We don’t know what the marketing executives at NVIDIA were thinking when they decided to name their latest G92 GPU derivative the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB. This marks the fourth different GTS GPU that NVIDIA has concocted, and based on the card’s name, the laymen who doesn’t follow the industry religiously would naturally assume that the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is the least powerful when the opposite is actually the case. By recycling the 8800 GTS moniker one more time this is going to lead to confusion and we know that it’s just a matter of time before the stories of consumers who are irate because they mistakenly purchased the more expensive GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB assuming it was faster start trickling in.
To prevent this from occurring, this board should have been designated the GeForce 8900 or GeForce 8850.
Rather than stubbornly keeping the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB at the $349-$399 mark in their lineup, NVIDIA also needs to let the 640MB die. NVIDIA maintains that there are some cases where the 640MB outperforms GPUs like the 8800 GT 512MB and 8800 GTS 512MB, but in most cases the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is the faster card overall.
NVIDIA’s PR team is also a little misleading when it comes to board pricing. While we’ve been told that the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB will be priced in the $299-$349 by NVIDIA PR, as best as we can tell, it looks like actual street prices will start around $349 for a baseline GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB card and work their way closer to the $400 mark for a factory overclocked board with all the trimmings. This is quite a bit more than what we were told in the weeks leading up to the board’s official launch.
Given the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB’s outstanding performance though, this higher price tag is definitely justified. The 8800 GTS 512MB cards blazed through all of our benchmarks, with performance generally falling anywhere between the GeForce 8800 GT and the GeForce 8800 GTX, while a card that’s been overclocked can put up numbers that are higher than the GTX in some cases.
If you’ve got $400 to spend on a graphics upgrade this Christmas, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is without a doubt the card we recommend. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB ends up stealing sales away from the GeForce 8800 GTX. Factory OC'ed GeForce 8800 GT cards like the Leadtek GeForce 8800 GT 512MB Extreme are also tempting, if you need to save a little money these cards can be found for around $300 and frequently outperform the stock GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB. Finally, at the sub-$200 mark, AMD's Radeon HD 3850 is the clear choice right now.
Thanks to its high clock speeds, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB is probably the card most enthusiasts will lust after. The GeForce 8800 GTX and Ultra are still faster overall when you really crank up the AA and screen resolution, but for the majority of gamers playing at 1600x1200 or 1920x1200 with a little AA, the GeForce 8800 GT and 8800 GTS 512MB are quite capable. When you factor in overclocking, the 8800 GTS 512MB card is even more tempting. But thanks to its confusing naming, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB may have a tough time capturing mindshare in comparison to other cards like the 8800 GT and GTX. Only time will tell on that one though...
Mass Effect 3 PC Demo Impressions Mass Effect 3, EA/BioWare's third iteration in their series of sci-fi action RPGs and one of the most anticipated titles of the year, is fast approaching its March 6th release. This week, though, they released a playable demo on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 that offers a glimpse into both the single-player and multi-player portions of the full game.
Whether you're waiting impatiently for your download to finish or don't have the time to check it out yourself, go ahead and read some impressions of the demo from resident FSers Synch and Vandy in today's article!
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E Performance Review
Today marks the launch date for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. This new socket is poised to replace the existing LGA 1366 specification used by the more powerful Nehalem and Westmere parts from the past couple years, specifically Bloomfield and Gulftown, the Core i7-9xx+ line of CPUs.
With 6 cores, 15MB of cache, and support for quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory, the Core i7-3960X sounds like quite a catch. Want to know more about it and how it performs? Read on!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
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