Sparkle 8800GTS 512 MB

INTRODUCTION

Skoda has run a pretty funny ad-campaign here in Sweden. The ad-movie starts with a voice telling us about Skoda’s high-tech factory. You get to see the robots that build the cars and how thorough everyone is checking everything is alright. Then at the end of the ad you just briefly see the guy who prices the cars; a clown, and the ad ends with “Skoda – built by professionals, priced by clowns”. It’s a pretty funny and clever ad-campaign. So what does that have to do with video cards? Well, I am pretty sure NVIDIA could have chosen to run a similar campaign saying “NVIDIA cards - built by professionals, named by clowns”. 

Harsh? I’m not sure about that. Today we are reviewing a NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB card from Sparkle. Some of you might remember that there also are 8800GTS cards with 320MB and 640 MB. And this is where the confusion starts. The 8800GTS 512 MB is using the newer G92 chipset while the 8800GTS 368MB and 640MB are using the older G80 core. The G92 core is much more efficient and has already proven itself on the 8800GT. In fact, it is the same GPU used in the new GeForce 9800GTX cards. This of course will just confuse buyers who might think that a 640Mb 8800GTS must be better than a 512 MB 8800GTS. It is extra unfortunate as the GeForce 8800GTS 512 MB turns out to be a GPU that offers a lot of bang for the buck.

The 8800GTS 512 MB card we are looking at today comes from Sparkle. It is a very affordable card that turns out also offer some serious performance.

ABOUT SPARKLE

Sparkle is a company from Taiwan that makes and sells video cards that use NVIDIA’s various GPU’s on them. They were established in 1981. They mainly sell their cards in Europe and Asia but CompUsa and Tiger Direct have now started carry a few of their cards so hopefully their presence in the USA will grow. You can read about the company here.