G80 is clearly the most anticipated GPU update for nVidia for quite some time now and unless you have been living under a rock, you would know why. Previous generation cards like the GeForce 7800 and 7900 series have been more of a speed increase then anything else. While we have seen implementation of new graphics technology built into them they are nothing near as major as what the new GeForce 8800 series brings with it today. DirectX 10 is going to be the platform for gaming over the next few years.
There are two sides of arguments to the 8800 series - both of which make a very good point. Those who felt that buying the previous generation top cards wasn’t a waste of money, because while the 8800 line up was coming out with DX10 support (which of course is such a major leap), how long was it going to be until we actually see DX10 technology implemented into games? While the other side felt that the 8800 was not only going to bring increased DX9 performance but also support for DX10.
This very moment we will be looking at what the GeForce 8800GTS has to offer. While this is clearly going to be the most popular card out of the batch, it really is going to be the GTX that sets the trend for what is hot for the rest of 2006 and beginning of 2007. It is clear what’s the fastest performing card will overall help sales of the mid-range line up. While ATI clearly had some capable cards to battle the 6600GT a few years ago with the 6800 series from nVidia being such a dominating force, it was clear that people simply wanted an nVidia card.
As with any launch product we will go into detail of more then just what the box says and what is inside of it - we will be explaining some of the new technology that is implemented into the GeForce 8800 series. We will of course be having a look what MSI have on offer though with the 8800GTS (and tomorrow we’ll take a look at the GTS and GTX from XFX) since it is a full retail version of the card which will be available almost instantly, which is great news.
No doubt you probably haven’t got this far and have already jumped to the benchmarks or at least the pictures of the card so let’s move on and have a look at some of the new technology that the 8800 series implements and find out what it does for our gaming experience.
