W1zzard
02-07-2007, 12:22 PM
[page=Introduction & Specifications]
Introduction
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/logo.jpg
While most GeForce 8800 GTX cards are all based on the same product, with the exact same specs, EVGA has taken the 8800 GTX a step ahead. They cherry picked cards that can run high GPU and memory speeds and engineered a card that is running at higher clocks right out of the box.
The GPU clock has been increased from 575 MHz to 626 MHz and memory is now running at 2000 MHz DDR instead of 1800 MHz. This will definitely give you a healthy performance boost, especially at higher resolutions.
Not only the clocks have been bumped, the whole cooling concept has been improved as well. A number of modifications were made to the cooler so that it can handle the increased heat load. For example a metal back plate has been added to dissipate additional heat on the back of the GPU.
Complete Specifications
For a more detailed look at the specifications and what they mean for you, read our NVIDIA G80 article (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/G80).
Bus interface: PCI Express
Memory: 768MB
Memory Interface: 384 bit
Core Clock: 626 MHz
Memory Clock: 1000 MHz
RAMDACs: 400 MHz
NVIDIA® unified architecture with GigaThread™ technology
Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 Shader Model 4.0 support
16x full-screen anti-aliasing
True 128-bit floating point high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting
NVIDIA® Quantum Effects™ physics processing technology
Two dual-link DVI outputs support two 2560x1600 resolution displays
NVIDIA® PureVideo™ technology
OpenGL® 2.0 support
NVIDIA ForceWare® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
Built for Microsoft® Windows Vista™
NVIDIA® Lumenex™ Engine
NVIDIA® nView® Multi-Display Technology
Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
Discrete, Programmable Video Processor
Hardware Decode Acceleration
Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing
High-Quality Scaling
Inverse Telecine (3:2 & 2:2 Pulldown Correction)
Bad Edit Correction
Video Color Correction
Integrated SD and HD TV Output
Noise Reduction
Edge Enhancement
[page=Packaging & Contents]
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www1.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package1.jpg)
EVGA's box is dominated by the colors black, white and green. The packaging is clean and elegant, and quite heavy. This is mainly because the new cooler considerably increases the video card's weight from 750 g to 1060 g.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package2.jpg)
On the back you get to know which features this card has and how it compares in performance.
Contents
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/contents_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/contents.jpg)
Inside the box you will find:
GeForce 8800 GTX Video Card
Software and Documentation bundle
S-Video Cable
HDTV Cable
2x DVI adapter
2x PCI-E power adapter
The package has everything you need to be going. Two power adapters are useful for people who don't have a PSU with PCI-E power connectors.
[page=The Card]
The Card
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card1.jpg)
Compared to the standard NVIDIA reference design, EVGA uses a cooler that looks a bit different. It is black, it is heavy, it is powerful - but not loud.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card2.jpg)
EVGA has given a lot of attention to small details that make the card look a lot better. For example the "EVGA" text on the side or the text around the fan.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card3.jpg)
On the back of the card you have a big heatsink plate that helps cooling the GPU from the other side.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/outputs_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/outputs.jpg)
Like you would expect from a high-end video card, two Dual-Link DVI outputs are on the card. So you can attach displays running higher than 1600x1200, that's what NVIDIA is marketing with their "HD Gaming". If you have an older analog display, you can of course use the included DVI adapters on both ports.
[page=A Closer Look]
A Closer Look
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan2.jpg)
EVGA uses exactly the same fan as the original NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. The air is sucked in and routed away in a 90° angle. This blower fan approach works very well and keeps the card cool and noise levels down. EVGA added a little plastic label that says "EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTX Series | ACS³". This label is protected from scratches by a transparent plastic film, very nice attention to detail here.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/sli_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/sli.jpg)
Two SLI connectors are available for future configurations like three or four cards in SLI. At this time you can only do SLI with two cards using either of the SLI connectors.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler1.jpg)
A big metal plate on the back of the card adds extra cooling, because some heat travels from the GPU through to PCB to the other side.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler4.jpg)
Removing the cooler is several steps. It seems to me that EVGA kept the original cooler base (grey metal, fins and fan) and changed only the black metal part on top of it. The grey patch on the black metal is a thermal pad that sits on top of the heatsink fins and allows additional heat to be dissipated through the cooler's outer shell.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power.jpg)
Two power connectors are required for operation of this card, adapters are included.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler5.jpg)
EVGA did not change the PCB layout itself, so the card is as long as the NVIDIA 8800 GTX. Exact length is 27 cm. Having the power connectors angled 90° helps with the length requirements.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/memory_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/memory.jpg)
NVIDIA "still" uses GDDR3 memory with 1.1ns cycle time which should be good for about 900 MHz. Having 768 MB of GDDR4 on the card would be excessively expensive for only rather small gains. Not to mention that ATI keeps buying all GDDR4 stock.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpuoverview_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpuoverview.jpg)
When the cooler is removed you can see just how big the GPU is.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpu_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpu.jpg)
The GPU used is the G80 revision A2 which is the latest available.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/hd_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/hd.jpg)
If you look closely, you can see that the big Grey chunk of metal is not the actual die, but a heatspreader which protects the die from damage during cooler mounting.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/tmds_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/tmds.jpg)
On the GeForce 8800 the TMDS display output logic has been moved away from the core into a separate chip, made by NVIDIA. This allows greater design flexibility for future configurations. When several GPUs are working together you need only one set of outputs. If you had a couple of GPUs with their own unused output logic this would mean wasted silicon space and money. Also a physics card does not need any display output logic.
