XFX 7800GTX SLI Video Card Review :: The Card

XFX 7800GTX
Brand	XFX
Model	6600GT
Graphics Chip	G70
Graphics Memory Type	DDR3
Memory (MB)	256
Graphics Core Clock (MHz)	450
Memory Clock (MHz)	1250
Memory Speed (ns)	1.6
RAMDAC Frequency (MHz)	Dual 400
Active Cooling on Graphics Chip	Yes
Heatsink on Memory	Yes
Video Capture	Yes
Ports
Dual Monitor Support	Yes
VGA Out	DVI-I, DVI-I
Video In and Out	TV Out
Package and Support
Printed Manual	Yes
Driver CD	Yes
Performance Tool Software	No
Major Games	No
Major Software	None(trial versions only)
VR Glasses	No
DVD Player Software	Power DVD Trial
Video Recording Software	No

XFX has a unique style of box presentation. The first thing a person notices on a store shelf is the box of the card. All XFX cards come in a stylized box shaped like an X. One thing about XFX boxes is they tend to be very hard to open. This is a security measure to protect stores from theft, or easy card replacement. I think it's a cool concept that has helped stores maintain inventory.

The 7800GTX is a long video card. Compared to last year's 6800 Ultra, the 7800GTX is approximately 1.5 inches longer than the previous generation video card. One thing NVIDIA has improved on is the 7800GTX is only a single slot solution. Previous NVIDIA high-end video cards have taken up 2 slots on a motherboard, lowering the expansion options on any board it's installed on.

A 30-fin radial fan handles cooling on the XFX card. This effectively cools the 7800GTX card, as the G70 chip runs cooler than the NV4x family does. XFX provides an aluminum heat sink assembly that covers the rest of the front of the 7800GTX PCB. Weight-wise, the 7800GTX weighs about the same as the reference 6800GT we use for motherboard testing. The 7800GTX comes with a 6-pin power connector to provide extra power above and beyond the 75W the PCI Express X16 slot provides.

The core clock speed of the 7800GTX from XFX is 450MHz by default, a 20MHz overclock, compared to NVIDIA's 430MHz reference card clock. The 7800GTX can output 16 pixels per clock, giving a total maximum fillrate of 7.2 gigapixels a second. The texel fillrate of the card is 10.8 gigatexels maximum. NVIDIA feels, that games going forward will be more and more shader intensive, making fill rate less of a concern.

Memory on the board comprises 8 32MB 1.6ns DDR3 memory chips, 4 on the front of the PCB and 4 on the rear of the board. The configuration of the memory chips on the 7800GTX leaves space open for a future 512MB version of the card. The memory is rated and clocked at 625MHz, giving a maximum theoretical memory bandwidth of 40GB on the XFX card, slightly above the standard 38.4GB/second found on NVIDIA's reference cards.