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Starting a new thread to talk about NVIDIA video cards, as it applies to gaming. The ATI version of this thread is here.
Starting with the new GeForce 8 series:
GeForce 8500 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8500.html
GeForce 8600 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600.html
Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/426/1/
Summary: 15% faster than a 7600 GT
GeForce 8600 GTS
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600.html
Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/426/1/
Summary: Around the same speed as a X1950 Pro or 7900 GS
GeForce 8800 GTS 320/640 MB
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review (320 MB vs 640 MB): http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...00gts-640.html
Summary: 320 MB version great value at a resolution of 1600x1200 or less, 640 MB for those who want true HD gaming
GeForce 8800 GTX
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review (GTS vs GTX): http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/391/
Summary: 25% faster than the GTS
GeForce 8800 Ultra
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/428/
Summary: If 1920x1400 or higher resolution gaming is your thing and money is no object, then this is the card for you
GeForce 8800 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review: http://techreport.com/articles.x/13479
Summary: Full H.264 decoding, 3D performance equivalent to the 640 MB 8800 GTS, but at the price of the 320 MB version - this one has our full recommendation
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/12/...00_gts_512_mb/
Summary: A refresh of the original 8800 GTS. Now with full H.264 decoding like the 8800 GT, 3D performance nearly equivalent to that of the 8800 GTX, but priced only a little bit more than the 8800GT - this one has our full recommendation
New: GeForce 9600 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce9.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/...force_9600_gt/
Summary: A new card to replace the 8600 GT with similar 3D performance to a 8800 GT 256 MB, and the same set of HD acceleration features as the previous generation. PureVideo HD has been updated in software to provide better picture quality and dual video stream decoding needed for PiP interactive content
New: GeForce 9800 GTX
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce9.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/04/...ew/page14.html
Summary: A very good replacement for the 8800 GTX, even though on a technical level, it doesn't offer anything new over the 8800 GT/GTS 512 MB. HD video support is the same as the 8800 GT/GTS 512 MB in hardware terms and the same as the 9xxx series in terms of software (see above and below). But unfortunately, limited memory (768 on the 8800 versus 512 on the 9800) and a noisy fan means people might have to look elsewhere
New: GeForce 9800 GX2
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce9.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/...00_gx2_review/
Summary: A beast of a card, not just in size, but performance. Faster than the 3870 X2, but somewhat disappointing in high resolutions. PureVideo HD has been updated in software to provide better picture quality and dual video stream decoding needed for PiP interactive content
New: GeForce GTX 260/280
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_gtx_260.html, http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_gtx_280.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...-280,1953.html
Summary: Excellent performance, but you'll have to pay for it in cost and noise levels. The GTX 260 is better value out of the two. While video decoding remains the same as previous generations, Nvidia's CUDA software acceleration looks interesting as it allows the GPU to perform tasks normally done by the CPU (such as video encoding), but then again, any 8-series or better GeForce card can support CUDA. If you're not after top gaming performance, than the Radeon 4850 is a better choice at nearly half of the price of the GTX-260, with better video decoding support and comparable 3D performance in new games that can take advantage of the Radeon's more numerous stream processors (800 vs 216).
HDCP Support: Check the manufacturer of the card to see if it supports HDCP, and if this support extends to dual-link DVI. The GT cards do not seem to support HDCP by default and leaves it up to manufacturers, which is a shame, since the later 7 series cards and even AMD's on-board GPUs do support HDCP (and HDMI in some cases). More information about HDCP in this FAQ entry.