[page=Test Setup]
Test System
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="150" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 FX-60 @ 2900 MHz<br />(Toledo, 2x 1024 KB Cache)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">Sapphire PC-A9RD580<br />ATI Radeon XPRESS 3200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 1024MB G.Skill F1-4000BIU2-2GBHV CL3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">WD Raptor 360GD 36 GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">OCZ GameXStream 700W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Drivers:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">NVIDIA: 91.47<br />ATI: Catalyst 7.1</td>
</tr>
</table>
All video card results were obtained on this exact system with the exact same configuration.
All games were set to their highest quality setting
The following resolutions were tested per benchmark:
1024 x 768, No Anti-aliasing, No anisotropic filtering. This is a standard resolution without demanding display settings.
1280 x 1024, 2x Anti-aliasing, 8x anisotropic filtering. Common resolution for most gamer flatscreens today. A bit of eye candy turned on in the drivers.
1600 x 1200, 4x Anti-aliasing, 16x anisotropic filter. Highest non-widescreen resolution available to a wide range of users. Very good looking driver graphics settings.
2048 x 1536, 4x Anti-aliasing, 16x anisotropic filter. Highest non-widescreen resolution available to any consumer video card. Very good looking driver graphics settings.
[page=Far Cry]
Far Cry
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry.jpg
Far Cry (http://www.farcry-thegame.com) was released in early 2004 by the new development studio Crytek. It quickly became a massive success because it was one of the first titles to take you in a beautiful 3D outdoor world. Far Cry was one of the most demanding games at its time. Even with today's video cards you can still see big differences in frame rates, especially at the higher resolutions.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_2048_1536.gif
[page=FEAR]
FEAR
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear.jpg
The first person shooter F.E.A.R (htttp://www.whatisfear.com), developed by Monolith Game Studios, was released in Fall 2005 and has a great 3D engine that uses a large number of shading and shadow effects to accurately model the game world. In addition to that it features a realistic physics engine that lets you interact with many objects in the game world. The game was voted game of the year by several publications.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_2048_1536.gif
[page=Prey]
Prey
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey.jpg
Prey (http://www.prey.com) is based on a highly modified 3D engine made by id Software. This first person shooter brought a completely new way of gaming to the genre. In many levels you find yourself walking upside down or on the walls. This adds a completely new aspect to the gaming experience in this genre.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_2048_1536.gif
[page=Quake 4]
Quake 4
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4.jpg
The Quake titles are among the most successful first person games. Developed by id Software, the famous game studio that brought you DOOM, you find yourself in a scifi world that is full of aliens and shocking effects. The main focus of the game is the single player story line. Quake 4 (http://www.quake4game.com) puts you on the home planet of the Strogg. In a number of missions you and your fellow marines will encounter all sorts of enemies, including some really huge aliens.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_2048_1536.gif
[page=X3]
X3
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3.jpg
X3 (http://www.egosoft.com) is a space combat/trading simulation game with beautiful graphics. The game world is gigantic and there is always something new to see. Even though the user interface is not that great, the title has found many fans that love to explore the rich content. When you are flying in your spaceship you are sometimes tempted to just stop the action to take a look at the highly detailed ships and planets.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_2048_1536.gif
[page=3DMark03]
3DMark03
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03.jpg
Futuremark Corporation (http://www.futuremark.com) is the number one player in the world of synthetic benchmarking. The 3DMark series is the most popular test suite for video card testing and is used by gamers, overclockers and manufacturers alike to determine how fast their hardware is. Even though it is a few years old, 3DMark03 can easily stress today's video cards.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_2048_1536.gif
[page=3DMark05]
3DMark05
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05.jpg
Another benchmark from Futuremark (http://www.futuremark.com) is 3DMark05 which comes with four completely new game tests that make massive use of shaders and lighting effects. 3DMark05 is a great test for modern video card architectures - in some tests you are often close to the 30 fps mark, below which your games will feel sluggish.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_2048_1536.gif
[page=Power consumption]
Power consumption
Cooling modern video cards is becoming more and more difficult, especially when users are asking for quiet cooling solutions. That's why the engineers are now paying much more attention to power consumption of new video card designs.
