14 DAY TRIAL // ECS is finally ready to release its latest PCI Express graphics cards and it seems that they have developed the PCBs needed for the G80 GPUs integration. So we're going to have GeForce 8800GTX and 8800GTS cards under the ECS brand. As I've said, better late than never. The flagship is N8800GTX-768MX incorporating the standard 768MB GDDR3 which is 384-bit wide. The core has the default 575 MHz value and the memory also works at default speeds (1.8 GHz). The N8800GTS-640MX is also based on a reference design and comes with 640 MB GDDR3 memory, a 320-bit memory interface, the default 500 MHz core and 1.6 GHz memory clock speed.
Both cards are Vista ready (and with the coming of the Vista driver, you will soon be able to put them at work) and integrate the 128-bit HDR registers. As a matter of fact, there's nothing out of the ordinary with these cards now that maybe 15 producers have them but for ECS which is a value-oriented brand, it's quite a performance leap, especially if you compare the new cards with the older 79xx series which, until now, was ECS' most powerful VGA product.
A quick look on ECS' website will take you to the following statement: "Delivers up to 2x the performance of a single GPU configuration for unparalleled gaming experiences by allowing two graphics cards to run in parallel. The must-have feature for performance PCI Express graphics, SLI dramatically scales performance on today's hottest games. NVIDIA SLI certified versions of select GeForce PCI Express GPUs only"
AS I've said, there's nothing spectacular about these cards, but I'd love to see even more producers launching G80 based products. And the reason here is the price. G80 cards are still quite expensive and more products could bring the price down a little. And don't forget that the R600 is almost here. In a word - if you're thinking of buying an 8800 card - wait.