Well first came the GeForce 8800 GTS, along comes the GeForce 8800 GT, and then the again the GTS? Welcome to NVIDIA's latest naming scheme. With the original GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB and 640MB build around the 90nm G80 core, the latest wave of GeForce 8800 series cards include the 65nm G92 chip typically distinguished by its nominal memory configuration of 512MB on board. The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT was quite a margin faster than the original G80 based GeForce 8800 GTS, with some pre-overclocked versions even being faster. But how does this refresh G92 based GeForce 8800 GTS perform and is it able to replace some of its more expensive older brothers? - APH Networks

ASUS Extreme N8800 GTS (G92) TOP Version Review

The ASUS Extreme N8800 GTS TOP edition came in a smaller cardboard box than last time. Anyways, after cutting the shipping box open reveals the ASUS overclocked version of NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB in the usual large ASUS retail box. And across the front brings back the design elements used on some previous graphics card releases, but with a new color scheme and aspects that continues the latest ASUS large graphics card box design scheme. As with all TOP versions, a vertical bar graph sits in front showing off the performance factor of this graphics card against stock competitor products.

The heart of the new GeForce 8800 GTS is NVIDIA's new G92 core. With a funky naming scheme for revised G92 cards, the whole GeForce 8800 GTS and/or GT models would instantly confuse users who are not watching this industry closely. The new G92 die shrink is quite a bit faster and more power efficient as such. Relatively speaking, the G92 based GeForce 8800 GT is designed to outperform the previous generation G80 based GTS, in which the G92 based GTS is literally a better performer than the G80 based GTX in controlled situations. Of course, NVIDIA doesn't want the G92 to completely outperform their once flagship card.

The ASUS Extreme N8800 GTS TOP video card clocks the core at 740MHz from stock 650MHz, an increase of nearly 100MHz. The memory runs at 2070MHz actual clock, while it shows that the Qimonda memory used on the card runs at stock 2000MHz effective according to the memory specifications. It's quite impressive that the core runs at 740MHz out of the box. Being that, the ASUS Extreme N8800 GTS TOP is literally one of the fastest variants of the GeForce 8800 GTS on the market today. There's only one card at press time that has higher clocked memory at 2100MHz, but with a slower core in comparison.

Is the Roush Mustang better, or is the Saleen Mustang faster? This is certainly the question. While the latest Saleen Mustang has more horsepower, more torque, and naturally, costs more, but so does the ASUS Extreme N8800 GTS TOP 512MB when compared to the Extreme N8800GT TOP 512MB. Recent tests have shown that the Roush Mustang is indeed a better overall performer with all taken into account, despite the fact that it is not as good as the more expensive Saleen Mustang on paper. After running through our benchmarks, by no doubt it is the fastest GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB in the market.

The ASUS Extreme N8800 GTS TOP 512MB edition is simply another term for performance. But that doesn't mean the Extreme N8800 GT TOP from the same company is a slowpoke either. In fact, it's pretty much the fastest GeForce 8800 GT in the market as well. It uses much less power, costs less, and remains very close in terms of the performance range of the GeForce 8800 GTS according to our benchmarks. Which one would you get? If you want top performance off NVIDIA's latest 65nm core, go for the G92 based GeForce 8800 GTS version. If you want price to performance, the GeForce 8800 GT is the way to go.