Review: ECS N8800GTS-320MX graphics card

The ECS N8800GTS-320MX is an Nvidia Geforce 8800GTS-based card that differs from previous models by housing 320MB of GDDR3 memory instead of the 640MB typical of the 8800GTS.

Like the GTS model, it's a PCI-Express card based on Nvidia's reference design , with two DVI connectors.

It also matches the GTS in terms of dimensions.

However, ECS has overclocked the GPU from 500MHz to 513MHz. At low resolutions, this means the card actually pushes out one or two more fps (frames per second) compared to 640MB cards.

The amount of memory a graphics card needs in order to perform well depends on the game and the resolution it's being played at.

Half-life 2, for example, has relatively small texture sizes compared with newer titles, enabling this ECS card to score exactly the same as the 640MB model at every resolution – this includes our highest 1,600x1,200 test with 8x FSAA (anti-aliasing, for smooth edges) and 16xAF (anisotropic filtering, for high quality distant images).

A score of 14,873 in 3Dmark05 is exemplary and the ECS impressed us by keeping pace with an Asus 640MB 8800GTS card we recently tested in nearly all situations.

Fear, Doom3 and Far Cry scores were almost identical up to 1,600x1,200 resolutions, only dropping when FSAA and AF were enabled. Under these circumstances frame rates fell by just two per cent in Doom 3, but there was a more marked drop of around 28 per cent in Fear.

All frame rates were above the magical 60fps mark needed for smooth gaming apart from Fear, where frame rates still managed to stay above 30fps; this was true even up to the highest- quality settings with AF and FSAA enabled.

This card offers a £70 saving over the cheapest 640MB 8800GTS, yet it provides nearly identical performance. The only minor grumble we have concerning value for money is that no games are included.

Overall, the ECS N8800GTX-320MX is an impressive card and only gamers who play at ultra-high resolutions, perhaps 1,920x1,200 and above with FSAA and AA turned on, will benefit from more graphics Ram.

Alternatively, those looking for a DirectX 10 card on a budget might want to consider opting for an even cheaper 8600GT or GTS card – read our review of the recently released sub-£100 MSI NX8600GT .