nVidia are releasing their GeForce 8800GTS 320MB graphics card today which is around 20% cheaper than the 640MB version. The chaps over at TweakTown take a further look at the Palit's 320MB version of the 8800GTS. Here's a taster:

If you're the owner of a smaller type LCD monitor (like 17" to 19") and cannot run any higher than the standard 1280 x 1024 resolution that these monitors offer (or even 1680 x 1050 that entry level widescreen monitors do), then this is the perfect option for you. You're going to be able to get into the DX10 gaming arena without totally breaking the bank.

What is interesting though is that it's obvious that the extra memory does make a difference in certain areas and with such texture driven and highly intensive games like Crysis coming out soon, the more onboard VGA memory the merrier. However, is $100 AUD (640MB version) or $200+ AUD (8800GTX) extra worth spending so that you can have your draw distance that little bit further or be able to turn on AA and AF?

From what we can see, nVidia's GeForce 8800GTS 320MB really is going to be the "in" graphics card to own for a while. AMD's R600 is no doubt going to come out faster and a hell of a lot more expensive. It will take ATI at least three months before we see a budget conscious version like the 320MB 8800GTS come out. Suffice to say, we are pleased with the GeForce 8800GTS 320MB. It manages to reduce the price by almost 20% over the 640MB version and in just about all of our gaming tests, performance is the same or only a little slower. Palit has only managed to make it better by selling it cheaper than most other brands on the market.

In related news Guru3D takes a look at the GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB XFX the XXX edition and GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB BFG the OC edition (and SLI):

So that's the one huge recommendation I'd like to give you. If you aim at a higher resolutions then definitely go for the 640 model, or even better the delicious 768 Mb GTX. There's another thing to keep in mind though, upcoming games that require massive amounts of texture memory can be an issue. A good example in our test run was GRAW; the GTS 640 MB model performed way better on all levels thanks to the fact it had enough memory. With upcoming DX10 titles like Crysis I'm confident that a larger framebuffer will really start to matter, a 512Mb graphics card would have been the way to go here.

Overclocking then, quite amazing. The tested cards today are overclocked by default and if you stick by the recommended resolutions you'll notice the card in most cases is faster than the standard clocked 640 Mb model. It's doesn't end there though; it seems we're allowed to overclock again as that tweaking range was just bloody amazing. Remember, 500 MHz is the reference default core clock frequency. I assure you, you can reach 600-650 MHz and if you are in bit of luck 700 MHz. If you want to go for such an excessive overclock then remember this, grab Rivatuner and force your fan-speed at a higher RPM, the results will be much better. And no, we did not do such a thing for today's OC, the RPM was set at reference. So that's just a hint I'd like to give you.

Update: Other NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB reviews: AnandTech, HardOCP, LegitReviews, MadShrimps, PC Perspective