EVGA GTO review @FS

[Zebo]

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_e-geforce_7900_gto/

Nothing new for those of us who tested them stalls on mem clocks due to 1.9V as opposed to 2.1 for GTX but essentially a GTX at X1900Xt prices. Overall they give crown to 1900 card though.

In comparison to the Radeon X1900 XT 256MB, the ATI board the GTO competes with most closely in price, the X1900 XT 256MB has the performance advantage overall, but each card has areas where it wins and loses. The ATI card performs well in titles that ATI has performed well in the past such as Oblivion, Call of Duty 2, and Battlefield 2, while the NVIDIA GTO has the edge in games like Lock On: Modern Combat, and to a lesser extent in Quake.

 

[videopho]

...how important other factors such as graphics drivers and noise are to you. If you simply can?t stand any noise, or you want a card that runs fairly cool, you?ll want to go with the GTO: even under load in our testing the GPU on our GTO board remained under 60 degrees Celsius at stock speeds, and the card doesn?t have any hotspots like the X1900s do. ..mention other factors such as EVGA?s Step-Up upgrade program, price, and availability: GTO boards sell out so quickly at most online retailers that you may have an easier time picking up a Radeon X1900 XT 256MB.


Of course, price being the biggest factor but heat & noise together come second: That's how I and I'm sure many others too, chose to go with the GTO purchase decision.
Another great review by F/S, btw.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: videopho

...how important other factors such as graphics drivers and noise are to you. If you simply can?t stand any noise, or you want a card that runs fairly cool, you?ll want to go with the GTO: even under load in our testing the GPU on our GTO board remained under 60 degrees Celsius at stock speeds, and the card doesn?t have any hotspots like the X1900s do

Or you could buy a $25 Accelero X2 and get the best of both worlds - better performance and noiseless cooling.

---------

And don't even bother with the "less power consumption" argument -- not only is the ~100W an X1900 uses not tremendously higher than the ~75W a 7900GTO uses, but the next gen of cards (8800GTX) is going to eat up 200W of power and swing the pendulum all the way to the other side. 100W of power for a video card will soon be average by today's standards.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024
Or you could buy a $25 Accelero X2 and get the best of both worlds - better performance and noiseless cooling.

:thumbsup:

 

[Dainas]

Hey!!! the Holden Monaro was great handling car! .......ehem, now that I got that out, good review!

Forgot, its going to be a battle between the GTO and 7950 in the OC circut.
The 7950 comes woefully undervolted, hoever it will it hit over 650/1600+ with the usual pencil/pen, the GTO clocks easier...however its ram is a real risk factor over time.

 

[bnlitin]

My eVGA 7800GTO is running at 700MHz core and 1600MHz memory without any issues.
Even under full load, the temperature stays at 49 C and the fan is relatively quiet.
I am very happy with the performance so far.

 

[yacoub]

or for those of us who wouldn't want to mess with tearing apart a brand new expensive GPU just to put a big ugly-looking aftermarket cooling solution on it, you could just buy the GTO! :thumbsup:

 

[Dainas]

Originally posted by: yacoub
or for those of us who wouldn't want to mess with tearing apart a brand new expensive GPU just to put a big ugly-looking aftermarket cooling solution on it, you could just buy the GTO! :thumbsup:

For pretty much anyone with a soundcard and tv tuner, thats also a problem. When will the industry atleast humor PCIe 1x?

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: Dainas

Originally posted by: yacoub
or for those of us who wouldn't want to mess with tearing apart a brand new expensive GPU just to put a big ugly-looking aftermarket cooling solution on it, you could just buy the GTO! :thumbsup:

For pretty much anyone with a soundcard and tv tuner, thats also a problem. When will the industry atleast humor PCIe 1x?

Is the Accelero a dual-slot solution? If so than it wouldn't cause you anymore problems than the GTO or stock XT dual-slot coolers.

 

[moonboy403]

my x1900xt 256mb is running at 700/765 <3

i actually like it better than my sli nvidia cards!

 

[Dainas]

Originally posted by: Elfear

Originally posted by: Dainas

Originally posted by: yacoub
or for those of us who wouldn't want to mess with tearing apart a brand new expensive GPU just to put a big ugly-looking aftermarket cooling solution on it, you could just buy the GTO! :thumbsup:

For pretty much anyone with a soundcard and tv tuner, thats also a problem. When will the industry atleast humor PCIe 1x?

Is the Accelero a dual-slot solution? If so than it wouldn't cause you anymore problems than the GTO or stock XT dual-slot coolers.

yep, which like the XT and GTO/GTX, simply will not fit.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: Dainas
Hey!!! the Holden Monaro was great handling car! .......ehem, now that I got that out, good review!

A Monaro?? A great HANDLING car?? I'd take an Exige (240R) or 911 (997) Carrera anyday. On the other hand...maybe for a bit of tail-out fun...the Monaro's probably nice.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: yacoub
or for those of us who wouldn't want to mess with tearing apart a brand new expensive GPU just to put a big ugly-looking aftermarket cooling solution on it, you could just buy the GTO! :thumbsup:

its all about priorities.

