XFX 7800GT PCI-E $279 AR & Free 3-day shipping! Expires 11/30/05- LAST DAY!!!

[Woofmeister]

Originally posted by: bigpow
Just replaced my 6800 with the new XFX 7800GT.
Boy, it sure is LOUD.
Fan speed is always on High for some reason, maybe because I didn't use XFX driver CD?

Funny thing is, it looks totally different than the picture on the reviews & store.
Instead of silver, it has matte black PCB, black heatsink fan & black top handle bar.

And another weird thing is, it came with a 6-pin to 4-pin Y-power cable. But the card has 4-pin Molex?? It's as if the card should have 6-pin connector instead of 4-pin molex.


UPDATE:
I didn't see it at first, but the box says "Extreme Edition".
Probably why it has black PCB, heatsink, with XFX logo LED on top

I was unable to unlock the disabled pipelines.
But it's able to run at 490/1125, no artifacts yet.

Are you in the UK? I didn't think the Extreme Edition 7800GT was available in th US. Man, I'd do anything to swap my green PCBs for black; would look so much better in my case.

FYI, to make that fan quiet down uninstall and reinstall the driver (you should use the NVIDIA 81.95s which are newer than the XFX drivers). That'll do the trick.

 

[Woofmeister]

Got my brand new XFX 7800GT! I am officially SLI! 9999 in Futuremark3D 05 with no overclocking. It's almost too easy.

 

[babylon5]

Originally posted by: Bish
You need to use the connector even with 1 7800GT. You should also use separate cables from the supply to power the connector.

Thanks! Just installed card, work flawlessly.

 

[patriot336]

Not a bad deal

 

[Robor]

Just installed mine using the Forceware 81.95 drivers from Nvidia's site. Not sure about those who are saying the fan is lound. This card is as quiet or quieter than my old BFG 6800GT OC. Well, I ran it at default in 3DMark05 and got 6-thousand something. Yes, I forgot - DUH! I overclocked it to 500/1100 and ran again and got 7740. Not bad, eh?

Default - 6-thousand something
500/1100 - 7740
505/1200 - 8008 (did see a couple of artifacts here in the jungle scene)

Edit: Mine came from NewEgg. It is not an Extreme Edition and it has a 6 pin connector.

 

[kellehair]

Originally posted by: bigpow
Just replaced my 6800 with the new XFX 7800GT.
Boy, it sure is LOUD.
Fan speed is always on High for some reason, maybe because I didn't use XFX driver CD?

Funny thing is, it looks totally different than the picture on the reviews & store.
Instead of silver, it has matte black PCB, black heatsink fan & black top handle bar.

And another weird thing is, it came with a 6-pin to 4-pin Y-power cable. But the card has 4-pin Molex?? It's as if the card should have 6-pin connector instead of 4-pin molex.


UPDATE:
I didn't see it at first, but the box says "Extreme Edition".
Probably why it has black PCB, heatsink, with XFX logo LED on top

I was unable to unlock the disabled pipelines.
But it's able to run at 490/1125, no artifacts yet.

It looks like I got the Extreme Edition as well. I was pretty freaked when I saw the 4-pin Molex. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to this?

 

[bigpow]

Woofmeister, I un-installed and re-installed 81.95. But the fan is still ON full blast, all the time.
I found the review of this Extreme Edition here
But mine has black PCB, quite a looker with the green LED XFX logo.

Still loud but I got my Vf700Cu ready, in case I couldn't get the fan to co-operate.

 

[Woofmeister]

I'm now noticing that it takes my second card a lot longer for the fan to throttle back than on my first card. Still, it does eventually quiet down after about ten minutes of 2D. I'm wondering if the Extreme Edition has a different type of fan speed set in the BIOS. Still that card would look pimpin' in my case!

If all else fails, RivaTuner RC15.7 will allow you to manually set the fan speed. Download it
here.

Cheers mate.

 

[xenolith]

Don't forget to register for your free COD2 game CD here. You have only 14 days after date of purchase to redeem your copy.

 

[B95P]

Originally posted by: bigpow
Woofmeister, I un-installed and re-installed 81.95. But the fan is still ON full blast, all the time.
I found the review of this Extreme Edition here
But mine has black PCB, quite a looker with the green LED XFX logo.

Still loud but I got my Vf700Cu ready, in case I couldn't get the fan to co-operate.

huh mine does not look a thing like the in the link. It is a green board with an aluminium heatsink. I am kinda worried that I got a Friday mans pack job...

Anyone else get a greeen one?

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: bigpow
Woofmeister, I un-installed and re-installed 81.95. But the fan is still ON full blast, all the time.
I found the review of this Extreme Edition here
But mine has black PCB, quite a looker with the green LED XFX logo.

Still loud but I got my Vf700Cu ready, in case I couldn't get the fan to co-operate.

What are you guys talking about? Where did you order yours, ZZF or NewEgg?
My oder (from the Egg) should arrive today from a long 3+ days already (Dallas, TX)
Here is what my oder from the Egg looks like supposedly. Will I get an EE version than what I ordered from the picture I just showed?
Will someone lighten me on this?

 

[thiswilldo]

My first post!

I had also ordered from newegg and the card I received was the reference green one although on the box there was a sticker on the bottom right that said "extreme edition." From what I understand, "extreme edition" cards are supposed come in a different color but mine didn't.

 

[Woofmeister]

I ordered from NewEgg and got the green card. Matches my other one but still, I'm kinda dissapointed. The EE version is definitely sharper looking.

