# XFX GeForce 8800GS 680M 384MB Alpha Dog Edition Spotted



## malware (Jan 15, 2008)

Following ASUS's latest GeForce release the day before, new XFX graphics card has also been spotted. The XFX GeForce 8800GS 680M 384MB Alpha Dog Edition (PV-T88S-FDD4) uses self-designed black PCB and single slot cooling solution. The card is also factory overclocked to 680MHz/1600MHz(core/memory). Expreview reports that this product will hit the market in January 16th with suggested price of around 160 EURO or about USD $238.



 

 



*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


----------



## Mussels (Jan 15, 2008)

Hmmm. price is a bit much for the performance, $180-$200 USD would be better.


----------



## rougal (Jan 15, 2008)

Yep that's true.
How do they expect people to buy it if it's at the price range of 3870? Unreasonable price.


----------



## Tatty_One (Jan 15, 2008)

rougal said:


> Yep that's true.
> How do they expect people to buy it if it's at the price range of 3870? Unreasonable price.



Is it not as quick as the 3870?  I think it might be, but I agree it's a bit high considering 8800GT prices are starting to settle.   Also bear in mind this is an overclocked edition so is likely to be more expensive than reference cards.


----------



## v-zero (Jan 15, 2008)

Tatty_One said:


> Is it not as quick as the 3870?  I think it might be



It's not...


----------



## Xaser04 (Jan 15, 2008)

Tatty_One said:


> Is it not as quick as the 3870?  I think it might be, but I agree it's a bit high considering 8800GT prices are starting to settle.   Also bear in mind this is an overclocked edition so is likely to be more expensive than reference cards.



The price seems ok if the current exchange rate to sterling is used (around 1.31 £/€)

That puts it at about £120 which seems plausible. Thats smack in the middle of the 3850 and 3870. I would assume performance is around there as well.


----------



## Tatty_One (Jan 15, 2008)

v-zero said:


> It's not...



Really?  Strange, this card is supposed to be marginally faster than the 9600GT which in the limited info available (some here) suggested that beat the 3870 in 2 out of 3 game tests.  TBH, it's to early to know for real, the 9600GT appears to be aimed at the 3850 market.....not sure of the point of the 8800GS apart from getting rid of some old substandard parts although some people are saying that the GS will be a "limited edition".


----------



## nguyenpeter76 (Jan 15, 2008)

hm if the price is true ill just get a 8800gt.


----------



## DarkMatter (Jan 15, 2008)

160 euros are ~$238 with current exchange, that doesn't mean they will cost $238. When 8800GT was about 250 euros, it was about $300 in US (250 euros = 371USD with current exchange). That is the way they price them here. Yeah it sucks. HD3850 is about 150 euros here and HD3870 around 230.  If the same relation between prices applies this time, and nothing points otherwise wil happen, as it's been always the same, 8800GS will be priced below $200 for sure.

http://en.expreview.com//?p=160

Here you can see the performance compared to 8800gt and they say the price could end up at $165 (384MB) and $204 (768MB). To my knowledge this is close in price to the HD3850 and is clearly faster. More memory too, appeling for those who think 256 (corrected) is not enough... All in all, I think it's a nice addition, good for competition.


----------



## nguyenpeter76 (Jan 15, 2008)

hope that's thecase


----------



## Urbklr (Jan 15, 2008)

So, this being a dumbed down G80 core, that would make it slower than the 3870, and most likely the 3850, for the same amount of money....  Im not too sure about Nvidia's new tactic...


----------



## Jimmy 2004 (Jan 15, 2008)

Expreview was right again:

http://www.xfxforce.com/web/company...onid=aA_dEKiXoUpdbuju-D?newsId=1882229&year=0

seems to be a very reliable source for upcoming hardware.


----------



## Xaser04 (Jan 16, 2008)

Urbklr911 said:


> So, this being a dumbed down G80 core, that would make it slower than the 3870, and most likely the 3850, for the same amount of money....  Im not too sure about Nvidia's new tactic...



