Anandtech 8800 Ultra review.

[Pugnate]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2979&p=10

Often, when reviewing hardware, it is difficult to draw a hard line and state with total confidence that our conclusions are the only logical ones that can be drawn from the facts. We try very hard to eliminate personal opinion from our reviews and provide readers with enough information to form their own well educated opinions. We try to point out the downsides of the best products out there, as well as the niche uses for which otherwise disappointing hardware might shine. So often our job is about balance and temperance.

But not this time: The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra is an utter waste of money.

edit:

I wonder if the tone of the review's conclusion had anything to do with this thread? http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2038370

Anandtech certainly grew some brass testicles with that review.

 

[Ackmed]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...adid=2041050&STARTPAGE=2&enterthread=y

 

[Pugnate]

You may have won this round Ackmed... *waves fist*

 

[GTaudiophile]

OMG! What a first! Anand actually slamming an NVDA product??? That is unheard of. Should we expect "Q2 Revenue" for Anandtech.com to drop?

 

[destrekor]

this is the reason it will only be found in boutique shop computers, such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, and Voodoo PC.
don't expect retail availability, and except for those who have money itching to be spent, it won't be a big seller. It will, however, appear to be since such limited numbers will actually be produced a day.

 

[jdoggg12]

Originally posted by: destrekor
this is the reason it will only be found in boutique shop computers, such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, and Voodoo PC.
don't expect retail availability, and except for those who have money itching to be spent, it won't be a big seller. It will, however, appear to be since such limited numbers will actually be produced a day.

only a douche would buy this card, fortunately - douches are drawn to those stores to buy their high end pcs

 

[Woofmeister]

Originally posted by: Pugnate
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2979&p=10

Often, when reviewing hardware, it is difficult to draw a hard line and state with total confidence that our conclusions are the only logical ones that can be drawn from the facts. We try very hard to eliminate personal opinion from our reviews and provide readers with enough information to form their own well educated opinions. We try to point out the downsides of the best products out there, as well as the niche uses for which otherwise disappointing hardware might shine. So often our job is about balance and temperance.

But not this time: The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra is an utter waste of money.

Bravo AT!

 

[Pugnate]

Originally posted by: jdoggg12

Originally posted by: destrekor
this is the reason it will only be found in boutique shop computers, such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, and Voodoo PC.
don't expect retail availability, and except for those who have money itching to be spent, it won't be a big seller. It will, however, appear to be since such limited numbers will actually be produced a day.

only a douche would buy this card, fortunately - douches are drawn to those stores to buy their high end pcs

Imagine if AT had said that?

THIS CARD IS FOR DOUCHES!

 

[Fallengod]

Unfortunately, this is something ive known for years. With almost every model for video cards that are released, the Ultra version and even maybe the gtx models are more often than not, only slightly faster but gouge a much higher price tag. This is exactly why you should never buy a brand new series card in the GTX or Ultra models. The GT cards are usually the best price/performance ratio by a big margin.

I could have told you this is what the outcome would be without even seeing the review.

Its nice to see a review that has no problem stating the truth.

 

[Laminator]

Go eVGA! I think that ACS3 is a knockout product.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: destrekor
this is the reason it will only be found in boutique shop computers, such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, and Voodoo PC.
don't expect retail availability, and except for those who have money itching to be spent, it won't be a big seller. It will, however, appear to be since such limited numbers will actually be produced a day.

Current GTX owners have nothing to fear. Slight o/c and they are just about at Ultra speeds. So there is no real need for mass availability of the Ultra. Let Alienware, Falcon, Northwest and VoodooPC and their customers have it. Those with the extra cash, and not so much extra knowledge will enjoy them.

 

[Pugnate]

Originally posted by: Fallengod
Unfortunately, this is something ive known for years. With almost every model for video cards that are released, the Ultra version and even maybe the gtx models are more often than not, only slightly faster but gouge a much higher price tag. This is exactly why you should never buy a brand new series card in the GTX or Ultra models. The GT cards are usually the best price/performance ratio by a big margin.

I could have told you this is what the outcome would be without even seeing the review.

Its nice to see a review that has no problem stating the truth.

I disagree with the GTX comment though. The GTX version provides significant performance gains over the GTS.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: destrekor
this is the reason it will only be found in boutique shop computers, such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, and Voodoo PC.
don't expect retail availability, and except for those who have money itching to be spent, it won't be a big seller. It will, however, appear to be since such limited numbers will actually be produced a day.

Current GTX owners have nothing to fear. Slight o/c and they are just about at Ultra speeds. So there is no real need for mass availability of the Ultra. Let Alienware, Falcon, Northwest and VoodooPC and their customers have it. Those with the extra cash, and not so much extra knowledge will enjoy them.

Well, the ultra could hit over 700mhz on core, so i guess if you have money and must having the fastest GPU available, the ultra is for you. Unfortunately thats what, 0.1% of the entire poplutation?

 

[Munky]

AT was only able to get their ultra stable at 684mhz, so even the 700mhz OC clocks are not typical.

 

[yh125d]

ANYONE that buys the ultra should be immediately and unstoppingly slapped in the face/punched in the sack.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: yh125d
ANYONE that buys the ultra should be immediately and unstoppingly slapped in the face/punched in the sack.

