Gainward Bliss 8800 Ultra
Conclusion
Published: 18th July 2007 | Source: Gainward | Price: |
Author: Matt Kemp
Source: Gainward
Conclusion
The 8800 Ultra is a top-of-the-line, top dollar graphics card and you get what you pay for. If you want blistering performance and bleeding edge graphics and have the screen resolution to take advantage of that then the 8800 Ultra is your card.
At £402 from SpecialTech, the 8800 Ultra isn't priced too badly, although an 8800 GTX can set you back £70 less. It's basically a matter of deciding if your budget can afford the faster clocked card or not.
The 8800 Ultra is a card that takes the top end and really takes it further, something nVidia didn't actually have to do. With this in mind I have to give the Gainward 8800 Ultra a "Editors Choice" and "Recommended" Award, albeit with a price-tag.
Pro's
+ Blistering performance
+ Great looking
+ Quiet
Con's
- Expensive
- Bundle could be better
Thanks to Gainward for providing the review sample
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Most Recent Comments
Typo?
The fan on the 8800 Ultra is of a similar ilk page 2, last paragraph.
The fan on the 8800 Ultra is of a similar ilk page 2, last paragraph.
Nice write up.
I thought the Ultra's had a tonne of OC headroom... Evidently not.
Not free game with a £400 card? C'mon.
Looking at the OC results, budget or not, get a GTX and OC it - nothing that hasn't been said before. With the money saved get a better CPU or more RAM.
I want a GTX...
Edit: LOL - I think ilk is a very English word
I thought the Ultra's had a tonne of OC headroom... Evidently not.
Not free game with a £400 card? C'mon.
Looking at the OC results, budget or not, get a GTX and OC it - nothing that hasn't been said before. With the money saved get a better CPU or more RAM.
I want a GTX...
Edit: LOL - I think ilk is a very English word
I found the Ultra got better scores than the GTX across the board - mainly due to those stream processors mefinks
Well sorry Kemp :P
It's almost 4:30 AM here, gonna read it later.
Gnite!
<3
It's almost 4:30 AM here, gonna read it later.
Gnite!
<3
I was wondering, can you not just get that bios tool nbitor (can't remember), make a copy of the ultra's bios, then flash the GTX with the Ultra's bios and have the stream proccy clocked?
You can do the core/shader clocks/mem yourself.
Just a thought. Surely stream processors are oc'd at bios level...
You can do the core/shader clocks/mem yourself.
Just a thought. Surely stream processors are oc'd at bios level...
I dunno mate tbh
It's going back tomorrow and I don't do hard/BIOS mods in reviews for obvious reasons
It's going back tomorrow and I don't do hard/BIOS mods in reviews for obvious reasons
Great review, throw in a class game and the £402 would be easier to spend.
Other than that, whether the peformance over it`s rival is worth that £70 or so extra is up for debate. Seemed to give a nice increase when clocked tho, so u know there`s an further increase to be had.
If u bought this - would u immediately strip the cooler and apply u`r own thermal goo ? That stuff looks as hap-hazard an application as the trend seems to be.
Keep an eye out tbh, cos some1 somewhere would have looked into it.
Other than that, whether the peformance over it`s rival is worth that £70 or so extra is up for debate. Seemed to give a nice increase when clocked tho, so u know there`s an further increase to be had.
If u bought this - would u immediately strip the cooler and apply u`r own thermal goo ? That stuff looks as hap-hazard an application as the trend seems to be.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
I was wondering, can you not just get that bios tool nbitor (can't remember), make a copy of the ultra's bios, then flash the GTX with the Ultra's bios and have the stream proccy clocked?
You can do the core/shader clocks/mem yourself. Just a thought. Surely stream processors are oc'd at bios level... |
Kempez, can you do me a favour? Make a copy of the Ultra's bios while you have it and email it to me?
Now all I need is a GTX... Or find someone with a GTX thats willing. If I sell my GTS...
Rast - keep your eyes peeled my man! I'm-a startin' googlin' now!
Now all I need is a GTX... Or find someone with a GTX thats willing. If I sell my GTS...
Rast - keep your eyes peeled my man! I'm-a startin' googlin' now!
lol I would do but it's in reception being picked up 
Damit. I think it would work. Ultra for the price of GTX
Sorry for the thread jacking.
Back on topic
Sorry for the thread jacking.
Back on topic
As usual a bloody good review! 
But is it really worth the extra dosh? It isn't that much quicker than the GTX.. :eh:
Thanks for the read!