Its based on the G92 core from the 8800GT albeit with only 96 shaders. (One can assume that these are simply 8800GT cores that have stream processors that arn't functional and so are binned, instead of getting rid of them nvidia are doing the intelligent thing and selilng them as a lower end product). 

Judging by Expreviews quick review the GS is roughly 25% slower than the GT which puts it right in line between the HD3850 and HD3870. 

As long as the price is right on launch these could steal a few sales away from the ATI cards.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 16, 2008)

this heatsync sucks major butt


----------



## Mussels (Jan 16, 2008)

well it appears to be copper fins and slimline. It looks like an accelero S1 would fit as well


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 16, 2008)

sum of us nun rich folks can just barely buy a card much less a cooler ...


----------



## Mussels (Jan 16, 2008)

seriously, people need perspective here. this card should be fairly cheap, its single slot, should run cool, 384MB of ram (vs 256) and overall not a bad card.

That USD $238 is for this pre-OC alpha dog edition, the normal variant could be well under $200


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 16, 2008)

i wonder how much fro teh 768 version ...


----------



## Urbklr (Jan 16, 2008)

Xaser04 said:


> Its based on the G92 core from the 8800GT albeit with only 96 shaders. (One can assume that these are simply 8800GT cores that have stream processors that arn't functional and so are binned, instead of getting rid of them nvidia are doing the intelligent thing and selilng them as a lower end product).



Umm, G92 is 256Bit?....is this 256Bit?? How is it getting 384MB if it is??


----------



## Urbklr (Jan 16, 2008)

Im reading in multiple places, that this is 192Bit, can it still be a G92, or a binned G80??


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 16, 2008)

its 192


----------



## btarunr (Jan 16, 2008)

It has a 192bit memory interface. 

Well, it's good to see XFX return to its iconic non-reference PCB+cooler design.


----------



## Xaser04 (Jan 16, 2008)

Urbklr911 said:


> Umm, G92 is 256Bit?....is this 256Bit?? How is it getting 384MB if it is??



The memory interface is tied into the ROPs on the card. 

The GT and GTS (256bit) have 16 rops (16 x 16* is 256) 
The GS (192bit) has 12 rops (12 x 16* is 192)
The GTX (384bit) has 24 rops (24 x 16* is 384)

* This refers to the fact they are 16bit chips IIRC. 

The memory amount is a multiple of the memory interface (In this case 2 x so 192bit - 384mb) 

Just because its G92 does not mean it is limited to a single memory interface. G92 is nothing more than a die shrunk G80 anyway (albeit with the video processor from G84/86)


----------



## Urbklr (Jan 16, 2008)

Xaser04 said:


> The memory interface is tied into the ROPs on the card.
> 
> The GT and GTS (256bit) have 16 rops (16 x 16* is 256)
> The GS (192bit) has 12 rops (12 x 16* is 192)
> ...



Okay, thanks

Still, it probably wont have near the performance of a 256Bit card. So, 38xx FTW


----------



## nonax (Feb 15, 2008)

*Bought id, dissapionted*

I recently purchased this card and am not really satisfied. Ok, the card seems to perform well but it's fan makes more noise than my vacuum cleaner! Even when it has no hard work to do. For a friend I've put a HD3850 in his machine, but that one you can hardly hear. Now I'm going to try to get me money back


----------



## dwax (Feb 15, 2008)

Could try an after market cooler. I just got my XFX 8800GS today and put a Zalman VF900-CU on it and now I can adjust the fan, and can hardly hear it.


----------



## Mussels (Feb 15, 2008)

you could easily throw another cooler on it. stick an accelero S1 and it will be completely silent, as it has no fan.


----------



## nonax (Feb 15, 2008)

Thanx for the advise! I will if they won't take it back.
Downside is ofcourse that I'll lose my warranty.