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="150" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 FX-60 @ 2900 MHz<br />(Toledo, 2x 1024 KB Cache)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">Sapphire PC-A9RD580<br />ATI Radeon XPRESS 3200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 1024MB G.Skill F1-4000BIU2-2GBHV CL3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">WD Raptor 360GD 36 GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">OCZ GameXStream 700W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Drivers:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">NVIDIA: 91.47<br />ATI: Catalyst 7.1</td>
</tr>
</table>
In order to characterize a video card's power consumption, the whole system's mains power draw was measured. This means that these numbers include CPU, Memory, HDD, Video card and PSU inefficiency.
The three result values are as following:
Idle: Windows sitting at the desktop (1024x768 32-bit) all windows closed, drivers installed.
Average: 3DMark03 Nature at 1280x1024, 6xAA, 16xAF. This results in the highest power consumption. Average of all readings (two per second) while the test was rendering (no title screen).
Peak: 3DMark03 Nature at 1280x1024, 6xAA, 16xAF. This results in the highest power consumption. Highest single reading
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_idle.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_average.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_peak.gif
Even though NVIDIA recommends two power connectors, the power draw of the GeForce 8800 GTX is minimal for this class of card. Basically you get almost double the performance at the same power draw compared to the Radeon X1950 XTX.
Since NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTX does not use reduced clocks in 2D mode, the power consumption in 2D and idle is a bit higher though.
[page=Overclocking]
Overclocking
We used ATITool to automatically find the maximum core and memory clocks of our card.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/maxclock.jpg
In the end the card runs completely stable at 631 MHz Core (1 % overclock) and 1015 MHz Memory (1.5 % overclock).
The overclocks are very small, but you have to consider that the card is already running above the spec. It seems that EVGA has carefully selected those clocks to be very close to the maximum that is possible with those cards.
On one hand this means that you can not gain additional performance by overclocking, on the other hand it means that you won't have to waste your time with this because the card is already running at its optimum.
[page=Value & Conclusion]
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTX KO ACS³ comes with a $650 price tag which is a premium of about $50 over a regular GeForce 8800 GTX.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Extremely fast
Quiet
Warranty for improved clocks
Modest power consumption
DirectX 10 + Shader Model 4.0 Support
SLI capable
No overclocking software required
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Expensive
DirectX 10 performance unknown
Drivers: May not work right under anything other than Windows 2000/XP 32-bit
</td></tr>
<tr><th>9.3</th>
<td>We all know that NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTX Series is the fastest card available that you can buy today. Based on these record breaking cards, EVGA has created a product that is even faster. In general we see about 10% performance increase, especially at high resolutions in demanding games.<br />
EVGA's improved cooling solution is well engineered and works excellent at keeping your temperatures down. Even if something turns out to be wrong at a later date, EVGA's 10 year warranty will not leave you in the dark.<br />
Despite the improved cooling, the card has almost no additional overclocking headroom. In my opinion the extra $50 are a good investment for people who want the latest and the greatest and are not worried so much about spending a little bit of extra money. In return they get a hassle free solution that works very good, so that they won't have to invest their time overclocking and losing their warranty from doing so. The hardcore enthusiasts might be better off by getting a regular 8800 GTX and overclocking themselves to save 50 bucks which could be invested in a watercooling solution.
</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/editorschoice.gif</td></tr>
</table>
Introduction
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/logo.jpg
While most GeForce 8800 GTX cards are all based on the same product, with the exact same specs, EVGA has taken the 8800 GTX a step ahead. They cherry picked cards that can run high GPU and memory speeds and engineered a card that is running at higher clocks right out of the box.
The GPU clock has been increased from 575 MHz to 626 MHz and memory is now running at 2000 MHz DDR instead of 1800 MHz. This will definitely give you a healthy performance boost, especially at higher resolutions.
Not only the clocks have been bumped, the whole cooling concept has been improved as well. A number of modifications were made to the cooler so that it can handle the increased heat load. For example a metal back plate has been added to dissipate additional heat on the back of the GPU.
Complete Specifications
For a more detailed look at the specifications and what they mean for you, read our NVIDIA G80 article (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/G80).
