Albatron has announced the 88GTS-512X, a new “Enthusiast” GeForce® 8 Series VGA card that will give top-of-the-line cards something to take notice of because consumers are going to get a nice surprise when they catch a peek at the price tag. The board features 65 nm process technology, which was first introduced with the Albatron 8800GT-512X in October 2007. But there’s no comparison: the 88GTS-512X is, quite simply, big brother.
Fast and Cool: 65nm Process Technology plus 650 MHz Core
The 65nm Process Technology on the 88GTS-512X GPU means more compact, efficient circuitry. This, in short, means faster and cooler processing which is obviously very advantageous for enthusiast gamers. In addition, the 88GTS-512X GPU is endowed with a 650 MHz core, one of the top two fastest engine cores in Albatron’s lineup of VGA cards. Preliminary 3DMark06 scores were able to top 14,000 using quad core CPUs!
Fast just got faster: PCI 2.0 and 1940 MHz GDDR3 memory
PCI Express 2.0 is one of the latest additions to the 8 Series family. Bit for bit, PCIe 2.0 boasts twice the data throughput (5 Gb/s) than its predecessor PCIe technology (2.5 Gb/s).
This card also contains 512 MB of GDDR3 memory with a 256 Mbit bus. At 1940 MHz, this memory configuration is the fastest currently used on any Albatron VGA card.
PureVideo HD: Have you seen it?
If you haven’t seen a Blue-Ray or HD-DVD movie, it’s time to hop on down to the local shop and ask for a demo. If it’s truly a genuine HD video (not just a cheap imitation), it will be exhilarating, it will be breathtaking, it will be, quite simply, awesome! But this major evolution in video playback comes at a price. You are looking at a several-fold increase in pixel (data) density and you need the technology that can process vast amounts of data without giving your computer a case of the “laggies”. That is where NVIDIA’s PureVideo HD technology comes into play. PureVideo HD technology is the paragon of High Definition Video Playback technology and it keeps your Mainboard CPU humming along at less than 5% utilization during video playback (using multi-core CPUs).
The rest of the Specifications
The panel connectors on the 88GTS-512X include two DVI connectors and a 7-pin HDTV-out connector. It supports Dual-Link HDCP and is SLI™ ready. The board is 4.376” by 9”, is dual-slot in width and has a PCI Express x16 connector (PCIe 2.0). The board itself is a 10-layer PCB. There is a 6-pin power connector and 4-pin fan connector.
88GTS-512X: A “Slam-Dunk” for the Enthusiast
If the latest $700USD enthusiast card seems like buying a small car to you, take a good look at the 88GTS-512X, coming in at several hundred’s of dollars less. In fact, if “Enthusiast” is what you are, you only need to look at the price tag and you’ll be sold. It’s fast, it’s cool and dollar for dollar, pixel for pixel and MHz for MHz, it’s the best enthusiast card on the market.
