The positives of the 8800 Ultra are that it is the fastest video card available bar none. The 8800 Ultra is an Overclocked 8800 GTX and performs as such. Video cards like the 8800 GTX and Ultra have the capability of doing DirectX 10 games the visual justice that they require. The competition for the highest performing card is between this card and the 8800 GTX water-cooling cards, as the AMD HD2900XT doesn't have the horsepower to compete directly with the 8800 Ultra. The 8800 Ultra is the Porsche of video cards at the moment, and the high-performance comes with a price. For the faint of heart, $799 for a video card is not for you. For the multi-millionaire that wants the absolute best in video cards the card for them is the 8800 Ultra hands down.
Having said all of that, the pricing of the 8800 Ultra a bit insane as you can get virtually the same performance out of the box from an 8800 GTX card that is overclocked out of the box for nearly $300 less than the $799 price that the card is retailing for and not worth the premium for most users. There are Overclocked 8800GTXs that perform near on par with the Ultra reference card right out of the box. The lack of competition from AMD in the high-end means that the 8800 Ultra competes with itself as nothing comes close in terms of performance. The XFX 8800 Ultra XXX Edition is available online today for $799USD, meaning it's a full $300 more than an 8800 GTX card. Add to that the fact that the 8800 Ultra is not THAT much faster than the 8800 GTX for the price premium (by NVIDIA's own marketing department 10-15% faster in some situations); the 8800 Ultra is not worth the money over the 8800GTX. The card is fast, smooth and gives the gamer more power than the hammer of Thor, but is hard to recommend for the average Joe due to its expensive nature.
Doc out
