XFX 8800 Ultra XXX

INTRODUCTION

The name Bjorn3D is somewhat indicative of how our site got its start, reviewing and discussing video cards back in the early days when we were lucky to see two or three cards a year released. Times have certainly changed! In the last year alone we have reviewed fourteen different NVIDIA 8800 series graphics cards and today's review will make fifteen. We're certainly not claiming to be the quintessential experts but we do feel a certain comfort level when we discuss this series of product.

NVIDIA over the years has used the name "Ultra" with some of their products. Usually this means a little faster core and maybe some faster RAM. The first time that we at Bjorn3D saw an "Ultra" name come into play was when we picked up a Hercules TNT 2 Ultra to replace an outdated STB TNT. This time around NVIDIA is using the "Ultra" moniker for a newer version of their already extremely popular 8800GTX. The base 8800 Ultra clocks do not look that promising as you can buy overclocked 8800GTX’s with the same speed if not faster. XFX changes this by bringing you 3 different versions of the Ultra. These are the $799.99 Ultra which matches NVIDIA’s reference Ultra speed, the $829.00 USD overclocked Ultra which is faster yet, and finally; the $879.00 XXX version which is by far the fastest of the trio and the product we'll be reviewing today.

XFX: The Company

XFX®, a company that is very well know not only to the general computer consumer but to the Computer Enthusiast community as well operates on the following corporate philosophy:  "XFX® dares to go where the competition would like to, but can't. That's because, at XFX®, we don't just create great digital video components--we build all-out, mind-blowing, performance crushing, competition-obliterating video cards and motherboards." "Oh, and not only are they amazing, you don't have to live on dry noodles and peanut butter to afford them."

From our rather extensive experience doing XFX® product reviews we've seen this corporate philosophy transcend from merely words into a series of excellent, highly polished digital wonders that go a step beyond in not only performance but quality as well. We are hoping that our review sample, the XFX®GeForce™ 8800 Ultra XXX will continue to follow in the same lofty tradition.