The G80

[MrWizard6600]

This is sorta like the insert you find in your reviews, or at least its ment to be, this offers a little more info then most of the reviews. Just so everyone knows, I read Firing squads, Hexus's, Tech-reports, and Hard OCPs review.

Ok, so, its out, were all impressed, its cooler isn't hybrid liquid/air (honestly who expected it to be) but now that were all past being blown away I want some numbers.

I've been told the 8800GTX has 128 unified shaders (Nvidia is calling these Stream processors) running at 1.35GHz, along with a freakie deakie 384bit bus, and 16 dimms, each 64mb, and a core speed of 575MHz. I understand some of these numbers and not others.

The board layout:
Two dies, wtf? Well if you noticed, NV put their massive heat shield on the g80 core, but you'll also notice there's a little chip on the top left of the board. This answer can be found http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1118287 (http://here):
NVIDIA has moved the TMDS logic into a custom, discrete ASIC that you will find toward the front of the video card. Their reasoning was to simplify package and board routing and to speed up manufacturing efficiencies. All GeForce 8800 GTX and GTS GPUs are HDCP capable
Basically meaning it's a big "you go here, and you go over there" chip. With 12 memory dimms, a 384bit bus, and all the other deals a PCI-e card has to deal with, it's no wonder it was getting hard managing all this stuff. Guess NV just found this the easiest way to manage it all.

Two power connectors:
Wtf? Well, it's not really as bad as it sounds. The G80 is a power guzzler. But each supply wire on a PCI-e wire actually only supplies 75W. Six pins, I THINK two are supplies, two are returns, and two are grounds. So it can supply a total of 150W, however I don't understand why a graphics card would need a ground, so maybe it's actually 3 supplies and 3 returns, for 225W total. The 8800GTX is estimated to consume a max of approx 180 watts. According to my first theory, it needs three supply wires (or two PCI-e connectors). According to my second, it doesn't, but perhaps NV just wanted to be on the safe side. On the upside, this means plenty of V-modding head room.

Stream Processors (Unified Shaders):
Yeah, you heard me right. Unified shaders. Each process has been reduced/increased to twelve steps, meaning all pixel, vertex, shading, and geometry (physics) can be done on one single shader. Any shader can now be assigned to any one task, if it needs to calculate a vertex, done. Or shade a pixel, done. There is never any discrepancy. A good representation of the flaws in pipe (shader/vertex/pixel) architecture is represented here:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_8800_preview/images/14.jpg
But as you can see with the all-pro allocation of unified shaders, the load is balanced easily, and the core is able to process more:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_8800_preview/images/15.jpg
The thing I'm wondering about is Giga-thread, is it anything like hyper threading? Can we execute two processes on the same shader?

Physics (geometry):
Yeahhhhh. Sweet huh. No more cheesy "GPU physics are better then PPU physics!"
"Well maybe but CPU physics are better then GPU physics!"
blagh blagh blagh, we've all seen the fanboys, they run rampant in the streets, mostly living in the shadows.
Anywho, I think this is gonna fix everyone's wagon. While I am still of the personal belief (i.e. IMHO) the PPU is gods greatist gift to computers, Physics on a GPU should see a significant boost from this idea. The G80 CAN do stress's, it CAN do particle collisions, it can do everything. I'm not sure on this one but, I'm betting you'll eventually hear "Nv can do gameplay physics!... eventually.
NV is calling this step Quantum Effects.

The Memory:
Ok! So this card has more bandwidth then the X1950XTX, even though it's got way less memory frequency. Why? the freakie-deakie 384bit memory bus, running at 1.8GHz, that allows for a total of approx 86GB/s, The X1950XTX with its GDDR4 had 64GB/s of bandwidth.

The short comings, of the G80:
Well now the downside. TSMCs... (*sigh*) 90nm process, while reducing the core to 80nm wouldn't make any huge differences, I want my 11% shrink. A little more OC head room, a little less expensive, a little less power consuming, 80nm would'a been the icing on the cake for me. The R600 is lined up for TSMCs 65nm, or perhaps even 55nm process. I don't think the G80 stacks well against the clock speeds that puppy's going to produce. It is rumoured that the G80 will eventually succumb to a die shrink, whether this will just be a core revamp, or the 8900, has yet to be seen.
GDDR3. Sorry, while the controllers themselves supposedly support GDDR4, the boards out now only have GDDR3. I donno about you, but I thought the extra FPS the GDDR4 gave the X1950 was amazing. You were getting 5, 6 more, just from increasing memory bandwidth. With such an obvious bottleneck, I don't understand why Nvidia didn't go with GDDR4. Not to mention, telling someone "I cranked my memory to 2.3GHZ" would always be something fun to say.
And of course, it’s a little pricey for me, up here its $800 CDN. That’s mad, sorry I won't pay that much for a graphics card, Ill wait till X-mas, and see what I can afford then.

