Conclusions
The GeForce 8800 GTS 512 is easily superior to the product it supplants, the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB. In fact, I'd take the GTS 512 over the more expensive GeForce 8800 GTX, given the choice. The GTS 512 performs substantially better than the GTS 640MB and nearly as well as the GTX, yet it draws less power and offers several new features, including PCIe 2.0 support and better HD video processing. All of this is good.

What's more, AMD has nothing to compete with this card, save for a Radeon HD 3850 CrossFire config that's not truly competitive—both for performance reasons and because of the innate problems that plague multi-GPU setups, especially (at least of late) those from AMD. The folks at AMD have been talking a big game about ramping up their multi-GPU strategy as their primary means of competing in high-end graphics. If they're going to do so, they'll have to do much better with CrossFire scaling and compatibility than they are right now. None of the games we tested are exactly obscure, yet several of them didn't work well with CrossFire.

With that said, the GTS 512's big Achilles' heel comes in the form of a sibling rivalry. The specs say the GTS 512 is better than the 8800 GT thanks to its additional SP cluster, which grants it more texture filtering and shader processing power. But the real-world games we tested say the true limitations right now look to be pixel fill rates and memory bandwidth, where the GTS 512 barely leads the 8800 GT at all. That's especially the case once you throw a "factory overclocked" 8800 GT into the mix. We tested one from MSI, but many companies offer similar cards. Even if you factor in the price premium you'll pay for the higher-clocked version of 8800 GT and the premium due to the GT's relative scarcity, the 8800 GT OC looks to be a better deal than the GTS 512.

There is a case to be made for the GTS 512, though, in the right conditions. The 8800 GT has been rather difficult to find in stock at online retailers, and the MSI card we tested is going for nearly 300 bucks. We do prefer the GTS 512's dual-slot cooler, and the EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 512 card we reviewed comes with a copy of Crysis for $359. I can see paying that price if you haven't already finished Crysis like I have, I suppose.

Speaking of which, you may be wondering why we haven't included Crysis results in our testing today. The reason is that we have bigger plans for Crysis testing soon. Stay tuned.