8800GTS shootout - XFX 8800GTS XXX vs Gainward 8800GTS "Golden Sample"
Gainward Bliss 8800 GTS "Golden Sample" 640mb
Published: 5th March 2007 | Source: XFX | Price: |
Packaging
As is usual with Gainward there's a CGI female character on the front of the box and the packaging and protection is very good with some details on features and the name clearly printed on the box. The little golden emblem of the "Golden Sample" let's potential buyers that this is Gainward's signature range.
The Card
Both of the cards have been loaded up with the stock 8800GTS cooler that all of the early 8800GTS cards were provided with. This is an excellent, solid and reliable cooler that keeps these hot GPU's fairly cool whilst maintaining relative silence.
Gainward have gone for their signature red on the card and added their unique logo onto it as well:
The card is certainly very striking with the imposing cooler and the red colour. Also a nice touch is a Gainward logo on the top of the card or those of you with a case window to show off your hardware.
Package
In the box you get:
* Gainward Quick Start manual
* Gainward Drivers, Utilities and Manuals disc
* Power DVD Player Software
* CyberLink DVD Solution Software
* 2 x DVI to VGA adaptors
* 1 x S-Video out to Composite and Component
* 1 x Dual molex to 6 Pin PCI-e power adaptor
As usual Gainward provide a full package from a software perspective. With PowerDVD and a Gainward branded CyberLink DVD Solution as well as a drivers disc, Gainward have catered for those who want to have everything there for them upon opening the box. I did notice the lack of the usual "Free2Choose" voucher in the pack, which is unusual as this is usually something Gainward include this to fill out the package completely, and the choices are usually rather good.
The hardware package is also pretty decent with almost everything you need in the box. I did notice that an S-Video>S-Video cable was not included but seeing as most enthusiasts will not use this I don't think it's a great tragedy.
Overall a decent package as I have come to expect from Gainward.
Clock Speeds
Gainward have chosen to go for 550/1760 for the clock speeds of the card, along with 1200MHz on the stream processor clock. This should certainly help when pushing those pixels, although it is slightly lower than the XFX "XXX" Edition on the memory and certainly quite a bit lower on the stream processor clock.
Package
In the box you get:
* Gainward Quick Start manual
* Gainward Drivers, Utilities and Manuals disc
* Power DVD Player Software
* CyberLink DVD Solution Software
* 2 x DVI to VGA adaptors
* 1 x S-Video out to Composite and Component
* 1 x Dual molex to 6 Pin PCI-e power adaptor
As usual Gainward provide a full package from a software perspective. With PowerDVD and a Gainward branded CyberLink DVD Solution as well as a drivers disc, Gainward have catered for those who want to have everything there for them upon opening the box. I did notice the lack of the usual "Free2Choose" voucher in the pack, which is unusual as this is usually something Gainward include this to fill out the package completely, and the choices are usually rather good.
The hardware package is also pretty decent with almost everything you need in the box. I did notice that an S-Video>S-Video cable was not included but seeing as most enthusiasts will not use this I don't think it's a great tragedy.
Overall a decent package as I have come to expect from Gainward.
Clock Speeds
Gainward have chosen to go for 550/1760 for the clock speeds of the card, along with 1200MHz on the stream processor clock. This should certainly help when pushing those pixels, although it is slightly lower than the XFX "XXX" Edition on the memory and certainly quite a bit lower on the stream processor clock.
Most Recent Comments
Yeah, thanks to your review, i bought the xxx gts 640, WOW wont need to look at staticice for another18 months!
Aye they do pwn somewhat :D
9500 on 3dmark06 - *sigh*, yeah. . . . .. they really DO pwn!
very interesting review :)
Great review Kemp.
Somewhere along the line I was wishing u`d take a screw-driver to those coolers, the pcbs look almost identical asif these guyz are working extremely close together. Like in the same building :p
I see many are already posing whether it`s better value to get a base card and do all the clocking uself. Meh.
Somewhere along the line I was wishing u`d take a screw-driver to those coolers, the pcbs look almost identical asif these guyz are working extremely close together. Like in the same building :p
I see many are already posing whether it`s better value to get a base card and do all the clocking uself. Meh.
Great review Kemp.
Somewhere along the line I was wishing u`d take a screw-driver to those coolers, the pcbs look almost identical asif these guyz are working extremely close together. Like in the same building :p
I see many are already posing whether it`s better value to get a base card and do all the clocking uself. Meh.
They're all the same as the reference boards i expect.
As for the clocking we can oc the core but not the stream processors:(
Aye they're all reference boards basically so the coolers the same as the reference. I could have taken em apart but not sure how much use it would have been.
I took the 8800GTX apart in that review.
If your particularly interested I could take apart another GTS and post some pics?
And ye you can OC the core clocks/memory clocks but I haven't found a way of doing the stream processors yet
I took the 8800GTX apart in that review.
If your particularly interested I could take apart another GTS and post some pics?
And ye you can OC the core clocks/memory clocks but I haven't found a way of doing the stream processors yet
Is the stream process likely to involve some kind of firm upgrade that some guy is probably working on in his pc room as we speak ? lol Now these are out I guess theres a further reference for him to work off.
If I`m the only one looking for hardcore up-cooler shots, I wouldn`t bother, if I do some searching there bound to be something out there ;)
If I`m the only one looking for hardcore up-cooler shots, I wouldn`t bother, if I do some searching there bound to be something out there ;)
I have pics of my EN8800 GTS nekkid if you want to have a look at them
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i use ATitool for my oc'ing and you can have it load the oc on startup and it tells the temp... i have mine running at 640/1000
havnt seen the temp go above 70*c yet cuz i got some insain air fed to my card at all times... two 80mm fans and a 120mm all blowing on it