Now this is one maybe you guys can help me out with, the Shaders run at 1.35GHz, but the "Core" runs at 575MHz. what is this all about? The stream processors are the core. I also understand you can individually overclock the shaders?

Please post any comments, questions, remarks, details, anything, you know about the G80 here.

[Track]

Thats great, thank you.

I have yet to read all of the 8800 reviews that i want to, so ill update this post.

[Phosphate]

Since I am too cheap to buy a 8800 GTX (lol), does anyone know when a 8600 GT card will be out? I suspect the 8600 GT will be cheaper and better than 7800/7900 cards (and DX10 compatible of course)

[Track]

Since I am too cheap to buy a 8800 GTX (lol), does anyone know when a 8600 GT card will be out? I suspect the 8600 GT will be cheaper and better than 7800/7900 cards (and DX10 compatible of course)

Probably sometime in Q1 2007, or the beggining of Q2.
nVidia will launch more DX10, 8 series cards upon the launch of Windows Vista, but dont forget abt ATI and their X2K series.

You could buy the 8800 GTS for 424$ on Dell.com.

[Mike]

The GeForce 8900 will most likely be a die shrink to 80nm or maybe even 65nm...I don't think anyone is expecting anything beyond that.

The GeForce 8800 GTX has 86.4GB/sec of memory bandwidth. I seriously doubt that's a bottleneck.

Also, note that the GDDR3 memory is running at 900MHz...that's hardly slow...the bottom line is, GDDR4 is more expensive, and (unlike going from 1.55GHz on the X1900XTX to 2.0GHz on the X1950XTX) doesn't really give that much more performance over GDDR3 (they'd probably only get another 200MHz out of GDDR4)...so if you have a 384bit memory bus, the cost/performance for adding GDDR4 probably just wasn't there.

80nm has proven, if anything, to be LESS overclockable than 90nm...just look at the x1950pro.

While I like to see the most advanced memory, and the newest process just as much as you guys, I have to admit that nVidia made some very wise decisions where the 8800s are concerned. They're all about making money, and right now they're making a bunch of it by not waiting to go to 80nm, and not strapping expensive GDDR4 to these boards.

[Track]

Can we really assume that 80nm is LESS overclockable based upon a single card? It wouldnt have mattered much to the X1950 Pro is it gained another 100Mhz, as it has locked pipelines and if someone wanted higher performance, they would have just sprung for an XT.. so making it so the 80nm is used for lowering temperatures makes more sence.
I never would have thought that 80nm can only lower tempertures, and not highten overclockability.. i mean that makes no sense.

The 8900s SHOULD be built upon the 80nm process (as goes my theory, wich is based purely upon nVidia's actions in the current series), but i dont think that we will see 65nm until AT LEAST 2008, mostly because going from 80 to 65 is harder than going from 90 to 80, or at least that makes sense not only because every extra 10nm u cut is harder than the last, but because this time its 15nm.

nVidia is like Microsoft, launching first but without all the features.
However nVidia can just make another 8 series card, and Microsoft needs another 5 years to make another Xbox.
From what speculation i read, i can see that the X2K series is going to be amazing. 256 unified shaders and 140GB/s bandwidth seems to be able to beat even the 8950 GX2.

[Phosphate]

From what speculation i read, i can see that the X2K series is going to be amazing. 256 unified shaders and 140GB/s bandwidth seems to be able to beat even the 8950 GX2.

That sounds good....If anything competition from ATI will make Nvidia drop prices.

Right now I'm hoping to score a 24" widescreen monitor and I'm sure I'll need a good GPU to run 1900x1200.

[Track]

That sounds good....If anything competition from ATI will make Nvidia drop prices.

Right now I'm hoping to score a 24" widescreen monitor and I'm sure I'll need a good GPU to run 1900x1200.

Youre lucky. I still have a 17" :(

[MrWizard6600]

The GeForce 8900 will most likely be a die shrink to 80nm or maybe even 65nm...I don't think anyone is expecting anything beyond that...

i think it was actually you guys, who showed me that TSMC had a 55nm process that, in manufacturing, was nearly identical to 65nm.

the smaller it gets, the happier a panda i am.

