XFX 512MB 7800GTX Video Card Review :: The Card

XFX decided to follow NVIDIA's reference cooling design for their 7800GTX 512MB card. Many high-end video cards including the 6800 Ultra, the X1800XT and this 7800GTX 512MB require 2-slot cooling to keep the graphics core cool when running. The cooling fan is a huge 7-fin fan covering the center of the card. Surrounding the fan is a heatpipe assembly with the hot air drawn out to a set of fins on the front and back of the assembly. During operation the card recorded a temperature of 42C idle and 70C under load.

Card Shot

Card Shot 2

NVIDIA reference card

The rear of the card is relatively empty, with some small capacitors, a few stickers and the mounting points for the cooling fan. The card is a PCI Express x16 native card. When Intel released the first retail PCI Express x16 motherboards, NVIDIA announced a "bridge chip" to allow older video card chipsets to use the new standard. The GEFORCE 7800GTX doesn't require the bridge chip.

Bottom of Card

6-pin power connector

XFX outfitted the card with 8 512 Megabit 1.1ns GDDR-3 memory modules. 1.1ns memory is the fastest available memory rated for 909MHz (1818MHz effective). The NVIDIA reference card has a memory clock of 850MHz or 1.7GHz effective. XFX decided to clock their 512MB card at 1.73GHz, a 30MHz overclock over the default clocks. This provides 54.4GB/second of memory bandwidth, since the 7800GTX has a 256-bit memory bus.

I/O connectors

XFX decided to outfit the card with two DVI-I ports, and a TV-Out port for the input/output block. If you have two LCD monitors with DVI-I connectors, you can use them in dual monitor mode. The included DVI-I to D-sub adapters allows you to use two CRT monitors in dual monitor mode. Alternatively, you can use one LCD+one CRT. NVIDIA has a program called nView to control multiple monitors. ATI's version is called Hydravision, but is a separate download.

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