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Leadtek WinFast PX8800 GTS TDH (GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB)

By Vincent Chang - 15 Nov 2006

Conclusion

Conclusion

The high price of these new generation graphics cards is sure to reignite the debate about the cost of PC gaming versus consoles. After all, the most expensive console now, the Sony PlayStation 3 costs about US$599 and that's for a 60GB version with Wi-Fi and Blu-ray. In the run up to its launch, gamers have been decrying that price tag as ludicrous while analysts have weighed in with predictions about the downfall of Sony. In contrast, there's hardly the same amount of hand-wringing when NVIDIA debuted the GeForce 8800 GTX, a single, albeit extremely important component of a PC at US$649. Perhaps console gamers are long accustomed to consoles selling at huge losses offset by more expensive games while PC gamers are merely resigned to their fate.

However you slice it, PC gaming does cost a considerable amount of cash, especially if you want to keep up with the latest games. For the PC platform, you're obviously getting more than a gaming machine and the graphics capability on a PC can also surpass a console due to its upgradability. But with new consoles becoming more like computers in both hardware and functionality, like being able to install Linux on the PlayStation 3, the difference is blurring rapidly. The flip side of course is that there's still no real need to get the top tier GeForce 8 cards now, what with DirectX 10 and its supporting games unavailable at the moment. So while these cards are expensive, most consumers will do fine with older cards as they are actually becoming quite the bargain, due to the competition. In that sense, PC gaming offers unsurpassed versatility, though sometimes, that price could be great.

The Leadtek WinFast PX8800 GTS TDH is as good as any GeForce 8800 GTS on sale now. Other factors like price and warranty become more important in such a homogeneous market.

If you have decided that the best is for you, the GeForce 8800 GTX is it. But if its price tag and availability is less than ideal, the GeForce 8800 GTS is the other, more realistic choice. At the moment, all GeForce 8800 GTS cards are similar except for the various decal customizations by the individual vendors. There's also the rather strange clock speed of 513MHz for the core that differs slightly from the official specifications. Leadtek's offering does not stand out particularly, though its shimmering box package may catch your attention. Recent owners of other Leadtek products in the past may even find the bundled accessories and software very familiar as there are no new applications or games. Nevertheless, the hardware worked perfectly all right and the overclocking was more than satisfactory. Given that all the GeForce 8 cards are perfect substitutes for each other in terms of raw performance, other factors become more prominent. With a local retail price of around S$839 (US$538), the Leadtek WinFast PX8800 GTS TDH is by no means the cheapest in the market. With the typical GeForce 8800 GTS price tag ranging from S$760 up to S$849, it really boils down to what you want in a graphics card - price, reliability, warranty or other frills. By those criteria, the Leadtek is at best average among the competition.

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