[Track]

55nm is better than 65nm...

What he meant was that there is no way they would get to 55nm or less anytime soon.

[MrWizard6600]

thats the thing, if NV is considering TSMCs 65nm process, i betecha there also considering TSMCs 55nm process, as its nearly identical.

[Mike]

thats the thing, if NV is considering TSMCs 65nm process, i betecha there also considering TSMCs 55nm process, as its nearly identical.

Well it's all about timing. NV is probably considering the process that will give them the best bang for their buck...i.e. the process that will give them the best combination of power consumption and clock speed with the best yields. I'm guessing that 65nm is where they'll head next after an 80nm refresh of g70.

[Track]

Well it's all about timing. NV is probably considering the process that will give them the best bang for their buck...i.e. the process that will give them the best combination of power consumption and clock speed with the best yields. I'm guessing that 65nm is where they'll head next after an 80nm refresh of g70.

They havnt even gotten to 80nm yet, and they have not even gave any official word that they are even going to make them anytime soon.

I think its going to be some time before we 65nm, unless its like 110nm where in it wasnt here for long.

[Vlad V.]

Guys, I have some questions. Although I'm far from having the necessary money to buy a Geforce 8800 GTX, I'm checking to see if my current rig is a fit receptacle for it when the time will come. Do you think a 450W supply will be enough? I have a Pentium 4 630 processor at 3.0Ghz that takes up some of the power. The motherboard is an Intel D945GNT with ATX format (12 by 9.60 inches), 1 PCI-E x16 slot, and two other PCI-E x1 slots. Does the 8800 GTX take up 2 slots? I also have 1 GB Ram, but I plan to double it by the holidays. Please help me out!

[Track]

Guys, I have some questions. Although I'm far from having the necessary money to buy a Geforce 8800 GTX, I'm checking to see if my current rig is a fit receptacle for it when the time will come. Do you think a 450W supply will be enough? I have a Pentium 4 630 processor at 3.0Ghz that takes up some of the power. The motherboard is an Intel D945GNT with ATX format (12 by 9.60 inches), 1 PCI-E x16 slot, and two other PCI-E x1 slots. Does the 8800 GTX take up 2 slots? I also have 1 GB Ram, but I plan to double it by the holidays. Please help me out!

No, ur PSU wont be enough for the card. You will have to buy an extra PSU just for the graphics card, wich costs 50$.
Your CPU will bottleneck the card, so the small increase of performance that the 8800 GTX has over the X1950XT will be even smaller. If u have a 20.1" or larger monitor, the 8800 GTX is a good choice, if not choose the X1950XT until u can afford a Core 2 Duo.

[Vlad V.]

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate the help. Guess I have to start saving money pronto...

[Track]

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate the help. Guess I have to start saving money pronto...

Come back anytime to disscuss the exact parts ;)

[Vlad V.]

Would a 8800 GTS be better for my 19" monitor (because the maximum supported resolution is 1280x1024)? I'm asking this because the 8800 GTX seems to be dealing with extremely high resolutions.

[Track]

Would a 8800 GTS be better for my 19" monitor (because the maximum supported resolution is 1280x1024)? I'm asking this because the 8800 GTX seems to be dealing with extremely high resolutions.

Yeh, u really dont need the GTX for 1280x1024.

[Vlad V.]

My point exactly. Do you know anything about other NVIDIA Geforce 8K models? I mean cards that offer the same features as the 8800GTX, but are more fitted for my needs (as mentioned above). I hope NVIDIA will launch some models that aren't bottlenecked by a processor like my own (though I understand the PSU issue and I totally agree that I'll have to buy another one) and deliver the same performance as the GTX, but at smaller resolutions. That would be a dream come true...

[Track]

My point exactly. Do you know anything about other NVIDIA Geforce 8K models? I mean cards that offer the same features as the 8800GTX, but are more fitted for my needs (as mentioned above). I hope NVIDIA will launch some models that aren't bottlenecked by a processor like my own (though I understand the PSU issue and I totally agree that I'll have to buy another one) and deliver the same performance as the GTX, but at smaller resolutions. That would be a dream come true...

Youll have to wait at least 3 months before anything lower than the 8800 GTS comes around.

Once DX10 games like Crysis or Halo 2 come out, ull need an 8800 GTS even for 1280x1024. For instence now u can apply 16xQAA and 1280x1024 and still have a good framerate (with the 8800 GTS), but when Crysis comes out (in May) u might not even be able to apply 4xAA and still have a good framerate, because the jump in technology is going to be great and thus the games are going to be getting a lot harder to manage (but also much better looking).

