Conclusions
If nothing else, the breadth of this round-up illustrates just how many options consumers have when choosing a mid-range graphics card. There are plenty of attractive models out there (and enticing graphics cards too), but there are also some we'd sooner avoid. We'll summarize our opinions on each card in a moment, but first, I'm going to climb up onto the soapbox to highlight a couple of big issues that affect a number of cards in the field.

In the past, we've chided graphics board vendors for selling little more than restickered reference designs. We'd still like to see manufacturers offer custom board designs, coolers, and other unique features. However, we're not interested in different for the sake of being different—different also has to be an improvement over the reference design. Numerous cards in this round-up ditched perfectly good reference coolers that intelligently control fan speeds based on GPU temperatures in favor of heatsinks that take up extra slots, generate more noise, and aren't smart enough to throttle fan speeds at idle. That's just not a good trade-off.

Warranties are also an important consideration for us, so we were disappointed to see a number of cards with only a single year of coverage. Not good enough, especially when the rest of the field is offering two-year, three-year, and even lifetime warranties.

Now that that's off my chest, on to the cards.

Asus EAH3870 TOP — Asus went to town with EAH3870 TOP clock speeds, producing one of the fastest 3870s we've seen. They've also thrown in a copy of Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts to sweeten the pot. The end result is a very solid card, and an affordable one at $240. However, the performance just isn't there to challenge 8800 GTs, and this isn't the best 3870 of the bunch. Noise is an issue, particularly under load, where the EAH3870 is six decibels louder than our favorite 3870.

Asus EN8800GT TOP — If you're looking for the fastest card in the round-up, here it is. The EN8800GT TOP delivered the highest frame rates in our gaming tests thanks to Asus' factory overclocking. Although its custom cooler takes up two slots and isn't temperature-controlled, it actually maintained reasonably low noise levels at both idle under load. Throw in Company of Heroes and a respectable three-year warranty, and we have the makings of a possible Editor's Choice. Unfortunately, this particular card is incredibly scarce online. Even the few retailers that list it don't appear to have stock, and they're asking for close to $300 anyway. If you can find the EN8800GT TOP at a good price, it's highly recommended.

Gigabyte GV-NX88T512H-B — The GV-NX88T512H-B is essentially a GeForce 8800 GT reference design, so there isn't much to get excited about, particularly when you consider the next card up the line. Sure, you get a copy of Neverwinter Nights 2 and a three-year warranty, but you also get stock clock speeds and Nvidia's original cooler design for the 8800 GT. The cooler is the real problem, delivering blissfully low noise levels at the expense of GPU temperatures that can sail 30 degrees higher than those of other cards. That's a dangerous compromise and one that Nvidia has already rectified with an updated cooler design. So it's not Gigabyte's fault, at least. If you can find this same card equipped with Nvidia's newer cooler, though, it may be more worthy of your consideration.

Gigabyte GV-NX88T512HP — Fortunately, we have two of Gigabyte's 8800 GTs to choose from. This HP model boasts higher clock speeds, upgraded electrical components, and even the ability to manipulate the GPU core voltage. Throw in a three-year warranty and a $260 street price, and this card looks pretty good. Except for one thing: the cooler. Gigabyte has replaced the GT's stock heatsink with one that reduces GPU temperatures, but this cooler takes up an extra slot and apparently makes no use of intelligent fan speed control. What you end up with is the loudest 8800 GT at idle by nearly five decibels, and that just ruins the card for us.

Gigabyte GV-RX387512H — With a comparatively slow memory clock, the GV-RX387512H sits somewhere between the Radeon HD 3850 and the 3870. Fortunately, it's priced closer to the former at just $210 online. That's a pretty impressive price for a card that comes with a copy of Neverwinter Nights 2 and a three-year warranty. Unfortunately, Gigabyte doesn't appear to have made use of any temperature-based fan speed control with the card's custom Zalman cooler, resulting in idle noise levels that are more than five decibels higher than the quietest Radeon. The GV-RX387512H could have been a contender if it were quiet at idle, but it's not.

HIS HD IceQ3 Turbo 3870 — The fastest Radeon in our gaming tests is also among the quietest, which is a pleasant surprise. Of course, there's a catch. Two of them, in fact. First is the card's $280 street price, which makes it more expensive than a number of 8800 GTs that offer better performance. Even worse is HIS's paltry single-year warranty. We'll pass.