I would sacrafice quite cooling for performance so the x1900 would be a better choice for me.
Others would sacrafice the performance for cooler/quiter cards, so the GTO is a better choice

either way, the "ugliness" of the cooler is never a consideration for me.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

either way, the "ugliness" of the cooler is never a consideration for me.

LOl. QFT

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: jiffylube1024
Or you could buy a $25 Accelero X2 and get the best of both worlds - better performance and noiseless cooling.

:thumbsup:

The big deterrent here is warranty. Though I always change the cooler on my video cards to quiet ones, I've had situations where the card mysteriously dies and I can't RMA it because it's been modded.

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Would this be a good step up for me? I got an eVGA GeForce 7900GT KO OCed at approx 610/915 and my 90 days for step up is almost done...

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
Would this be a good step up for me? I got an eVGA GeForce 7900GT KO OCed at approx 610/915 and my 90 days for step up is almost done...

no, your card is well OCed

wait to see if you can squeeze into the G80 step up. if you cant, then go for this one.

 

[Dainas]

Originally posted by: thilan29

Originally posted by: Dainas
Hey!!! the Holden Monaro was great handling car! .......ehem, now that I got that out, good review!

A Monaro?? A great HANDLING car?? I'd take an Exige (240R) or 911 (997) Carrera anyday. On the other hand...maybe for a bit of tail-out fun...the Monaro's probably nice.

Trust me, compaired to the liveaxle camaro/firebirds it replaced as the GTO in america, its handling is a revelation. Trying to compaire any non supercar to a late model lotus or 911 is a bit unfair. Getting back the to GTO on topic, has anyone figured the latency differences it would have to the 1.4ns ram used on the card is cannabalizing(7950GT)

 

[GundamSonicZeroX]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
Would this be a good step up for me? I got an eVGA GeForce 7900GT KO OCed at approx 610/915 and my 90 days for step up is almost done...

no, your card is well OCed

wait to see if you can squeeze into the G80 step up. if you cant, then go for this one.

My 80 days ends on October the 28th Should I still hold out?

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: yacoub
or for those of us who wouldn't want to mess with tearing apart a brand new expensive GPU just to put a big ugly-looking aftermarket cooling solution on it, you could just buy the GTO! :thumbsup:

Some of us do it just for the fun of it! It's 8 small screws on the back, and you can do it just to fix the stock TIM on the card to lower temps.

I went from stock cooling to an X2 in about 15 minutes.

---------------------

I go aftermarket on most of my GPU's just to keep the temps down - I used an NV Silencer 5 on my 7800GT before that, and an ATI Silencer 5 on my X850XT PE. It always keeps the noise and temperatures down .

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: GundamSonicZeroX
Would this be a good step up for me? I got an eVGA GeForce 7900GT KO OCed at approx 610/915 and my 90 days for step up is almost done...

no, your card is well OCed

wait to see if you can squeeze into the G80 step up. if you cant, then go for this one.

My 80 days ends on October the 28th Should I still hold out?

looks like G80 is slated to early november, might as well go for the GTO

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: Dainas

Originally posted by: thilan29

Originally posted by: Dainas
Hey!!! the Holden Monaro was great handling car! .......ehem, now that I got that out, good review!

A Monaro?? A great HANDLING car?? I'd take an Exige (240R) or 911 (997) Carrera anyday. On the other hand...maybe for a bit of tail-out fun...the Monaro's probably nice.

Trust me, compaired to the liveaxle camaro/firebirds it replaced as the GTO in america, its handling is a revelation. Trying to compaire any non supercar to a late model lotus or 911 is a bit unfair. Getting back the to GTO on topic, has anyone figured the latency differences it would have to the 1.4ns ram used on the card is cannabalizing(7950GT)

Yes I suppose the comparison was a bit unfair. I sat in my friend's HSV (when I was living in OzLand) with I think it was the LS1 Corvette engine in it for a bit of spirited driving and I must say it was pretty nice...I wouldn't mind having one myself. Hehe, actually the first question I asked about the car was ,"Has it still got that ancient live-axle??".

Back on topic...I think some of the GTOs still use 1.1ns ram don't they?? I've seen pics with the cooler off and they were 1.1ns ram...just clocked down.

 

[aiya24]

i favor performance over cooler/quieter anyday, but then again i have watercooling so i get the best of both . now, i do understand that watercooling is a investment and is not for everyone.

for users who are gonna keep the card stock but still oc a little, 7900GTO
for users who are gonna change the cooling anyway, X1900XT 256MB

my X1900XT 256MB is sitting idle at a chilly 39c with my watercooling setup. ambient is 21-22c, its getting colder in SoCal :frown:

 

[videopho]

I finally have my GTO installed tonight.
Using x64 Tweaksrus 91.48 driver. With the aid of coolbit the GTO is instantly turned into a GTX while being overclocked at 700/1600, temps is 45c idle and low to mid 60c depending on certain game.
3dmark06 = 5624 @ stock

All games are runnibg so far so good.
Can't complaine here considered I paid $450 for my GTX six months ago.
3dmark06 (695/1600)