Overclocking

When it came to overclocking, I was unable to get the Zotac GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition's core speed to increase beyond the 700MHz factory-set core frequency. I came to this conclusion after trying various different tools and after a lot of frustration, I gave up the ghost and turned my attention to the memory.

Overclocking the memory proved a little bit more fruitful and, after all, that is where the GeForce 8800 GT's main bottleneck is. I managed to eke an extra 150MHz (effective) out of the memory before I started to see visible artifacting – this disappeared again once I set the clock down to 2128MHz.

The resulting performance increases weren't really anything to write home about, but there were some marginal performance gains (all less than 1fps, though) in both Call of Duty 4 and Crysis (DirectX 10).

Temperatures

The improvements that Zotac made to its cooling solution appear to have worked reasonably well but, in comparison to the Radeon HD 3870, there is a definite room for improvement. The high idle temperatures on the two GeForce 8800 GTs simply comes down to the fact that AMD's power management technologies are far superior to Nvidia's at present, as more of the GPU is turned off when it's idle.

While the loaded temperature is high, it's not worryingly high just yet. However, I'd definitely recommend decent cooling inside your chassis if you're wanting to use the standard GeForce 8800 GT cooler, as the loaded temperature is likely to tip over into three figures.

Final Thoughts...

There is a lot to like about Zotac's GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition – the heatsink has some subtle improvements that help to keep the temperature comparable with a standard-clocked GeForce 8800 GT at noise levels that are going to be inaudible in a chassis. It's also the fastest GeForce 8800 GT we have tested to date and, from looking around, there doesn't seem to be any 8800 GTs clocked faster than this – at best, there are equals out on the market. That maybe explains the overclocking problems we encountered.

At these elevated clock speeds, the Zotac GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition often rivals the more fully featured GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB in the performance stakes—something it manages to do with just a single slot cooling solution. That's an impressive feat in and of itself.

CCL Online appears to be the only place selling this card at £182.64 (inc. VAT) – a price point that makes it a worthwhile purchase. Other places have been asking for between £195 and £200 – at this price, the card is too expensive. The problem is that now you can pick up BFGTech's GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB OC for under £200 (inc. VAT), it's hard to recommend Zotac's GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! Edition if the two are comparably priced.

The reason for this is that the 8800 GTS's superior shader horsepower is likely to outlast the Zotac 8800 GT AMP! Edition's higher fillrates and slightly higher memory bandwidth. That said, the fact that one UK-based retailer is selling this card at a competitive price is a good enough reason to recommend it but on the provision that you don’t pay much more than CCL's £182.64 asking price for it.

Of course, the GeForce 8800 GTS's dual slot cooling solution is no good if you've got a case—like a Shuttle XPC—that demands a single slot card. In that scenario, Zotac's GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition is a good choice at a higher price, but you'll need to make sure your chassis has enough airflow to keep this card's temperature under control over extended gaming sessions.

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