NVIDIA GeForce 7 Phase 2 Review :: XFX 7900GTX XXX Edition

GF 7900GTX 512mb 256bit DDR3 DUAL DVI TV
Brand	XFX
Model	GF 7900GTX 512mb 256bit DDR3 DUAL DVI TV
Graphics Chip	G71
Graphics Memory Type	DDR3
Memory (MB)	512
Graphics Core Clock (MHz)	700
Memory Clock (MHz)	1800
Memory Speed (ns)	1.4
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	2x DVI-I
Video In and Out	7-pin HDTV Out
Package and Support
Printed Manual	Yes
Driver CD	Yes
Performance Tool Software	Coolbits
Major Games	Demos
Major Software	Tounmichi 3D Edit
VR Glasses	No
DVD Player Software	None
Video Recording Software	N/A

Features

• 90 nanometer low-k dialelectic process
• 278 million transistors
• 24 pixel pipelines
• 8 Vertex Shader Pipelines
• 700MHz Core Clock Speed
• 800MHz Memory Clock Speed
• 512MB Frame Buffer memory
• 256-bit memory interface
• Dual Dual Link DVI
• Double Lifetime Warranty
• $499 MSRP

The XFX 7900GTX is the flagship card of the new 7900 series. NVIDIA reference clocks are set at 650MHz, a increase of over 220MHz from the 7800GTX and 100MHz more than the 7800GTX 512MB card of late last year. XFX chose to clock the card at 700MHz, a 50MHz higher clock than the reference board. The key differences between the 7900GTX and the 7800GTX are the transition to the 90 nanometer low-k dialectic processes from the 110 nanometer process used previously. The die shrink allowed the chip to be nearly ½ the die size of the previous chip with less transistors (302 million on the 7800GTX and 278 million on the 7900GTX). This should allow NVIDIA to cut down on costs per chip and have more chips per wafer.

XFX Technical Support is one of the best in the industry. They offer a Double Lifetime Warranty on all of their video cards. What this means is if you purchase a XFX video card and later transfer ownership of the card to another person via sale, trade or as a present the Warranty is transferable to the second owner of the card. Other Lifetime Warranties are for the original owner of the card only (i.e. EVGA, and BFG). The 7900GTX comes in a large rectangular box with the name of the card, the main features of the card and descriptions of the card.

NVIDIA decided when designing the 7900GTX chip to cool it with the same heatsink/fan/pipe assembly as they used with the 7800GTX 512MB. The cooling solution is a 2-slot design, meaning you'll need an adjacent free PCI or PCI Express slot next to the PCI Express x16 slot the card is installed into to be free. XFX decided to use the same cooler design with their 7900GTX XXX Edition, with some modifications to the mounting holes due to the smaller size of the chip. I prefer video cards to be single slot but the card is effectively cooled with the card reaching a temperature of 40C at most. I was able to overclock the card to 705MHz/1.68GHz, a slight jump, but the card is clocked high as it is.

Modern high-end video cards require extra power than provided by the PCI Express slot (75W for the x16 slot). The 7900GTX 512MB has a 6-pin power connector providing the power the card needs. The 7xxx series are all Native PCI Express cards, not requiring a HSI chip to operate. Early NVIDIA cards on this new interface required a bridge chip to operate. XFX decided to offer two DVI-I ports on the card. The 7900GTX is capable of Dual-Link DVI operation allowing the use of a Dell 30" LCD or Apple Cinema Display.

The Bundle

• XFX 7900GTX 512MB
• TV-Out Cable
• I/O Cable
• Driver CD
• Multi-Language Installation Guide
• User's Guide

The bundle for the XFX 7900GTX 512MB card gives you enough hardware and software to get you started. I like video cards to come with a modern game like COD2 or Quake4 to show off the graphics the card is capable of. XFX bundled Starship Troopers with their 7600GT, it would have been nice to see it with the 7900GTX as well. Otherwise the inclusion of the TV-Out cable and the Multi-Language Installation Guide are excellent.