The successful launch of the GeForce 8800GTX and 8800GTS by NVIDIA in November of 2006 brought the idea of DirectX 10, Unified Shaders, Stream Processors and more to the table for the first time in the consumer video card market. We have yet to see AMD release their DirectX 10 part, the R600, but the 8800 series has redefined graphics for the gaming enthusiast. Right now the choice in my mind is whether to buy a mid-range X1950 Pro or the 8800GTS/GTX, the other solutions and price points do not offer the performance/features that I look for in the pricing categories.
With the release of Vista to businesses already and the release to retail later this month, the move to DirectX 10 graphics cards will in full swing. NVIDIA always releases a mid-range part and a mainstream part with their new architectures, and it's likely the “7300 G8x” and “7600 G8x” derivatives will follow shortly in the next month or two if history is any guide. But today the focus on the high-end of the graphics card market is on the GeForce 8800GTX. XFX is an “NVIDIA house”. They manufacture video cards based upon NVIDIA video cards exclusively and you can read Doc's review of the XFX 8800GTX clocked at reference clock speeds from November 8th. NVIDIA partners have begun shipping overclocked versions based upon the card and today we have the XFX GF 8800GTX 630 768M Dual DVI TV XXX Edition card on the test bench.