Why is that? because they have a bigger e-peen than you?

Anyway, guru3d seems to say that the MSRP of this card will drop to $699 in a month. (After talking with nVIDIA)

But still its priced way too high. This card must have the worst value ever in history of video cards.

 

[defiantsf]

Nvidia missed a golden opportunity with this refresh. Had they introduced it at $650 with a 650MHz core clock, they would have gained more marketshare/profit, respect, and slam dunked AMD/ATI again. There are real morons out there. Some apparently work at Nvidia.

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster

Originally posted by: yh125d
ANYONE that buys the ultra should be immediately and unstoppingly slapped in the face/punched in the sack.

Why is that? because they have a bigger e-peen than you?

Anyway, guru3d seems to say that the MSRP of this card will drop to $699 in a month. (After talking with nVIDIA)

But still its priced way too high. This card must have the worst value ever in history of video cards.

Now the idea of AMD launching a "HD2900XT2" sounds much better, doesnt it?

Picture a CF HD2900 board for 699$, it will obviously own anything Nvidia has in the high end, while costing less... While I wasnt a fan of the 7950GX2 concept, fact is it worked (except for Quad-sli which is still a mess), but if AMD can get Quad CF to work, it will put on a nice show

 

[jaykishankrk]

I dont see any Nvidiotics anymore on this thread, where have they gone... i probably might take a guess here, Rollo (considering his previous history and the Bring back rollo thread) would have argued otherwise on this product capabilities right??

 

[Matt2]

Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster

Originally posted by: yh125d
ANYONE that buys the ultra should be immediately and unstoppingly slapped in the face/punched in the sack.

Why is that? because they have a bigger e-peen than you?

Anyway, guru3d seems to say that the MSRP of this card will drop to $699 in a month. (After talking with nVIDIA)

But still its priced way too high. This card must have the worst value ever in history of video cards.

Now the idea of AMD launching a "HD2900XT2" sounds much better, doesnt it?

Picture a CF HD2900 board for 699$, it will obviously own anything Nvidia has in the high end, while costing less... While I wasnt a fan of the 7950GX2 concept, fact is it worked (except for Quad-sli which is still a mess), but if AMD can get Quad CF to work, it will put on a nice show

What's to stop nvidia from doing the same?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Um, just to point out that R600 is no G71.. not mention that G80 is no G71 either.

If you want a mini nuclear power plant next to your case, that by all means it could be feasible, but when it comes to overall cost production and the complexity (yes its far more complex than the idea of slapping "two boards" together) behind it makes GX2 type cards for this gen REALLY impractical. You think a single slot HSF combo would cool the GPUs well enough? Id say the thing will burn half the mobo off.

It maybe possible next gen (R700/G90), but the GX2 style was possible back then due to the impressive engineering of the G71 (reduced die size, lower transistor cost, low power draw, etc), something that may not happen for a long time to come.

 

[imported_flounder]

Now the idea of AMD launching a "HD2900XT2" sounds much better, doesnt it?

Picture a CF HD2900 board for 699$, it will obviously own anything Nvidia has in the high end, while costing less

Who's to say that this will be significantly more competitive than what ATI has been previewing

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Originally posted by: flounder

Now the idea of AMD launching a "HD2900XT2" sounds much better, doesnt it?

Picture a CF HD2900 board for 699$, it will obviously own anything Nvidia has in the high end, while costing less

Who's to say that this will be significantly more competitive than what ATI has been previewing

2 > 1

What's to stop nvidia from doing the same?

Good question, but the slides show that Nvidia indeed doesnt have one planned... Probably because of the issues Cookie Monster mentioned... Im not saying AMD will do it either, Im just saying it sounds like a good idea IF POSSIBLE... I dont know how complex R600 even is

 

[aka1nas]

I seriously don't understand the point of the Ultra. It's one thing to have a ridiculously expensive speed-bumped model thats marginally faster than the previous highest model, but they already have Pre-Oc'ed GTXs in the channel that are clocked higher than this and cost several hundred dollars less. Is Nvidia going to reign in their board partners again and force them to stick with reference clocks? They tend to do so when there is lull in competition from ATI.

 

[Cooler]

Originally posted by: Matt2

Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster

Originally posted by: yh125d
ANYONE that buys the ultra should be immediately and unstoppingly slapped in the face/punched in the sack.

Why is that? because they have a bigger e-peen than you?

Anyway, guru3d seems to say that the MSRP of this card will drop to $699 in a month. (After talking with nVIDIA)

But still its priced way too high. This card must have the worst value ever in history of video cards.

Now the idea of AMD launching a "HD2900XT2" sounds much better, doesnt it?

Picture a CF HD2900 board for 699$, it will obviously own anything Nvidia has in the high end, while costing less... While I wasnt a fan of the 7950GX2 concept, fact is it worked (except for Quad-sli which is still a mess), but if AMD can get Quad CF to work, it will put on a nice show

What's to stop nvidia from doing the same?

ATI may have much better Vista drivers for crossfire then Nvidia has for SLI. That would
really hurt the chances of 8800GX2.