eVGA GeForce 7900 GTO 512MB - $255 shipped from ChiefValue

[XNice]

mine has an official GTO box. I'm just letting it sit there all pretty and un-opened until someone buys my 7800gt. And to the EVGA support guy... WTF???!!

 

[Navid]

Just because two chips have the same name, does not mean that they have identical spec!

That's what binning is all about.

 

[cyburzaki]

that's true, there's binning, which I neglected to consider...

not having an iota of experience with the 7900 GTX, I'm ignorant of the typical GPU clock ceiling for that card. Any idea what it is, under stock cooling?

 

[msi1337]

Hey Just to let everyone know I got mine that I ordered from the egg today, I paid $245.99 (grr why does this always happen) It came in a GTO box, no sticker over gtx It scored 10250 out of the box in 3dmark05, I don't have 06' because I have dial up and that's to much to download. It is super quiet, compared to my 7600gt's I had before in SLI, even though the 7600GT's beat it buy 1000 points I?m keeping it just because my computer is so silent now!

I also upgraded from 7600GTs and I love the difference! never was a big fan of SLI. How come you have dialup with such a nice system? Thats like putting an engine governor on a porsche?

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: cyburzaki

Originally posted by: videopho:
...eVGA tech support has told me the GTO does not share the same gpu and GDR3 ram part spec as the GTX.

While I can understand why he might say that about the GDDR3, even if it is rated at 1.1ns on both cards, since the respective voltage and programmed latencies apparently differ. But I find his statement about there being different GPUs nothing short of bizarre. Both cards use a G71. Where is the difference?

Different gpu voltage maybe??

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: jlin101
GTO and GTX have identical GPU and RAM modules, the only difference is the lower ram voltage/clock but slightly tighter timing on the GTO (which means at 650/800, the GTO may be SLIGHTLY faster than a GTX). The GTX can o/c higher, but costs $400+. Flashing it to GTX increases the mem latency but does not alter the ram voltage, which is determined by the resistor. There are some reports that flashing it with GTX bios MAY increase the o/c potential, at the price of voiding the warranty.

IIRC the warranty is not voided if you flash the bios on an EVGA card. I think the only way to void the warranty for EVGA is if you physically damage the card.

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: cyburzaki

Originally posted by: videopho:
...eVGA tech support has told me the GTO does not share the same gpu and GDR3 ram part spec as the GTX.

While I can understand why he might say that about the GDDR3, even if it is rated at 1.1ns on both cards, since the respective voltage and programmed latencies apparently differ. But I find his statement about there being different GPUs nothing short of bizarre. Both cards use a G71. Where is the difference?

I own both GTO and GTX but I'm not going to pop out both of the hsf's to find out myself
Yeah..I'm a bit puzzled about the gpu he was insisting to differ when I asked. He went on praising the GTX is eVGA's top-of-the-line single gpu card, period.
Whatever it is...There is one thing I can assure you guys out there: my GTO performs just as good as my GTX, so who cares what gpu it's gotten inside and I'll drink to that :beer:

 

[g0dMAn]

if anyone is interested in a GTX bios, I have one that i modded to work at 650/800mhz and boot up your card at GTX. if interested, send me a PM.

 

[LukeMan]

Originally posted by: cyburzaki
UPDATE: just received a ChiefValue email saying they'll be selling the 7900 GTO for $239.99 shipped on Friday, 10/13/06--for that one day only.
This card has the same nVidia G71 GPU, the same core clock, the same Samsung 1.1ns GDDR3, the same PCB, and the same cooler as a 7900 GTX (and some even come in a GTX box with a 'GTO' sticker over the 'GTX'). It differs only in its downclocked memory (which on many cards can easily be cranked to GTX speed by overclocking or with a BIOS flash).

damn nice price. I just ordered it today (10am), so it's still in the 1st step and able to be canceled (going to order it tomorow).

 

[mazzmond]

Just received and installed mine from newegg. The eVGA box had no sticker on it covering up a GTX part. Upgraded from 6800 vanilla to this so pretty big jump. Love the card and the fan is actually quieter than old part and runs nice and cool. Overclocked mem to 800 and core to 675. Looping 3DMark right now with no problems so far. Looks like a winner and great price. Very happy.

 

[rvr2k3]

So I finally ran some benchies and I had 5745 with 3DMark2006 on standard settings and 6124 with Frequency of 693 and memory of 759. These are the numbers that coolbits detected as stable. I will now try and tweak up. A 1400 point improvement from my 7900GT. Woo Hoo!!!!

 

[InSuboRdiNaTioN]

Got mine from Tiger Direct today. GTO box here as well.
Running stable at 707/1600.
There seems to be evidence that there are multiple bios versions, and the newer ones don't overclock nearly as well. I have the older version and have been able to beat GTX speeds.