By the time that Crysis is out the 8900 GTS will be out and that will really be a better card to buy, since an 8800 GTS right now is too much and it wont come to be used until DX10 games out, wich wont be for at least 3 months.

[Vlad V.]

But won't the 8900 GTS need an Intel Core 2 Duo? Damnit, those things cost 1000 euros! I'm not going to spend that much money on a processor. Besides, I just got this Pentium 4 in June.

*edit* I think I found a solution to my problem. As I was expecting, prices for DirectX 9 cards dropped pretty much since the new ones appeared on the market. I searched and found an ASUS Geforce 7950GT 512 MB that costs 300 euros. What do you think about that? I think it will carry me through today's DirectX 9 games. I'll wait longer for DirectX 10...

[Track]

But won't the 8900 GTS need an Intel Core 2 Duo? Damnit, those things cost 1000 euros! I'm not going to spend that much money on a processor. Besides, I just got this Pentium 4 in June.

It wont NEED a Core 2 Duo, it will get u above 60 even with a Pentium 4, but it would be best to buy a Core 2 Duo for 175$ - E6300. I just helped a friend of mine pick one up for around that price in England.

[Vlad V.]

Okay, so you say that an 8900GTS will do the trick for me. Fine, I'll wait until NVIDIA launches it. But I have to say, that 7950GT looks pretty tempting...

[Track]

Okay, so you say that an 8900GTS will do the trick for me. Fine, I'll wait until NVIDIA launches it. But I have to say, that 7950GT looks pretty tempting...

The 8900 GTS could take months to get here.. Just buy an E6300 and an X1950XT/8800 GTS and then sell the card and buy an X2900XT or an 8900 GTS if u still want to.

[Vlad V.]

Thanks for all the help! You really helped me out, providing me with all the info. I'll see what I can do with my rig...

[Track]

Thanks for all the help! You really helped me out, providing me with all the info. I'll see what I can do with my rig...

Always. ;)

[Vlad V.]

I checked some reviews about the Geforce 8800GTS and it's simply fantastic. I think it's the best bang for the buck available at this time. Still, I guess I'll have to wait until summer to get one (probably something else might show up/the price will lower a bit), not to mention to buy a new PSU. This card still needs it's own PSU, right?

[Track]

I checked some reviews about the Geforce 8800GTS and it's simply fantastic. I think it's the best bang for the buck available at this time. Still, I guess I'll have to wait until summer to get one (probably something else might show up/the price will lower a bit), not to mention to buy a new PSU. This card still needs it's own PSU, right?

The 8800 GTS or the X1950XT are the best bang for the buck.

The 8800 GTS needs at least 30A on the +12v rail(s) wich u usually cant find on PSUs below 500w. Other than getting an expensive 700w PSU, many ppl prefer to buy a 500w PSU for the CPU and the drives and a seperate 300w PSU just for the graphics card, or if u have a 7900 GTX then SLi. It costs only 50$.

By waiting u lose one thing in hopes of getting something better.

[Vlad V.]

I know, I know. But really, I don't have the money right now (sigh).

[Track]

I know, I know. But really, I don't have the money right now (sigh).

I hate when ppl say that.. makes me want to steal it from stupid ppl who waste their money.

[MrWizard6600]

Guys, I have some questions. Although I'm far from having the necessary money to buy a Geforce 8800 GTX, I'm checking to see if my current rig is a fit receptacle for it when the time will come. Do you think a 450W supply will be enough? I have a Pentium 4 630 processor at 3.0Ghz that takes up some of the power. The motherboard is an Intel D945GNT with ATX format (12 by 9.60 inches), 1 PCI-E x16 slot, and two other PCI-E x1 slots. Does the 8800 GTX take up 2 slots? I also have 1 GB Ram, but I plan to double it by the holidays. Please help me out!
No, ur PSU wont be enough for the card. You will have to buy an extra PSU just for the graphics card, wich costs 50$.
Your CPU will bottleneck the card, so the small increase of performance that the 8800 GTX has over the X1950XT will be even smaller. If u have a 20.1" or larger monitor, the 8800 GTX is a good choice, if not choose the X1950XT until u can afford a Core 2 Duo.

I'm going to have to disagree with track here. I believe in some applications, including some games, your CPU will limit your fps.

