Faster than Marion Jones - but without the steroids!

Nvidia's Geforce 8800 series graphics cards are a force to be reckoned with. This card truly is a beast!

I am writing this review from the perspective of your average gamer / PC user. I do have some PC know-how, but I will not confuse you with all of the MHz’s from benchmark tests and whatnot. The following review will explain to you how this card works, the good along with the bad, and why you would want to purchase this product.

Quality
I find that the quality of PNY products are great. I have had many products ranging from older GPU's to RAM from PNY and all have been excellent quality. The PNY 8800GTS comes with a 3 year warranty; however, if you register your card it will be extended to a 5 year warranty! This is a very important service feature to me, as the card is definitely not cheap. I can sleep easily at night knowing that my new card will be covered for at least as long as I plan on using it.

Stats
This review is specifically for the 8800GTS model; however, this card also comes in a GTX and an ULTRA model. The GTS is the "tuned down" version of the card but that is relatively speaking. The card still puts up huge numbers with is 768MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1.56GHz.

The 8800 series cards were also the first cards to utilize the new and much anticipated DirectX10. While this is definitely a major selling point for this card, not many games are currently taking advantage of this technology. Look for this card to have longevity for this reason.

Without getting too technical in terms of resolution and frame rates, I can tell you that this card will enable you to smoothly play any current games at high resolutions. I can go anywhere and do anything in World of Warcraft and Hellgate London with ease!

From a price standpoint the 8800GTS is not cheap, but it is a great value. In comparison the GTX and ULTRA cards do offer increased performance, but at an almost unjustifiable price (unless the lottery has been nice to you).

Things to consider before buying this card
While I find this to be the best choice in graphics card on the market, it is not without flaws. I suppose flaws might not be the best word as the following list has nothing to do with any actual problems with the card... rather just some things to consider before purchasing this card.

First I would have to say the price. While I personally feel that this card offers much bang for the buck, it is not cheap. There are certainly other Nvidia or ATI cards that offer slightly less, but still decent performance ... for half the price. My take on this issue ties in with my earlier statement about longevity. This card may cost a bit much now, but it is an investment. It will be a good card that will run new games for a good amount of time.

The next "con" would be the large power needs of the card. The 8800GTS will need at least 200 watts of dedicated power to properly run. In a nutshell this means that unless you have a custom or very high end PC, you more than likely do not have an adequate power supply for this card. This; however, should be a non-issue, as a 500-600Watt power supply can be had for under $50 with all of the great deals currently being run on them. Just do not hope to be able to plug this card into the PCI-e slot on your "budget" PC and expect to be without incident.

Lastly I would have to mention that this card packs big performance, but is a big boy! The card itself is awkwardly large in terms of length. A very compact case may not be able to accommodate this card. I had an older HP mini tower that could never have held this hardware without some serious chainsaw modification on the case - just something to keep in mind.

Conclusion
In conclusion this card will provide you with a solution to any graphics problem you may be experiencing. The 8800GTS provides stunning visuals at superb speeds. The card may cost you a decent amount of money now, but I could write this same review 2 years from now, as the 8800GTS will still be a powerhouse well into the future!