Nvidia 7900 GT and GTX Card Mini Roundup Review
XFX 7900GT XXX Edition
Published: 18th May 2006 | Source: XFX | Price: |
Author: Matthew Kemp (kempez)
Hardware Acquired: XFX, Gainward
Meet the XFX 7900GT
XFX have a very good reputation in the Graphics Market. We're taking a look at their fastest current 7900GT - the "XXX Edition"
Specs:
GPU: Geforce 7900GT
GPU Clockspeed: 560 MHz
Memory: 256MB 1,2ns DDR3
Memory Clockspeed: 1650 MHz
Ramdac: 400 MHz
Bus: PCI-Express
Cooling: Fan (One-Slot)
Special Features: Dual DVI Out , HDTV ready , SLI ready
Packaging
XFX always go for innovative packaging and this card is no exception. The familiar "X" packaging once again comes with this card. XFX's package is a bit light on software for my liking. The only thing in the package is the game Starship Troopers. The packaging is very secure and innovative though.
You get:
Quick Start Guide
Driver CD
Starship Troopers
2 x DVI-VGA Adaptors1 x S-Video Out Connector
Although Starship Troopers is included as a full game out of the box, this isn't exactly an AAA title. In fairness to XFX they couldn't get us the VIVO edition of this card for the review - which I would imagine would have a lot more in it. Putting an "HDTV" sticker on the packaging is not something I'm very impressed by though as this card is NOT HDCP ready and does not have a bundle to support this claim. All in all though someone would not buy this card for the bundle.
First impressions
XFX brand their cards very well but you can tell that the stock cooler is only slightly modified with a green cooler. After handling all of the top-line cards the cooler gives the impression of the card being "weedy"...maybe looks bely what is underneath. At least the cooler is a proper single slot cooler and won't take up any more space.
I am not impressed that there are no RAM sinks but we'll see if this affects the cards overclocking capabilities.
The rear of the card is a pretty standard affair.
As you can see from the side the cooler is made of copper.
Dual DVI and S-Video out.
Same as the Gainward - installation and a quick start guide is there for those who do not know how to install the card which, again, is a nice touch.
Above we have it installed in the test setup. It takes up far less room than the other two cards we have on show.
Noise
The card is pretty whiney. I couldn't tell much of a noise difference between the XFX and the Gainward until the games started firing up a bit. The XFX cooler is definately a bit whiney, though I don't think that it's enough to put me off of gaming. If you have a very quiet setup this may get on your nerves quite a lot.
The cooler once again is very good. This may be due to the amount of copper and the way that the vents are positioned on the card or it may be due to the fact that the 7900GT chip is generally quite cool anyway. 72°C was the top temperature I recorded the card at.
If you like a quiet case you may want to buy yourself an aftermarket cooler.
Most Recent Comments
Excellent Review Kemp, keep it up 
Sam
Sam
Yup, nice work 
Lovely, now i'm dying for my Asus 7900 512MB GTX 
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='MonkeyMeow'
Lovely, now i'm dying for my Asus 7900 512MB GTX
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the problem of the gainward is the same i have on my 7800 so that happend after i overclocked it and i think i f**ked the ram, btw great review all the text must have taken you ages to write
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='limqareb'
the problem of the gainward is the same i have on my 7800 so that happend after i overclocked it and i think i f**ked the ram, btw great review all the text must have taken you ages to write
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Thanks guys - glad you like it
Nice job as always kemp, I just got a XFX 7900GT for a customer, they are very pleased with it
Awesome review mate
Nice review Kemp One question...did you notice any kind of high pitch whine coming from any of the cards at any time? There is a thread going over at XS about this and apparently there are some cards that have an IC that gets VERY hot and starts to whine. The thread can be found HERE. Anyone else with a 7900 series card noticed this? It took a little listening to find it on mine since it is already loud in the room that my comp is in but it is there. I ended up just putting a memory heatsink on it and the 120mm fan in the side of my case takes care of the cooling on it.
One question...did you notice any kind of high pitch whine coming from any of the cards at any time? There is a thread going over at XS about this and apparently there are some cards that have an IC that gets VERY hot and starts to whine. The thread can be found HERE. Anyone else with a 7900 series card noticed this? It took a little listening to find it on mine since it is already loud in the room that my comp is in but it is there. I ended up just putting a memory heatsink on it and the 120mm fan in the side of my case takes care of the cooling on it.Hmm I have been noticing a loud pitched whine coming out of this one yes. didn't notice it during the review though
Just me or is there 2 page 6s? :s
And 10 and 11. May be my browzer...
And 10 and 11. May be my browzer...
Ham, your not alone
Fixed, just Kemp accidentally re-submitting the same pages after checking them due to a PM from a spelling whore no doubt.
We'll get it sorted. This is due to WC making me go through the entire review. If I submit a page without making changes another page 
I don't read loads of reviews on any site tbh, however I do think that is the best review/comparison I have read. I enjoy a good comparison and all cards are well described, analysed, well pictured with easy to follow results. It's all very well laid out and this must have taken a lot of time. Fair doos mate 
Thanks mate that's really appreciated. It did take up quite a fair amount of my spare time but hopefully it'll help out a few people who are wanting to make a decision on what to buy.
Kemp: Could you look and see if you can find where the whining is coming from?
I aint getting any right now plus i have to go to bed but I will do tomorrow mate ok
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Originally Posted by Kempez
Thanks mate that's really appreciated. It did take up quite a fair amount of my spare time but hopefully it'll help out a few people who are wanting to make a decision on what to buy.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
I aint getting any right now plus i have to go to bed but I will do tomorrow mate ok
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
We'll get it sorted. This is due to WC making me go through the entire review. If I submit a page without making changes another page
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Anyways, nice review man
Awesome, awesome review!
Good job Kemp!
Good job Kemp!
Please note that I have amended this review conclusion after discussion with Gainward.
Thanks
Thanks
What was changed? I didn't notice anything or did I just miss it?
EDIT: NM I found it...I am just blind
EDIT: NM I found it...I am just blind
good review; solid testing method, I like it, thumbs up.
would have loved to see 7900GT 256Mb vs 512Mb shoot-out between XFX and Gainward with both memory/GPU speeds the same; interesting to see how they stack up.
guess that I'll have to check myself
Sparkle 512Mb vs Club3D 256Mb
would have loved to see 7900GT 256Mb vs 512Mb shoot-out between XFX and Gainward with both memory/GPU speeds the same; interesting to see how they stack up.
guess that I'll have to check myself
Sparkle 512Mb vs Club3D 256Mb
CSS Valid
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