Looking at Gigabyte graphics cards these seem to be few and far between these days because they like to do things a bit differently. We're all for standing out from the pack, and the latest card from Gigabyte to jump into that category would be the TurboForce edition of the GeForce 8800 GT. Gigabyte have a nice little thing going on at the moment, we get a card from them, it's got a nice aftermarket cooler, it's got some decent overclock specifications along with a pretty good bundle. This is always nice to see in the world of graphics cards, and at least it keeps it interesting. They have recently introduced the Ultra Durable 2 technology into their cards to give them a bit more of an edge. - TweakTown

Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT TurboForce Board Review

The front of the box looks very cool with its Neverwinter Nights 2 theme. Across the top of the card we can see the brand and some NVIDIA logos to the right. Moving around the box, the bottom gives us the model and some more details on the card. The right of the box lets us know that it's a TurboForce edition, comes with Neverwinter Nights 2 and uses the Ultra Durable 2 technology. Going to the back of the box we have mention of the Zalman fan across the top along with some more details on the card. The main focus on the back though is the Ultra Durable 2 highlight. It gives you an idea of what you gain from these features.

The Zalman cooler that they use isn't anything new, we've seen it used on the Radeon HD 3870 that Gigabyte released a few months back. With that said though, it really is a tried and tested cooler that seems to be extremely efficient. The copper in the middle of the cooler helps move the heat and the aluminum fins help the heat dissipate quickly. Like the Leadtek WinFast PX8800 GT that also used a Zalman cooler, be it a different model Gigabyte have chosen not to cool the memory on the card. While it probably isn't needed people still like to have it cooled. On top it comes with a single SLI connector.

The Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT is quite the performer and continues to show good gains over the Leadtek offering. While the cooler might not be as effective due to it being louder and hotter than the newer Zalman used on the Leadtek, personally we think it looks better. Value wise the Gigabyte offering is pretty good, it comes in a little pricier, but that's to be expected with the cooler and the massive overclock. At the end, we feel a bit disappointed with the Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT offering. When we checked out the Radeon HD 3870 model the card ran cooler and with less power than the competition.

The GeForce 8800 GT card on the other hand doesn't really seem to have this advantage. Yes, it's cooler than a reference design, but that's to be expected with the aftermarket cooler. Power pretty much sits at the same level though. On a whole the Gigabyte GeForce 8800 GT is a good card, the bundle isn't bad with the inclusion of Neverwinter Nights 2 and the overclock on offer is very healthy. The card is going to be popular because Gigabyte is a trusted brand which always put out quality products. You're not going to be disappointed with the GeForce 8800 GT TurboForce. It does what it's supposed to do and does it well.