Last Updated on Thursday, 25 March 2010 09:42 Written by Chris Hunter Monday, 31 March 2008 04:11

Conclusion

The Leadtek WinFast PX8800GT 512MB is an option dropping in price because of the oncoming GeForce 9 series. Just six months ago, it cost 300-900USD to play Crysis at an acceptable level. However, price cuts last week alone dropped this card from 259USD down to 204.99. 194USD

**Update**: Leadtek has lowered the price of the card...again in order to clear stock.

The PX8800GT performs well in a wide variety of situations. The card is particularly strong in Unreal Engine 3 based games, of which there is not a shortage of games on the market and many pending release dates exist. DX9 performance fares well and often provides full visual fidelity as well as HD gaming possibilities for any game. DX10 performance is not the best, but for the price, it provides positive results and playability at full detail. With available overclocking overhead, increased clock frequencies fill in most of the gaps, such as memory bandwidth, present in the card.

Cooling capacity on this particular version is mediocre, but it is a standard reference cooler. The cooler performs adequately enough to facilitate a decent overclock when modifying the default fan settings. The fan's acoustical properties at 100% speed are overshadowed by the resultant relatively low temperatures. The ability to control the rotational speed of the fan allows users to find a healthy balance between performance and personal preference.

Desktop performance is excellent, and is more than necessary for any Linux or Vista GPU accelerated environment. HD video display is on par and should not be a worry until 2160P hits. We hope a new card is in the system by the time that happens.

The commendable mid-range card gives access to any game out today. The overall size, price, and performance puts the Leadtek 8800GT leagues ahead of the older and more expensive G80 8800GTS 640MB. The higher GPU, memory, and shader clocks help the G92 tremendously. The 200USD price point combined with the performance makes this video card for budget conscious gamers, business and casual customers have better options that are more cost effective for the job they require.

This card does so well that BHFO wonders why NVIDIA did not name this variant the 9800GT. The obvious advantages of the 65nm G92 lend to the price and performance features of the PX8800GT, either that or our idea of bleeding edge is going out of style.

The price cuts initiated April 1 brought back this variant’s competitive edge. Before the cuts, BHFO was not going to recommend this card because of price points. With the Leadtek WinFast PX8800GT 512MB sitting in the same range as other references cards, we now consider this card a recommended product. Leadtek does not offer anything above and beyond any other vendor, so the PX8800GT still does not receive an award. Later this year, pricing of the G92 card should bode well for the HTPC market.

Newegg: 194.99(Deactivated 04-10-08)

Newegg: ZL edition 199.99 (Deactivated 04-10-08)

**Update** We recommend getting the ZL edition with only a 6USD price difference

**Update3** The Leadtek PX8800GT has been deactivated. There are still several 8800GT reference models available for less than two hundred USD from other manufactures. Since they are reference cards, the same performance levels are expected. A Leadtek 8800GT GTB (+80 MHz GPU Clock) is available for 229.99, but will probably see the same fate as the PX8800GT in due time.

Author's Note: gamers saving up for the 9800GX2 should think about purchasing two 8800GT cards. It is possible to run 8800GT SLI with 2GB of video ram for under 450USD 480USD at this time. Enthusiasts with the money should still go for the 9800X2 because of unlocked features on the card, such as 128 stream processors per core vs. 112.

Our Super Talent RAM(T1000UX2G4) on our Intel test bed was involved in a feline related ESD incident. This occurred at a critical time in testing. Unfortunately, we have been unable to obtain identical ram. Testing for the 8800GT was completed, but we were only able to complete Bioshock and World in Conflict for comparison with the 8800GTS. Limping along on 1GB of single channel ram does not allow for comparable results. Therefore, this review is not as complete as we would have hoped. We are missing AA and AF scaling for both cards, and 5 out of 7 gaming tests for the 8800GTS. The perpetrator can be seen here, laying in our lighting setup.

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