EVGA 8800GTS 640MB (w/112SPs) SSC

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Without a doubt, the EVGA 8800GTS SSC Edition with 112 Stream Processors has found its niche in the market. If you are one of the many people looking to purchase a 22” or larger widescreen monitor and play games with high details and IQ settings, this card should be at the very top of your list. This card has shown itself to be superior to the extremely popular 8800GT 512MB when playing DX10 games with large textures. Indeed, EVGA has fitted this card perfectly into vacuum created by the discontinuation of the older 8800GTS 640MB.

Was I impressed with the EVGA 8800GTS SSC? Yes, I was but I have my reservations about recommending it outright. Let’s be honest; most customers don’t play at ultra high resolutions with high levels of AA and AF enabled and it is here where parallels between the new 8800GT and this card will be called into question. The SSC carries a nearly 30% price premium but it performs on-par with the GT at lower resolutions. On the other hand this new 112 Stream Processor equipped GTS is able in most cases to manhandle the stock 8800GT at higher resolutions and in games with larger textures or more detail. Another unfortunate occurrence is the complete lack of 8800GT cards on the market today; there are long backorder lists at popular retailers and consumers may be looking for an alternative. If you are willing to pay the extra $75 (or thereabouts) for the 8800GTS with 112 Stream Processors, you will not regret your decision.

Nvidia’s partners are walking a very thin line here because they needed to fill the gap between the 8800GT and the 8800GTX without overtaking Nvidia’s flagship card. I believe that they have succeeded very well since this 8800GTS SSC does not perform any better than the GTX yet it happily walks all over the 8800GT at higher resolutions and especially in DX10 games. Throughout our testing one thing became painfully apparent: even the 512MB of memory on the 8800GT is very much the bare minimum for most DX10 applications. Luckily for those of you playing at high resolutions with AA and AF enabled, the 8800GTS with 112 shader processors and 640MB of memory presents a great option if you are hesitant about spilling $500 and more for an 8800GTX.

Simply put; the EVGA 8800GTS SSC Edition is geared towards consumers who want to play at high resolutions with as much eye candy turned on as possible. If you play at 1280X1024 or even 1600x1200 with lower modes of AA and AF turned on then this is simply not the card for you. Are you looking into buying a 22” or larger widescreen monitor? If so then the EVGA 8800GTS SSC presents you with a great option for high resolution, high IQ-settings gaming.