XFX GF 7950 GT 570M 512MB Video Card Review :: XFX GF 7950 GT 570M 512MB

XFX GeForce 7950GT 570M 512MB DDR3 HDCP Dual DVI TV PCI-E
Brand	XFX
Model	GF 7950GT 570M 512MB DDR3 HDCP Dual DVI TV PCI-E
Graphics Chip	G71
Graphics Memory Type	DDR3
Memory (MB)	512
Graphics Core Clock (MHz)	570
Memory Clock (MHz)	1460
Memory Speed (ns)	1.4
RAMDAC Frequency (MHz)	Dual 400
Active Cooling on Graphics Chip	No
Heatsink on Memory	Yes
Video Capture	Yes
Ports
Dual Monitor Support	Yes
VGA Out	DVI-Ix2
Video In and Out	7-pin HDTV Out
Package and Support
Printed Manual	Yes
Driver CD	Yes
Performance Tool Software	Coolbits
Major Games	None
Major Software	None
VR Glasses	No
DVD Player Software	None
Video Recording Software	N/A

The actual, or proper name of the XFX 7950GT card is longer than the card itself. Actually, it's 40 characters long which is about the longest you'll ever see a video card name. The GF stands for GeForce, the 7950GT is the name of the chip, 570M stands for 570MHz core. There is 512MB of DDR3 memory on the card. HDCP stands for High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection, the new standard to combat piracy for High Definition (HD) content.

One of the big pushes in computers today is the push for the silent computer system. One of the major contributing factors of noise in a computer is the video card fan. XFX decided to use a heat sink and a heat pipe instead of the normal heatsink fan. The heatsink covers around 50% of the total surface area of the video card. Two heat-pipes come out from the heat sink to a large grill. The grill is on the back side of the card, allowing this card to be used in a single slot, compared to the two that an ASUS card might require.

The 7950GT is a mainstream high-end card targeted for the $299 price point. Virtually every video card in this category and above requires additional power above and beyond the 75W that the PCI Express bus provides. To facilitate the additional power a 6-pin power connector is on the 7950GT PCB. There are 12 power capacitors on the rear of the card.

The 7950GT has the normal complement of input and output devices on the bracket. Two DVI-I ports allow the owner to attach two digital flat panel LCDs, two analog CRT monitors with included adapters or a LCD+CRT combination. The 7950GT has a TV-Out port as well to play computer games on the television. You can either attach a 7-pin Y Pb/Composite/Pr cable or a 4-pin TV-Out cable to that port.