I didn't even know XFX had released the EE version in the U.S. That makes XFX and ASUS the only vendors with something other than green pcbs in their 7800GTs. Only problem is that both vendors also continue to put out a reference design card (though XFX overclocks). That makes it very difficult to ensure that you're getting the card you think you ordered. A real problem for people like me with windows in their cases. A while back, I had a very hard time locating the ASUS 6800GT with the blue pcb. That was the card that was always pictured when you placed the order, but when you opened the box it was always the green NVIDIA reference card.

So, anybody want to swap two EEs for two greenies?

 

[videopho]

Woofmeister
How loud are your two 7800 gt's at full load (in gaming), may be at one card installed at one point? I'm considering the AC silencer rev3 to replace stock fan. The word "LOUD" around the net about the XFX cards sort of worry me. Any inputs?

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: videopho
Woofmeister
How loud are your two 7800 gt's at full load (in gaming), may be at one card installed at one point? I'm considering the AC silencer rev3 to replace stock fan. The word "LOUD" around the net about the XFX cards sort of worry me. Any inputs?

Bump

 

[Woofmeister]

Once the cards settle down (see my experience above), I've never been able to get the fans to kick in at full speed while gaming. But I have three 120 mm Thunderblade fans (four if you count the one on my Scythe Ninja) pulling air into the case and pushing it out. At full blast, the thunberblade fans are so loud that I doubt I would hear the 7800GTs even if their fans were to spool up to full speed. I have a fan controller so I only crank the case and heatsink fans up during gaming. In 2D, the fans are set on their lowest setting and I am able to clearly hear the 7800GT fans when Windows first boots and before the 7800GT fans throttle back. Once the 7800 fans slow down, they are much quieter than the thunderblades at their lowest setting.

If you want to wait until I get home from work, I will attempt to run some F.E.A.R. for a while without running the case fans and see if I can get the 7800 fans to run up and give you my subjective impressions.

 

[Woofmeister]

Well, it seems that bigpow is not the only one complaining that the fan on the EE version of the XFX 7800GT only runs at full speed. http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=1951&start=30&tstart=0

Pretty ironic since the EE version has a partially copper heatsink which should give better cooling that the alluminum heatsink in the reference version. I think we can assume that the EE version has a different bios.

Also, what's the point of making a 7800GT card with a molex connector? By now, all of us have shelled out big money for PCI-Express compatible PSUs so the molex would seem to be a step backward. Now I'm glad I've got two of the old version since (1) they are very quiet and (2) I don't have any spare molex connectors.

 

[Woofmeister]

Originally posted by: thiswilldo
My first post!

I had also ordered from newegg and the card I received was the reference green one although on the box there was a sticker on the bottom right that said "extreme edition." From what I understand, "extreme edition" cards are supposed come in a different color but mine didn't.

I almost forgot, Welcome to AT!

 

[Robor]

Hey thiswilldo, welcome to the Anandtech Forums!

Sooooo, am I correct when I say I lucked out by NOT getting the Extreme Edition?

To me I don't care what color the card is as long as it performs, runs stable, and is decently quiet. Mine appears to fit all three so I'm happy.

 

[bigpow]

7800GT US EE picture


Wolfmeister, now that you mentioned it, it makes sense.
I probably over-exagerated how loud this card is - afterall, my PC is almost whisper quiet
All I can say is Vf700Cu at 5V is way quieter than my 7800GT fan. (and it has all copper heatsink, btw)

I don't have two EE boards, but I'd love to trade one EE with two of your vanilla ones

 

[videopho]

Woofmeister:
UPS dropped it off this pm from NewEgg 3 days as scheduled. Installed w/o a hitch using latest driver 81.95. The card surprisingly is much quieter than expected . Run 3dmark05 3 times and got 6747 at default setting. 3dmark03 score was also 15248. My only concern: the 3dmark05 seems low for this card? My previous x800xl at stock speed was 5185.
My system is a Dell XPS Gaming machine with at least 500w psu.
Is my concern valid or I'm expecting a bit too much?

 

[Woofmeister]

Yes, that score sounds a little on the low side. Some things you can do to up your score in 3DMark05: (1) Shut down all non-essential running processes in task manager; (2) tighten up your ram timings (can you do that with a Dell Bios?); and (3) most importantly, change the image settings in the Nvidia application profile to "high performance."

That should at least get you above 7000 in 3DMark05. In any event, I wouldn't get too hung up on 3DMark, its an artificial benchmark and what really matters is that you can play games with good levels of detail smoothly.

Let us know how you do.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: Woofmeister
In any event, I wouldn't get too hung up on 3DMark, its an artificial benchmark and what really matters is that you can play games with good levels of detail smoothly.

I think a lot of people get lost in these "my **** is bigger than your ****" benchmarks. The only thing I use 3DMark for is to give me an idea of where my system/card is and where it should be based on other users results. Like you said, all that matters is how actual games run.

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: Woofmeister
In any event, I wouldn't get too hung up on 3DMark, its an artificial benchmark and what really matters is that you can play games with good levels of detail smoothly.

I think a lot of people get lost in these "my **** is bigger than your ****" benchmarks. The only thing I use 3DMark for is to give me an idea of where my system/card is and where it should be based on other users results. Like you said, all that matters is how actual games run.

I'd agree to that but benchmark is what it is. It is to give you a sense of where you're at, sort of tuning up your car prior to a bigger race so to speak.

 

[bigpow]

That's why they're called Synthetic Benchmarks

Here's my 3DMark05 result: 7627
Link

BTW, changed the stock HSF to Vf700 and not only it's whisper quiet, it's actually cooler!