SBM 3: High-End System

Graphics Cards: Two Gigabyte GeForce 8800GTX In SLI

Gigabyte sent us two of its basic 8800GTX cards, with the standard 575 MHz graphics processor clock and 1800 MHz data rate GDDR3 memory. These standard-speed parts are available at the high-market version of value pricing: $500 per card is far cheaper than most overclocked models.

Price drops on the higher-clocked 8800 Ultra could have allowed two of these to fit within our budget, but the clock difference versus price difference still brought us back to the "ordinary" 8800GTX...at least for now. The 8800 Ultra is simply a higher clocked version of the 8800GTX (with faster memory), and we're hoping to achieve similar speeds with the less expensive cards in tomorrow's overclocking competition.

The 8800GTX might be a better value than the 8800 Ultra, but is it worthy of our $3500+ system? The benchmarks will provide some clues, but a more thorough card-to-card comparison can be found in our Desktop VGA Charts 2007.