The big question that had to be answered by this review is "How big is the performance improvement by going from 512 MB to 1 GB of video memory on the 8800 GT ?" Unfortunately we saw no increase at all on average compared to the 512 MB version. In some higher resolutions or certain applications small gains could be seen but for the average gamer these will not matter. Certainly there will be some benefit if you run 2560x1600 with some mad AA settings but then the card's performance will be so low that you still can not play at proper frame rates.
However, since you get the Zalman VF1000 ($50) and 512 MB of additional memory ($40) for a $50 price increase the card is not a bad deal if you were planning on changing the cooler anyway. With the massive overclocking potential we saw on our sample you can easily bring the card to new performance levels without added cost. The Zalman cooler will keep the card cool no matter what.
Given the current games, the majority of gamers will be happy with a 512 MB card in 2008 at least and can save a few bucks that way. Of course you can have the bragging rights that you have as much video memory as some of your friends have RAM in their PC. Still, the benefits of 1 GB are not big enough in my opinion, that's why I'm only giving "Recommended" instead of "Editor's Choice" despite the high score.