There’s no doubt that overclocking tends to help a graphics card, and with the amount of pressure today’s games place on the PCI Express based card small overclocks do tend to show us some significant gains.
We did a bit of overclocking on the ASUS 8800GT and it seemed to hit the same wall as the MSI one which was 660MHz on the core and 1900MHz DDR on the memory. It will be interesting to see how the TOP card from ASUS goes in the near future, this coming with clockspeeds of 700MHz/2000MHz DDR.
Maybe the 8800GT got off to a bit of an unfair start; we did compare an overclocked card to stock HD 2900 offerings initially. However, it’s safe to say that with the numbers being pulled here today from the stock clocked ASUS card, our initial judgment of the card being a great performer is well justified.
It doesn’t come without its flaws though, we would have liked to see ASUS venture to a different cooler because in a word the current one is just CRAP and runs way too hot. Availability also isn’t the best for the 8800GT. With that said though, ASUS tend to be more expensive and if you’re willing to stretch the dollar you can generally find one by poking around the online stores a bit.
The card continues to tick all the right boxes, but how long it will last is anyone’s guess at the moment. With new cards coming like the G92 based 8800GTS and others set for a January/February release, it’s pretty unsettling at the moment.
With all of that said though, if you have some time off over Christmas and want to get into some gaming, the 8800GT is going to be a great bang for buck card and with the disappointment that was the Catalyst 7.11 drivers the 8800GT will probably continue to stay on top of the to buy list.
Signing up for a hosted IP PBX provider is just like signing up for cable TV; the provider is trying to lock you in to a long-term contract at terms that give them the most profit, while you're just trying to get the service and features you need at the lowest possible price. Plus, there are always hidden costs.
