AllInfo

In the test 15 years ago: The GeForce 8800 GTS 512 with the secret G92 full configuration

admin

With the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 (test) 15 years ago, Nvidia presented a graphics card with the full configuration of the G92 GPU, which no longer had much in common with the original GeForce 8800 GTS. Compared to GeForce 8800 GTX and Ultra, the new GTS was a balancing act between price and performance.

Table of Contents

  1. The secret full expansion of the G92
  2. High performance in low settings
  3. Conclusion

The secret full expansion of the G92

When the GeForce 8800 GT came out (tested 15 years ago), the question arose as to how the G92 GPU got 754 million transistors with only 112 shader units. Especially in comparison with the G80 GPU, which accommodated 128 shader units on 681 million transistors when fully expanded, this number seemed unusually high. The answer came with the presentation of the GeForce 8800 GTS 512, which also used the G92 GPU: The G92 GPU on the GeForce 8800 GT was not the full version, but had a deactivated shader cluster.

  1. POV GeForce 8800 GTS 512

Image 1 of 8

GeForce 8800 GTS 512 rear side
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 side view
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 Bracket
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 Cooler Rear
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 voltage converter
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 without cooler
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 GPU and Memory

The GeForce 8800 GTS 512 first came onto the market with the full configuration of the G92 GPU with all 128 shader units and thus had little in common with the original GeForce 8800 GTS with the trimmed G80 GPU with 96 shader units. With the same number of execution units and higher clock rates, but with a smaller memory interface and only 512 MB of memory, the GeForce 8800 GTX got an opponent instead.

Radeon HD 3870 GeForce 8800 GTX GeForce 8800 GTS 512 GeForce 8800 GT GeForce 8800 GTS (320 MByte) Chip RV670 G80 G92 G80 Transistors approx. 666 million approx. 681 million approx. 754 million approx nm Chip Clock 775 MHz 575 MHz 650 MHz
(700 MHz) 600 MHz 500 MHz Shader Clock 775 MHz 1350 MHz 1625 MHz
(1750 MHz) 1512 MHz 1200 MHz Pixel Pipelines – Shader Units
(MADD) 64 (5D) 128 (1D) 112 (1D) 96 (1D) FLOPs (MADD/ADD) 496 GFLOPS 518 GFLOPS 624 GFLOPS
(672 GFLOPS) 508 GFLOPS 346 GFLOPS ROPs 16 24 16 20 Pixel fill rate 12,400 MPix /s 13,800 MPix/s 10,400 MPix/s
(11,200 MPix/s) 9,600 MPix/s 10,000 MPix/s TMUs 16 64 56 48 TAUs 32 64 56 24 Texel fill rate 12,400 MTex/s 36,800 MTex/s 41,600 MTex/s,
(44,800 MTex/s) 33,600 MTex/s 24,000 MTex/s Vertex shader – Unified shader
in hardware ✓ Shader model SM 4.1 SM 4 geometry shader ✓ Amount of memory 512 MB GDDR4 768 MB GDDR3 512 MB GDDR3 640 MByte GDDR3
(320 MB GDDR3) Memory clock 1,125 MHz 900 MHz 970 MHz
(1,000 MHz) 900 MHz 800 MHz Memory interface 256 bit 384 bit 256 bit 320 bit Memory bandwidth 72,000 MB/s 86,400 MB/s 62,080 MB/s
(64,000 MB/s) 57,600 MB/s 64,000 MB/s

With a price of 299 euros, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 was about 75 euros more expensive than a GeForce 8800 GTS (320 MB; G80 GPU), as expensive as a GeForce 8800 GTS (640 MB; G80 GPU) and 75 euros cheaper than a GeForce 8800 GTX.

High performance in low settings

In low settings – without anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering – the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 cut an excellent figure and was even able to beat the GeForce 8800 GTX. However, the higher the settings, the worse the performance of the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 compared to the GTX and Ultra. This wasn't ideal, as the appeal of a fast graphics card was smooth rendering at high settings.

Rating

Rating – 1280×1024

Unit: Percent Rating – 1600×1200

Unit: Percent Rating – 1280×1024 4xAA/16xAF

Unit: Percent Rating – 1600×1200 4xAA/16xAF

Unit: percent

The GeForce 8800 GTS 512 cut a good figure in the B grades, especially the low volume despite the low temperature at the same time made a positive impression in comparison to the GeForce 8800 GTS thanks to the dual-slot cooler. However, the power consumption was relatively high due to the high clock rates.

Charts

Volume

Unit: dB(A) Temperature

Unit: °C power consumption

  • Last:
    • ATi Radeon HD 2400 XT179
    • Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT182
    • Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT193
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT203
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (3)205
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS206
    • Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS209
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT216
    • ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT (4)217
    • ATi Radeon X1650 XT221
    • ATi Radeon HD 3850231
    • ATi Radeon X1950 Pro238
    • Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX243
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT248
    • ATi Radeon HD 3870252
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320264
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS267
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 512268
    • ATi Radeon 2600 XT X2 (3)269
    • POV 8800 GTS 512 Exo273
    • Nvidia GeForce 7950 GX2281
    • ATi Radeon X1950 XTX290
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX300
    • Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra334
    • ATi Radeon HD 2900 XT351

    • Unit: Watt (W) Overclocking

    Unit: frames per second (FPS)

    Conclusion

    Overall, the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 was a successful graphics card with few weaknesses. The two biggest points of criticism of the GTS 512 were the comparatively high price compared to the GeForce 8800 GT, which was already available on the market for 210 euros and only offered marginally less performance, and the performance that dropped under high settings compared to the GTX. However, the second point in particular was important for Nvidia in order not to jeopardize the position of the GeForce 8800 GTX in the market.

    In the category “In the test 15 years ago”, the editors have been taking a look at the test archive every Saturday since July 2017. The last 20 articles that have appeared in this series are listed below:

    Even more content This kind and many other reports and anecdotes can be found in the Re tro corner in the ComputerBase forum.

    Exit mobile version