NV has stated, in several PR meetings, that the minimum required is a good 450W PSU more spicifically, they want at least 20 amps total on the 12V rails. Most PSUs can handle that with ease. I might add, Antec and Liberty, along with many other companies, understate themselves on their PSUs. An Antec NeoHE 550W I have delivers stunninly small voltage droop1 when under load, and can deliver more then 600W if asked too, which is also very adaptive. the Liberty Enermax i have, has also demonstraighted little voltage droop, no matter what load its put under. I'm betting my Liberty Enermax 400W will support an 8800GTX, although, Im not going to try it, lol.

Would a 8800 GTS be better for my 19" monitor (because the maximum supported resolution is 1280x1024)? I'm asking this because the 8800 GTX seems to be dealing with extremely high resolutions.

an 8800GTX at 1200X1000 is like using a shot gun to kill a mosqueto, which btw my dads hunting buddy has done. he took off half the god damn tree. it was hilarious (the tree was dead (b4 we shot it), no one was hurt, he disposed of the shell, killed the mozzy, no one was hurt, dont think im a hill billy, i live in vancouver BC).

But won't the 8900 GTS need an Intel Core 2 Duo? Damnit, those things cost 1000 euros! I'm not going to spend that much money on a processor. Besides, I just got this Pentium 4 in June.

*edit* I think I found a solution to my problem. As I was expecting, prices for DirectX 9 cards dropped pretty much since the new ones appeared on the market. I searched and found an ASUS Geforce 7950GT 512 MB that costs 300 euros. What do you think about that? I think it will carry me through today's DirectX 9 games. I'll wait longer for DirectX 10...

the E6300 can be found for $209 canadian, and I have pushed it (WITH EASE) to 3.2GHz (300MHz faster then the $1399 cdn X6800). I am on an evga 680i board, with two gigs of PQI DDR2 667 (PC 5300).

and yeah like track said, your P4 will manage one of them just fine. you will not achieve the FPS you see in the benchmarks done by sites though.

I hate when ppl say that.. makes me want to steal it from stupid ppl who waste their money.

QFT.

I know a dude who bought an EVGA 680i motherboard, (thats $350) and doesnt even OC. If I was emporer of the universe (or just a good criminal) i would replace his mobo with a nice Nforce 590 intel edition, or a nice intel P965 DS3 mobo.

ps: sorry for the late post.

[Track]

NV has stated, in several PR meetings, that the minimum required is a good 450W PSU more spicifically, they want at least 20 amps total on the 12V rails. Most PSUs can handle that with ease. I might add, Antec and Liberty, along with many other companies, understate themselves on their PSUs. An Antec NeoHE 550W I have delivers stunninly small voltage droop1 when under load, and can deliver more then 600W if asked too, which is also very adaptive. the Liberty Enermax i have, has also demonstraighted little voltage droop, no matter what load its put under. I'm betting my Liberty Enermax 400W will support an 8800GTX, although, Im not going to try it, lol.

No no, u have been mis-informed. The 8800 GTX requires 30A total on the +12v rail(s). The 8800 GTX alone, at stock settings, takes over 15A, and with a Core 2 Duo CPU that takes over 10A, what do u think will happen.
I cannot reccomand a PSU for an 8800 GTX that has less than 30A on the +12v rail(s).



an 8800GTX at 1200X1000 is like using a shot gun to kill a mosqueto, which btw my dads hunting buddy has done. he took off half the god damn tree. it was hilarious (the tree was dead (b4 we shot it), no one was hurt, he disposed of the shell, killed the mozzy, no one was hurt, dont think im a hill billy, i live in vancouver BC).


No, that is only with current games, as the 7800 GTX with Far Cry.
Once DX10 games show up, it is believed that they will need more than an 8800 GTX to play even at 1280x1024.


the E6300 can be found for $209 canadian, and I have pushed it (WITH EASE) to 3.2GHz (300MHz faster then the $1399 cdn X6800). I am on an evga 680i board, with two gigs of PQI DDR2 667 (PC 5300).

and yeah like track said, your P4 will manage one of them just fine. you will not achieve the FPS you see in the benchmarks done by sites though.


I would reccomand the E6400 as it is less than 40$ more expensive and allows u to overclock another 266Mhz at least.


QFT.

I know a dude who bought an EVGA 680i motherboard, (thats $350) and doesnt even OC. If I was emporer of the universe (or just a good criminal) i would replace his mobo with a nice Nforce 590 intel edition, or a nice intel P965 DS3 mobo.

ps: sorry for the late post.