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=78086

 

[cyburzaki]

holy cow! 900 on the mem? That's amazing.

 

[Woofmeister]

OK. As most of you know, I've been unable to overclock the memory on my GTOs above 1500. I'm thinking I'm going to try flashing to the older BIOS to see if I can improve my clocks. The thing is, I have no frickin' idea how to do this.

I downloaded Nibitor and sure enough, both my GTOs have BIOS version 05.71.22.39.13. The same one identified on this thread as being the problem BIOS. I've now saved that BIOS on my hard drive using Nibitor and have downloaded the reccomended BIOS version from the same thread: 05.71.22.39.08. Now what?

How do I get this BIOS onto my cards? Can somebody take me through this step-by-step? I've downloaded nvFlash.v5.38 but now I'm clueless. Is it a simple matter of loading the nvFlash executable and the preferred BIOS on a floppy or is there more to it? I'm a-scared because I just plunked down $500 on new cards and don't wont to FUBAR something:brokenheart:

Hold on! I found instructions here. Anybody see anything wrong with these? (And yes, I figured out I'm going to have to save my old BIOS to a floppy.)

Oh, new question. How do I flash to both cards since I'm running in SLI?

Edited for updated info.

 

[Navid]

Why don't you just compare the two BIOS files to see what the difference is?
You can open each BIOS file in Nibitor.

 

[InSuboRdiNaTioN]

Originally posted by: cyburzaki
holy cow! 900 on the mem? That's amazing.

LOL, I mean 1600!

 

[LukeMan]

Originally posted by: Woofmeister
Oh, new question. How do I flash to both cards since I'm running in SLI?

Edited for updated info.

Why don't you flash with 1 card in the slot at a time. You may only be able to flash the card that's in the primary slot? If so just flash the 1st card then take it out and put the other card in that slot and flash that.

 

[LukeMan]

$239.99 shipped price is now in affect

 

[Ricochet]

I have no self-control. Ordered another one.

 

[LukeMan]

Originally posted by: ricochet
I have no self-control. Ordered another one.

I don't think my 500 watt ultra x-finity could handle 2 of these 7900gto's, an fx-55, 2 hdd's, 2 dvd drives, 5 case fans, and a 120mm cpu fan.

 

[Ricochet]

Originally posted by: LukeMan

Originally posted by: ricochet
I have no self-control. Ordered another one.

I don't think my 500 watt ultra x-finity could handle 2 of these 7900gto's, an fx-55, 2 hdd's, 2 dvd drives, 5 case fans, and a 120mm cpu fan.

I'm not going to run SLI, though. I can wait. This is going into a 2nd rig.

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: ricochet

Originally posted by: LukeMan

Originally posted by: ricochet
I have no self-control. Ordered another one.

I don't think my 500 watt ultra x-finity could handle 2 of these 7900gto's, an fx-55, 2 hdd's, 2 dvd drives, 5 case fans, and a 120mm cpu fan.

I'm not going to run SLI, though. I can wait. This is going into a 2nd rig.

Good idea!
I have the same psu too and my rig has x2/3800+, 3hdds, 2 dvdr/w, 1-xfi plati, 3 case fans.
Great supply for the $$. I paid almost next to nothing after mir & ir from MicroCenter past xmas 05.
Thinking about getting its bigger brother 600w for an sli rig to be built as early as after Black friday this year.

Back to topic, $239.99 is as cheap as I've ever seen for the cost of a g/c as powerful as the GTO. Wow..price/performance ratio is as good as it gets.
Wait a second. The Chiefvalue link appears dead or broken?

 

[Cardio]

Just ordered one $239 free shipping. The CV site is barely working so just keep clicking when it says this resorce is unavailable and it will finally work, took about 15 tries.
Thanks OP

This is my second one and if anyone is interested, they are almost silent. I really like that compared to some ATI offerings.

 

[datobin1]

I couldn't resist at $239. Needed a new card for a while. I currently have a 6800LE with 12-6 working.

I missed the woot deal at $149 but, this seems like it is a better bang for the buck.
Isn't it?


Now I just have to wait................
hope they ship fast

almost forgot, thanks OP

 

[g0dMAn]

Originally posted by: datobin1
I couldn't resist at $239. Needed a new card for a while. I currently have a 6800LE with 12-6 working.

I missed the woot deal at $149 but, this seems like it is a better bang for the buck.
Isn't it?


Now I just have to wait................
hope they ship fast

almost forgot, thanks OP

This is a MUCH better deal than the 7900GS... much much better.

You get 512MB, you get 24 pipelines instead of 20 pipepines, the core is 200mhz+ more powerful, and you get 1.1ns ram. For another $80 it is well worth it - trust me.

These should be selling like hot cakes. It truly is THAT good of a deal.