XFX Alpha Dog 8800GS XXX Edition Review Conclusion
Unless you happen to enjoy watching 3DMark Benchmarks running in loops, the 8800GS will easily give you close to double the performance of the 8600GTS in games. With the 9600GT being in short supply at the moment, the XFX 8800GS XXX should prove to be a worthy upgrade for those who can't wait much longer. Coming in at about 70% the price of the 8800GT, the XFX 8800GS XXX is cheaper than the Radeon HD3850 but performs as well, if not better in most instances. Where the 8600GTS falters in the new DirectX 10 titles from last year, the 8800GS delivers good performance for those still using 17" and 19" LCD panels.
Whilst the GPU didn't overclock much, we should bear in mind that it has already been clocked higher than the reference models. Furthermore, the memory on the card scaled admirably, going to 2092MHz DDR when it's only specified for 1428MHz DDR. That said, the XFX 8800GS XXX comes with a single-slot cooler that doesn't support fan speed control. ie. The fan on the Alpha Dog runs at full-blast all the time and is relatively noisy. If you're considering buying the card, take note of this if you haven't developed selective hearing (most of the time due to incessant nagging).
The XFX Alpha Dog 8800GS XXX scores in delivering a good price-performance ratio but the lack of fan control certainly detracts from it. Overall, it is a decent purchase if you need an upgrade now.
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