Yeh, thats exactly what i mean, except that i think they should do that to everything and not just hardware related purchases - like women buying clothes for instance.

[Vlad V.]

I've heard that the 8k series are two-slot video cards. What does that mean? They take more slots on the motherboard (i.e. PCI ones) or just more space?

[Track]

I've heard that the 8k series are two-slot video cards. What does that mean? They take more slots on the motherboard (i.e. PCI ones) or just more space?

The 8800 GTS and GTX come with dual-slot coolers. That means that they will render the slot to the left of them un-usable. Since its just a PCI or PCIe x1 slot it dosent really matter, cause u have more and no one really ever uses those anyway.

[Vlad V.]

Thanks for the info :) . Guess my motherboard is fit for one when the time will come.

[Track]

Thanks for the info :) . Guess my motherboard is fit for one when the time will come.

You need more than a compatible motherboard. What PSU and CPU do u have?

[MrWizard6600]

any mobo with a pci-e 16X slot mechanically (even if its only 8X electronically) will support an 8800. Nvidia is currently working with Asrock to solve the problems related to some of their hybred AGP PCIE boards.

Any CPU can take advantage of an 8800. I dont like all these people raising the red flag over "I only have a Venice 3200+!!". Im betting if someone released a mobo w/ Socket A and PCI-e, this old barton would still manage to hold the reins on an 8800 with dignaty. You will see a major bump in gaming performace with an 8800 no matter what CPU you are, you will see a bigger bump with this card and an Allendale or a Conroe.

And all you need is 30A on a 12V rail (tracks got me on this one). but still, thats only 320W. Most 450W PSUs can handle that.

[Track]

any mobo with a pci-e 16X slot mechanically (even if its only 8X electronically) will support an 8800. Nvidia is currently working with Asrock to solve the problems related to some of their hybred AGP PCIE boards.

Any CPU can take advantage of an 8800. I dont like all these people raising the red flag over "I only have a Venice 3200+!!". Im betting if someone released a mobo w/ Socket A and PCI-e, this old barton would still manage to hold the reins on an 8800 with dignaty. You will see a major bump in gaming performace with an 8800 no matter what CPU you are, you will see a bigger bump with this card and an Allendale or a Conroe.

And all you need is 30A on a 12V rail (tracks got me on this one). but still, thats only 320W. Most 450W PSUs can handle that.


No, thats not right.

The 8800 GTS and GTX requite a PCIe x16 slot and will NOT work on a PCIe x8 slot, wether its physical or electrical.

As long as u have a CPU that can give u 80 FPS in current games, u should be fine. Always good to have a larger monitor for a high-end card.

Actually u need abt 36A on the +12v rail(s). And 30A is 360w, not 320. There is no PSU under 500w that has 36A. If u were to push it, u might be able to squeeze an 8800 GTX onto a 34A PSU, but that would mean no overclocking whatsoever.

[Vlad V.]

Track, I already posted my specs some posts above and you gave me your advice :). Still, I'm open to other suggestios if any.

[MrWizard6600]

No, thats not right.

The 8800 GTS and GTX requite a PCIe x16 slot and will NOT work on a PCIe x8 slot, wether its physical or electrical.

As long as u have a CPU that can give u 80 FPS in current games, u should be fine. Always good to have a larger monitor for a high-end card.

Actually u need abt 36A on the +12v rail(s). And 30A is 360w, not 320. There is no PSU under 500w that has 36A. If u were to push it, u might be able to squeeze an 8800 GTX onto a 34A PSU, but that would mean no overclocking whatsoever.

i just now, sucessfully booted my PC with my 8800GTS in the middle mechanical 16 X electrical 8X slot. It functioned perfectly.

glad to see you agree with me on the CPU issue.

BFG has this to say about power:

A 475W PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 32A or more*


and thats edited. it used to say 30 and 450. I think they only now realized that so many people have craptastic Roswill and Aspire PSUs, so they changed it to 32. but, can assure you, 30A will be fine for an 8800GTX!

[Track]

I have been getting mixed reports recently about the 8800s working on PCIe x8. Can u show me a pic of it working or something just so i can finally put this to rest?

And the chances that a 475w PSU has 32A on it's +12v rail(s) is very very small. In most cases it would have to be 600w or more to have that many Amps. They are hoping that ppl will read the "32A 12v" part and say "what?", and then only look at the 475w part and buy the cheapest 475w PSU they can. Or they will just buy a 500w PSU and feel all happy.