HIS HD IceQ3 TurboX 3850 — This IceQ3 card is quite an upgrade over the standard 3850, scaling clock speeds and adding a dual-slot cooler that's quieter than any other in this round-up at idle. However, at $220 online, this is a little expensive for a 3850—even one with higher-than-stock clock speeds. HIS's one-year warranty doesn't help matters, either; we'd avoid the card on that basis alone.

MSI NX8800GT — The NX8800GT is the most affordable example of the 8800 GT 512MB in this round-up at only $245 online, but it's also saddled with Nvidia's original reference cooler. This cooler is incredibly quiet, but at the same time, it lets the GPU and graphics memory run hot—too hot for our tastes, and apparently for Nvidia's, as well. If you can find the NX8800GT with the updated reference cooler, it's worth a look.

Palit 8800GT Super+ — Although its gigabyte of onboard memory is unnecessarily excessive, there's a lot to like about Palit's 8800GT Super+. The dual-slot cooler is very quiet and delivers decent cooling performance, for example, and we like the addition of three-phase power for the 8800 GT. Unfortunately, Super+ cards run around $300 online, putting them at the expensive end of the GT spectrum. That's a tough sell for a card that you'll have to overclock on your own to keep pace with faster GT variants.

PowerColor AX3850 512MD3-PH — The custom cooler design PowerColor uses on the AX3850 is incredibly loud, even at idle, where it apparently makes no use of temperature-based fan speed control. Sure, this setup delivers low GPU temperatures that should improve the card's overclocking potential, but at the cost of 10 decibels on our sound level meter. The AX3850 may only cost $210 online, but considering its one-year warranty, I wouldn't take it over the Gigabyte 3870, which has the same street price.

PowerColor AX3870 512MD4-PH — The problems that plague the AX3850 aren't solved by PowerColor's take on the 3870. The cooler is far too loud, sacrificing noise levels that everyone will immediately notice in favor of temperatures that few will ever bother to check. With a $250 price tag, this card has to compete with 8800 GTs that offer with three times the warranty coverage and superior performance. No thanks.

Sapphire HD 3850 — The Radeon HD 3850 lacks the pixel-pushing horsepower to make effective use of this card's gigabyte of memory, even with a slightly overclocked graphics core. Couple that with only two years of warranty coverage and cooler that's quite noisy for a 3850, and we're not too keen on this Sapphire offering.

VisionTek Radeon HD 3870 — Of all the Radeons in this round-up, VisionTek's Radeon HD 3870 is easily the most attractive. Not only does it rise above the poor warranty coverage offered by HIS and PowerColor with a lifetime term, but it also has the lowest noise levels of any 3870 and a very reasonable $234 street price. If you have your heart set on the Radeon HD 3800 series, this is a better card than the alternatives we've looked at today, and so it's TR Recommended.

XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog Edition 256 — A double-lifetime warranty and copy of Lost Planet are highlights for the 256MB Alpha Dog, but the card's memory size is not. It doesn't help that the memory is running a little slow at only 1.6GHz. You're not saving buckets of cash, either. At $230 online, the 256MB Alpha Dog may be the least expensive 8800 GT, but it only costs about $20 more to get a 512MB version.

XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog Edition 512 — Speaking of which, we have the 512MB Alpha Dog at $250. You get the same great warranty and a decent game in Company of Heroes, except this time with enough memory to make the 8800 GT really sing. And the Alpha Dog does, although it howls a little too loud under load. That's really its only flaw, not a huge one considering that none of these cards are perfect. Given the 512MB Alpha Dog's balanced mix of performance an extras, we have our first Editor's Choice recipient.

Zotac GeForce 8800 GT Amp! Edition — With an S/PDIF cable and HDMI adapter included in the box, this Zotac card is the best 8800 GT we've seen for use with high-definition TVs. There's more to its appeal than HDMI output, though. Factory overclocking keeps the Amp competitive with its direct rivals, while the cooler maintains low noise levels and reasonable temperatures. The only fly in the ointment is the two-year warranty, which is a little light considering the three-year and lifetime coverage being offered elsewhere. We'll swallow that flaw given the card's $250 street price. In fact, we've selected the Amp Edition as our second Editor's Choice.