Introduction

There have been constant speculations and rumors about a mid-range GeForce 7 series graphics card for some time now. Such talk has only intensified after NVIDIA's second card in the GeForce 7 series turned out to be the GeForce 7800 GT, which still fell into the high-end category. The company showed no indication of replacing its ageing high-end GeForce 6800 cards with a GeForce 7 series alternative though persistent rumors hinted at a GeForce 7800 GS that was supposed to be it. Instead, NVIDIA blindsided almost everyone with its introduction of the GeForce 6800 GS, a cheaper, short-term replacement for the existing GeForce 6800 and even the GeForce 6800 GT.

MSI's newest GeForce card is its take on the NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS.

From the reference NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS that we reviewed , this short-term SKU looks to be quite a bargain, thanks to its competitive performance and price ratio. The GeForce 6800 GS could match the GeForce 6800 GT in the benchmarks but its recommended retail price is significantly lower than the GeForce 6800 GT and thus also taking over the segment that the plain GeForce 6800 once occupied. NVIDIA has also managed to maintain its promise to have the card widely available at launch and this too, seems to have been fulfilled, judging from the quick response that we have had from vendors when it came to review units. First up, we have the MSI NX6800GS-TD256E, a standard GeForce 6800 GS from one of the largest graphics card vendors in the business – Micro-Star International. To refresh your memory about this SKU, here are its technical specifications: