bioshock and Quake Wars. The first test up for the PNY XLR8 8800 GT is 3DMark06.

3DMark06

I ran the 3DMark06 application at default settings and used default settings in the NVIDIA control panel. The 3DMark06 benchmark results were:

• Total 3DMarks- 12812
• SM2.0- 5342
• HDR/SM3.0- 5129
• CPU- 4577
• Return to Proxycon- 43.409
• Firefly Forest- 45.622
• Canyon Flight- 49.022
• Deep Freeze- 53.558
• CPU1- 1.531
• CPU2- 2.189

To compare these scores, I recently tested the fastest NVIDIA 8800 GTS 320MB graphics card on the planet in the XFX 8800 GTS 320MB Fatal1ty video card. That card was overclocked as much as possible and scored 12717 3DMarks. The fastest NVIDIA 8800 Ultra I have tested to date was the XFX 8800 Ultra XXX and that card scored 14378 on the same test machine.

FEAR

The next test up was FEAR which I ran at a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 with 16x AF, 4x AA, soft shadows on and all settings on max. The FEAR in game test loop recorded the following frame rate data:

• Min- 30fps
• Avg- 60 fps
• Max- 134 fps

The percentages shows frame rates never dipped below 25 fps, 26% of the time frame rates were 25-40 fps and 76% of the time frame rates were greater than 40 fps.

Bioshock

The next test up was with Bioshock, which I ran at a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 with shadow maps on and all settings on high. I used Fraps to record frame rate data while playing the level that starts at Fontain Fisheries. Fraps recorded the following frame rate data:

• Min- 31 fps
• Avg- 45.382
• Max- 69 fps

Bioshock is one of the best looking video games around and the PNY XLR8 8800 GT ran it at high settings without a glitch.

Quake Wars

The final game test for the PNY XLR8 8800 GT was with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. This new game is very detailed graphically and offers a good test for the PNY XLR8 8800 GT. I used Fraps to capture frame rate data while playing a single player game. I ran Quake Wars at a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 with all settings on high, 8x AA and shaders on ultra. Fraps recorded the following frame rate data:

• Min- 16 fps
• Avg- 52.671 fps
• max- 62 fps

I never really noticed much of a slow down while playing Quake Wars at these settings. The low frame rate of 16 fps lasted about one second. In the end, what we have in the PNY XLR8 8800 GT is one of the best performing graphics cards for the price you can get. The stock clocked PNY XLR8 8800 GT beats the 8800 GTS 320MB graphics card hands down and comes impressively close to the 8800 Ultra XXX. I can’t wait to see how well overclocked versions of the 8800 GT perform.