----------



## Tatty_One (Feb 15, 2008)

nonax said:


> Thanx for the advise! I will if they won't take it back.
> Downside is ofcourse that I'll lose my warranty.



No you wont, if something goes wrong with the card, you just put the origional cooler back on before you RMA it.....simple really.


----------



## candle_86 (Feb 16, 2008)

XFX allows aftermarket cooling without voiding warranty actully


----------



## PaulieG (Feb 16, 2008)

nonax said:


> I recently purchased this card and am not really satisfied. Ok, the card seems to perform well but it's fan makes more noise than my vacuum cleaner! Even when it has no hard work to do. For a friend I've put a HD3850 in his machine, but that one you can hardly hear. Now I'm going to try to get me money back



Just use Rivatuner, and set the fan speed to a good mix of cooling and noise level. Very easy to do.


----------



## candle_86 (Feb 16, 2008)

yea i wouldnt go for a 3850, if you must get an older 8800GTS 320


----------



## dwax (Feb 16, 2008)

Paulieg said:


> Just use Rivatuner, and set the fan speed to a good mix of cooling and noise level. Very easy to do.



I tried that and never worked. Either Rivatuner don't recognize the card, or it's locked in the bios. So I put the Zalman VF 900-CU on it. Now you can just barely hear the fan.


----------



## ChillyMyst (Feb 16, 2008)

3850=better buy all around in my exp........


----------



## ChillyMyst (Feb 16, 2008)

nonax said:


> Thanx for the advise! I will if they won't take it back.
> Downside is ofcourse that I'll lose my warranty.



xfx warr covers any cooling u wana put on, its kickass!!!!


----------



## Mussels (Feb 16, 2008)

rivatuner doesnt work with the latest Nv drivers. Gotta wait for it tup update, or drop back a few versions.


----------



## farlex85 (Feb 16, 2008)

dwax said:


> I tried that and never worked. Either Rivatuner don't recognize the card, or it's locked in the bios. So I put the Zalman VF 900-CU on it. Now you can just barely hear the fan.



You might need to edit the config file. I had to manually add gts(g92) to get it to work properly. Hunt around on the guru3d site, you should be able to find something.


----------



## Titus (Feb 22, 2008)

I dig up this thread 

You can't change fanspeed of the XFX 880oGS : it's blocked on 100% and the connector is a 2 pins one so, no v-mod 
Riva Tuner ( updated in its cfg file ) recognize the card but can't modify fan speed ( see up ).

I opted for a Zalman VF900-Cu too  ... assembly on next tuesday


----------



## Mussels (Feb 23, 2008)

Titus said:


> I dig up this thread
> 
> You can't change fanspeed of the XFX 880oGS : it's blocked on 100% and the connector is a 2 pins one so, no v-mod
> Riva Tuner ( updated in its cfg file ) recognize the card but can't modify fan speed ( see up ).
> ...



that info would be valuable to some, thanks for that.


----------



## trt740 (Feb 23, 2008)

nonax said:


> Thanx for the advise! I will if they won't take it back.
> Downside is ofcourse that I'll lose my warranty.



I put a  Thermaltake dual orb on mine and it is flat out great for these cards. It's near silent , looks great and my card doesn't break 43c underload plus it has six blue leds, it's solid copper and ha ram heastsinks out the AZZ. The accelero s1 cools better but is alot bigger (and is not as good looking). These 8800 gs run even cooler than the 8800gt and 8800 gts about 10 to 17 degrees with the same cooler so it doesn't take much. The accelero is the best cooler for temperature, but these cards run so cool they need little or nothing. I thought the 3870, 8800gt and 8800gts ran cool but these are even cooler running.


----------



## trt740 (Feb 23, 2008)

*Here is a example of my temps*

with a pretty good overclock.


----------



## candle_86 (Feb 23, 2008)

mine does fine on a VF-700


----------



## trt740 (Feb 23, 2008)

candle_86 said:


> mine does fine on a VF-700



I believe it would and its cheaper but the orb lets my ram run at ddr2000


----------