But is it really worth the extra dosh? It isn't that much quicker than the GTX.. :eh:
Thanks for the read!
It is noticably smoother in games tbh
i didn't realise the gainward goop was so bad! i'll have to strip my gts and AS5 the core me thinks! (until i get a nice shiny waterblock for it anyway)
kemp what are the chances of getting some of the original sized pics, full resolution ones so we can see a close up for the cards?
perhaps in a zip file at the end of the review as a choice for members or something?
watermarked obviously just full size?
kemp what are the chances of getting some of the original sized pics, full resolution ones so we can see a close up for the cards?
perhaps in a zip file at the end of the review as a choice for members or something?
watermarked obviously just full size?
SuB, not sure how large you are after but if you use Firefox to browse you can install the image zoom tool and zoom right in there, although pixelation occurs if its a low quality image to begin with...
Aye it was resized from a 10MP DSLR to 1024 x 768 then uploaded and resized again.
Umm...I can do mate, though not sure how many people would want that
Failing that tell me what ya wanna look like and I'll upload it and link to it here
Umm...I can do mate, though not sure how many people would want that
Failing that tell me what ya wanna look like and I'll upload it and link to it here
Those are some amazing fps for 1920 x 1200 with AA&AF. A good read as usual, although with a price tag of £402 I wouldn't have scored it as highly as 7/10 for 'Price'.
Well it's all relative isn't it? OK it's not in the section with the GTS (say 8 or 9), but it's still very fast and £402 is a lot less than it was released for
EDIT: SuB which pic you after?
EDIT: SuB which pic you after?
all really i like to have a nice maaaaassive pic of things everynow and again, just that black plastic thing on the cooler looks a bit.. well.. 'cheap' but i dno
also a decent one of the pcb back and front thats about it really just so its possible to really get a good look at the layout
also a decent one of the pcb back and front thats about it really just so its possible to really get a good look at the layout
OK mate give me till tonight and I'll upload the full 5.5mb pics
Hey Kemp a quick question. Why did you turn off the shadows on Oblivion? And can you still not use AA and HDR together with the G80 cards?
sweetness cheers kemp
(i'd also like to know if the 8 series can do HDR + AA i tried farcry in vista but i couldn't get it to work the mouse wasn't detecting properly so i gave up without trying and haven't tried on xp yet lol)
(i'd also like to know if the 8 series can do HDR + AA i tried farcry in vista but i couldn't get it to work the mouse wasn't detecting properly so i gave up without trying and haven't tried on xp yet lol)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='PP Mguire'
Hey Kemp a quick question. Why did you turn off the shadows on Oblivion? And can you still not use AA and HDR together with the G80 cards?
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='SuB'
sweetness cheers kemp
(i'd also like to know if the 8 series can do HDR + AA i tried farcry in vista but i couldn't get it to work the mouse wasn't detecting properly so i gave up without trying and haven't tried on xp yet lol) |
Ok, well actualy shadows on the greenery actualy bogs the card down alot more making it more stressful of a bench. Also, if you test them at 4x+HDR then why not in this review?? Just a thought.
I did test them at 4 x + HDR in this review
I am aware that shadows on the greenary affect performance, but I had to do a standard test for all the cards for comparison purposes so I chose no shadows.
I am aware that shadows on the greenary affect performance, but I had to do a standard test for all the cards for comparison purposes so I chose no shadows.
According to this
http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/articles/2007/07/08184537656l.jpg
AA is turned off. Thats why i asked.
http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/articles/2007/07/08184537656l.jpg
AA is turned off. Thats why i asked.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='"review"'
I enforced 4 x AA onto the game (via drivers) on all cards, leaving HDR on as an option in-game.
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Ahaha, totaly missed that. What an idiot of me lol sorry.
lol Sok mate, twas an easy mistake
Oblivion won't let you enforce AA and HDR in-game so I use the drivers to do it
Oblivion won't let you enforce AA and HDR in-game so I use the drivers to do it
Thats what i do, but thats because i have a 7950 card. I thought the G80 and X1900 cards where supposed to allow AA and HDR at the same time? Or is it just Oblivion being a pain?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='PP Mguire'
Thats what i do, but thats because i have a 7950 card. I thought the G80 and X1900 cards where supposed to allow AA and HDR at the same time? Or is it just Oblivion being a pain?
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And for the ATI cards you have to apply it in the drivers too
Ah mk. Thanks alot.
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