PureVideo HD: Accelerated decoding (MPEG-2 and H.264) for HD content is another must have for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback - it can reduce your CPU utilization from 60% to around 20% (see http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/428/5/). Please note that the 8500/8600/8800 GT/8800 GTS 512 MB features more advanced HD acceleration than the other 8800 models, to quote NVIDIA:
Starting with the new GeForce 8 series:
GeForce 8500 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8500.html
GeForce 8600 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600.html
Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/426/1/
Summary: 15% faster than a 7600 GT
GeForce 8600 GTS
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600.html
Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/426/1/
Summary: Around the same speed as a X1950 Pro or 7900 GS
GeForce 8800 GTS 320/640 MB
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review (320 MB vs 640 MB): http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/vid...00gts-640.html
Summary: 320 MB version great value at a resolution of 1600x1200 or less, 640 MB for those who want true HD gaming
GeForce 8800 GTX
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review (GTS vs GTX): http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/391/
Summary: 25% faster than the GTS
GeForce 8800 Ultra
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review: http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/428/
Summary: If 1920x1400 or higher resolution gaming is your thing and money is no object, then this is the card for you
GeForce 8800 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review: http://techreport.com/articles.x/13479
Summary: Full H.264 decoding, 3D performance equivalent to the 640 MB 8800 GTS, but at the price of the 320 MB version - this one has our full recommendation
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_8800.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/12/...00_gts_512_mb/
Summary: A refresh of the original 8800 GTS. Now with full H.264 decoding like the 8800 GT, 3D performance nearly equivalent to that of the 8800 GTX, but priced only a little bit more than the 8800GT - this one has our full recommendation
New: GeForce 9600 GT
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce9.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/...force_9600_gt/
Summary: A new card to replace the 8600 GT with similar 3D performance to a 8800 GT 256 MB, and the same set of HD acceleration features as the previous generation. PureVideo HD has been updated in software to provide better picture quality and dual video stream decoding needed for PiP interactive content
New: GeForce 9800 GTX
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce9.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/04/...ew/page14.html
Summary: A very good replacement for the 8800 GTX, even though on a technical level, it doesn't offer anything new over the 8800 GT/GTS 512 MB. HD video support is the same as the 8800 GT/GTS 512 MB in hardware terms and the same as the 9xxx series in terms of software (see above and below). But unfortunately, limited memory (768 on the 8800 versus 512 on the 9800) and a noisy fan means people might have to look elsewhere
New: GeForce 9800 GX2
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce9.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/...00_gx2_review/
Summary: A beast of a card, not just in size, but performance. Faster than the 3870 X2, but somewhat disappointing in high resolutions. PureVideo HD has been updated in software to provide better picture quality and dual video stream decoding needed for PiP interactive content
New: GeForce GTX 260/280
Product page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_gtx_260.html, http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_gtx_280.html
Review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...-280,1953.html
Summary: Excellent performance, but you'll have to pay for it in cost and noise levels. The GTX 260 is better value out of the two. While video decoding remains the same as previous generations, Nvidia's CUDA software acceleration looks interesting as it allows the GPU to perform tasks normally done by the CPU (such as video encoding), but then again, any 8-series or better GeForce card can support CUDA. If you're not after top gaming performance, than the Radeon 4850 is a better choice at nearly half of the price of the GTX-260, with better video decoding support and comparable 3D performance in new games that can take advantage of the Radeon's more numerous stream processors (800 vs 216).
HDCP Support: Check the manufacturer of the card to see if it supports HDCP, and if this support extends to dual-link DVI. The GT cards do not seem to support HDCP by default and leaves it up to manufacturers, which is a shame, since the later 7 series cards and even AMD's on-board GPUs do support HDCP (and HDMI in some cases). More information about HDCP in this FAQ entry.
PureVideo HD: Accelerated decoding (MPEG-2 and H.264) for HD content is another must have for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback - it can reduce your CPU utilization from 60% to around 20% (see http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/428/5/). Please note that the 8500/8600/8800 GT/8800 GTS 512 MB features more advanced HD acceleration than the other 8800 models, to quote NVIDIA:
The new GeForce 8500 and GeForce 8600GPUs feature a new more powerful video processor designed to offload 100% of the H.264 decode from the CPU, enabling HD DVD and Blu-ray video playback, even on modest single-core PCs. The GeForce 8800 (apart from the 8800 GT, 8800 GTS 512 MB, both now upgraded to use the same PureVideo engine as the 8500/8600) series GPUs feature PureVideo HD with the previous generationvideo engine which is capable of Blu-ray and HD DVD playback on PCs equipped with more powerful dual-core CPUs. The 9xxx series do not feature hardware upgrades to PureVideo, but does feature some software improvements in quality and dual video stream decoding (for PiP content).
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