As promised, the spotlight today will be on the Foxconn GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB Overclocked Edition. Despite its standard design, this Foxconn card is overclocked to speeds similar to the GeForce 8800 GTX so we're hoping to see what improvements one can expect from that, particularly since the market has been rather deprived of overclocked GeForce 8 series graphics cards due to the tight control that NVIDIA has exerted over them. For those who are unaware, Foxconn is one of the largest original equipment manufacturers of electronics and IT components now. Recently, the company has started to offer retail packages as it is now actively trying to build up its brand name. - Hardware Zone

Foxconn GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB OC Card Review

One cannot tell just by looking that this GeForce 8800 GTS has only 320MB of GDDR3 memory given that the standard issue cooler covers all the memory modules completely. Foxconn keeps to the reference design so noise is not much of a factor, though some may not like the inevitable two slot cooler on this graphics card. Having the reference cooler did not prevent Foxconn from overclocking this card to GeForce 8800 GTX magnitudes. In fact, the core and memory clocks are exactly the same as the flagship model from NVIDIA, so why not try the GTX clocks when it features similar components?

The G80 core on this Foxconn GeForce 8800 GTS runs at 575MHz and the memory is clocked at 1800MHz effective but naturally being the lower SKU, the GeForce 8800 GTS has fewer stream processors and raster operators than the GTX while having significantly less memory bandwidth. The overclocked Foxconn may reduce the performance gap between the two but like virtually all such endeavors, the GeForce 8800 GTS will not ever catch up to the GTX. But there is the possibility that a 320MB overclocked GeForce 8800 GTS may just do that trick against the 640MB version.

We may be repeating ourselves but as our benchmark scores show, 640MB and higher memory size is the way to go if you fancy playing your games on a large display. Also, you probably do not need a lesser DirectX 10 card like the GeForce 8800 GTS now if you already own a high-end graphics card like the Radeon X1950 XTX. With no DirectX 10 games expected till the second half of the year, there is frankly little reason to upgrade to a GeForce 8800 GTS now. On the other hand, if you intend to get a new card or planning to upgrade from a mid-range one like the GeForce 7600, the GeForce 8 series is the way to go.

Foxconn's overclocked GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB is hopefully a sign of things to come, namely custom clocked GeForce 8 cards from vendors. The scene has been too quiet of late, with few manufacturers given the leeway to experiment. There have been some special editions but the majority of GeForce 8 cards in the market are identical, standard models stamped with the manufacturer's logo. Foxconn's GeForce 8800 GTS is outwardly similar to the default design but at least the clock speeds are much more adventurous, being in the same league as the GeForce 8800 GTX.

Performance was hence naturally faster than the standard clocked 320MB and even 640MB versions, giving existing owners a very good reason to overclock their cards if they haven't done so. However, the memory limitations that we noticed on the standard 320MB also surfaced and while the clock speeds did help somewhat, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. There are some games and settings where clock speeds alone are not going to get you very far while others may be less forgiving. So, the newer the game, the higher the resolution, the more eye candy enabled, the more memory you'll need.

Nevertheless, the overclocked Foxconn did make us wonder how a GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB would perform if it was overclocked to such high clock speeds. Especially since we found that the Foxconn could go up to 650MHz for the core in our overclocking section. Could that exceed the hardware handicaps placed on the lesser GeForce 8800 GTS? Well, we do hope to find more daring, overclocked GeForce 8 cards from vendors in the near future, but for now, you should be prepared to pay more for this Foxconn card.