Inno3D GeForce 7900 GS iChiLL ACS6

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200..._ichill/1.html

[Jipa]

Oooh what have we here! Normal performance charts Good job!

Company of Heroes makes me wanna buy 8800-series card more than anything, it looks just stunning at full settings, but unfortunately 7600GT doesn't kinda do the trick at 1680x1050.

[inflatable]

I have a Asus 7900GS 256MB TOP Edition running at 615/1500, and I think that's the perfect affordable videocard for highend gaming at 1280x1024 resolution, so I agree with this article..

I was going to exchange my current 19" LCD for a Samsung 226BW monitor soon though, so that probably means I will have to upgrade to a 8800GTS 640MB aswell.. I'm going to do that when the 1st DX10 games I want to play hit the market (and upgrade to Vista aswell offcourse)..

[djDEATH]

Originally Posted by inflatable

I have a Asus 7900GS 256MB TOP Edition running at 615/1500, and I think that's the perfect affordable videocard for highend gaming at 1280x1024 resolution, so I agree with this article..

I was going to exchange my current 19" LCD for a Samsung 226BW monitor soon though, so that probably means I will have to upgrade to a 8800GTS 640MB aswell.. I'm going to do that when the 1st DX10 games I want to play hit the market (and upgrade to Vista aswell offcourse)..

absolutely

I have a 1440x900 19" panel, and my Gainward 7900GS runs native resoolution absoutely brilliantly.

I find it hard to belive that the overclocking figures are the max you can get with the extra beef that the ACS6 gives it though, my Golden Sample 7900 GS overclocks WAY higher, and i can get mine to 654/1654 without any corruption or artifacts. Thats with the 'stock' gianward cooler too - not really stock it is a dual slot card with a massive fan, runs very quietly, my PSU is easily louder, but the card was only £125 five months ago - i feel i got a bargain.

Is 608/1610 REALLY the best you could get out of it? If it is, then forget it, get the gainward golden sample, i swear by it, and can get an extra 15-20% out of most games.

I guess the higher starting clocks woudl be attractive to some who dont like overclocking, but surely this card can much further than 608/1610?

[Tim S]

Overclocking is a complete luck of the draw and that's where this particular card topped out.

[djDEATH]

its bizzare that isn't it?

My housemate was really surprised that i can get 2.8Ghz out of my 4200 X2, he said that sometimes you just get chips that are fine at stock speeds, but then just dont like being overclocked.

I guess i'm just really lucky with my CPU/GPU.

Is this quite common for it to be a luck of the draw?



Anyway, good article, and as always, the benchmarks on Bit-tech are the most useful of any site ive seen.

[Jipa]

The same can be seen in ALLLLL overclocking. I don't really care if someone gets 2 or 5 fps boost in counter strike or 50 marks more in 3dmark, but it's unfortunate for people who really try to make the world records! Some poor clockers just happened to get a sucky X6800 and even their DIY-coolers are top notch and everything is up to standards, the chip just does NOT OC as well as the others. Must be annoying.

[[USRF]Obiwan]

Why on earth do anybody want to buy anything below 8800 & R600 range, especialy now. I have a 68000GT (yes that sucky x6800, but bought this 3 years ago!) that is running any game that is out now on 1280x1024 or 1680x1050. Maybe it will not run 'as fast' as the 7900 series but for a wise upgradability decision, upgrading to a 8800/R600 makes more sense in the long run then going for a 7900. Especialy with the whole improved 8900 series lurking around the corner.

I dont even see any point to pay 100 dollar more for the 'intercooler-overclocked-1337 card A that can do 4+ fps more then then 'reference' card B. Only really ' stupid' people will buy this. (If you want the write a 'defensive' reply about this last sentence, please dont because you walk right into my trap... )

[Tim S]

Consider that most 7900 GS cards are priced between £103 and £120 (with two exceptions in the list provided), £110 for a card with clocks of 550/1500 (quite healthy improvements over 450/1320) is actually quite a good buy believe it or not. To put the clock speed increase into perspective, the difference between 450/1320 and 550/1500 is being competitive with a similarly priced X1950 Pro and not.

Also, FWIW, 8800 GTS 320MB is almost twice the price of this card at just under £200 (inc VAT).

[kliend]

I miss the old benchmarks. I understand that the graphs are easier on the eyes, I really like the old way better.

[djDEATH]

Originally Posted by Tim S

Also, FWIW, 8800 GTS 320MB is almost twice the price of this card at just under £200 (inc VAT).

exactly - its not pointless getting a 7900GS. It might be pointless for Obiwan up there, but then anal is as anal does. You've been running one card for three years - if thats your bag then i'd wait until you coudl afford a G80.

For most though, and when i say most, i mean 'most people' not just geeks - a 7900GS is a BEAUTY of a card.

Seriously, how many people are REALLY going to need a DX10 card anytime soon? Most of us still play games that are a year or two years old (quake 4, CS, UT2004, BF1942) or more, and for this puirpose, a 7900GS is actually as good as my monitor will allow me to get, so for your average user this is fine and will be for a long while.

I think we will continue to see these 'old' products come out (remember the 7900GS is NOT OLD - its less than a year old, rebranded 7900GT with 20 pipes instead of 24) with uprated and improved coolers, and this can only be a good thing. As the price of G80s comes down, and availablilty of R600 finally hits, most people will still happily buy and love high end 7 series Geforce cards. And rightly so - 1024x768 is still an incredibly popular resolution, and while it is, anything above a 6600GT is fine for antialiasing and anisotrpic filtering.

Obiwan - consider this, if your current card wasn't a 6800GT, then surely a 7900GS is a brilliant upgrade!! Not a single DX10 game has hit the stores yet - must remember this.