Bus interface: PCI Express
Memory: 768MB
Memory Interface: 384 bit
Core Clock: 626 MHz
Memory Clock: 1000 MHz
RAMDACs: 400 MHz
NVIDIA® unified architecture with GigaThread™ technology
Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 Shader Model 4.0 support
16x full-screen anti-aliasing
True 128-bit floating point high dynamic-range (HDR) lighting
NVIDIA® Quantum Effects™ physics processing technology
Two dual-link DVI outputs support two 2560x1600 resolution displays
NVIDIA® PureVideo™ technology
OpenGL® 2.0 support
NVIDIA ForceWare® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
Built for Microsoft® Windows Vista™
NVIDIA® Lumenex™ Engine
NVIDIA® nView® Multi-Display Technology
Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
Discrete, Programmable Video Processor
Hardware Decode Acceleration
Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing
High-Quality Scaling
Inverse Telecine (3:2 & 2:2 Pulldown Correction)
Bad Edit Correction
Video Color Correction
Integrated SD and HD TV Output
Noise Reduction
Edge Enhancement
[page=Packaging & Contents]
Packaging
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package1_small.jpg (http://www1.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package1.jpg)
EVGA's box is dominated by the colors black, white and green. The packaging is clean and elegant, and quite heavy. This is mainly because the new cooler considerably increases the video card's weight from 750 g to 1060 g.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/package2.jpg)
On the back you get to know which features this card has and how it compares in performance.
Contents
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/contents_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/contents.jpg)
Inside the box you will find:
GeForce 8800 GTX Video Card
Software and Documentation bundle
S-Video Cable
HDTV Cable
2x DVI adapter
2x PCI-E power adapter
The package has everything you need to be going. Two power adapters are useful for people who don't have a PSU with PCI-E power connectors.
[page=The Card]
The Card
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card1.jpg)
Compared to the standard NVIDIA reference design, EVGA uses a cooler that looks a bit different. It is black, it is heavy, it is powerful - but not loud.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card2.jpg)
EVGA has given a lot of attention to small details that make the card look a lot better. For example the "EVGA" text on the side or the text around the fan.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/card3.jpg)
On the back of the card you have a big heatsink plate that helps cooling the GPU from the other side.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/outputs_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/outputs.jpg)
Like you would expect from a high-end video card, two Dual-Link DVI outputs are on the card. So you can attach displays running higher than 1600x1200, that's what NVIDIA is marketing with their "HD Gaming". If you have an older analog display, you can of course use the included DVI adapters on both ports.
[page=A Closer Look]
A Closer Look
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fan2.jpg)
EVGA uses exactly the same fan as the original NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX. The air is sucked in and routed away in a 90° angle. This blower fan approach works very well and keeps the card cool and noise levels down. EVGA added a little plastic label that says "EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTX Series | ACS³". This label is protected from scratches by a transparent plastic film, very nice attention to detail here.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/sli_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/sli.jpg)
Two SLI connectors are available for future configurations like three or four cards in SLI. At this time you can only do SLI with two cards using either of the SLI connectors.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler1.jpg)
A big metal plate on the back of the card adds extra cooling, because some heat travels from the GPU through to PCB to the other side.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler3.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler4_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler4.jpg)
Removing the cooler is several steps. It seems to me that EVGA kept the original cooler base (grey metal, fins and fan) and changed only the black metal part on top of it. The grey patch on the black metal is a thermal pad that sits on top of the heatsink fins and allows additional heat to be dissipated through the cooler's outer shell.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power.jpg)
Two power connectors are required for operation of this card, adapters are included.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/cooler5.jpg)
EVGA did not change the PCB layout itself, so the card is as long as the NVIDIA 8800 GTX. Exact length is 27 cm. Having the power connectors angled 90° helps with the length requirements.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/memory_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/memory.jpg)
NVIDIA "still" uses GDDR3 memory with 1.1ns cycle time which should be good for about 900 MHz. Having 768 MB of GDDR4 on the card would be excessively expensive for only rather small gains. Not to mention that ATI keeps buying all GDDR4 stock.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpuoverview_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpuoverview.jpg)
When the cooler is removed you can see just how big the GPU is.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpu_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/gpu.jpg)
The GPU used is the G80 revision A2 which is the latest available.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/hd_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/hd.jpg)
If you look closely, you can see that the big Grey chunk of metal is not the actual die, but a heatspreader which protects the die from damage during cooler mounting.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/tmds_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/tmds.jpg)
On the GeForce 8800 the TMDS display output logic has been moved away from the core into a separate chip, made by NVIDIA. This allows greater design flexibility for future configurations. When several GPUs are working together you need only one set of outputs. If you had a couple of GPUs with their own unused output logic this would mean wasted silicon space and money. Also a physics card does not need any display output logic.
[page=Test Setup]
Test System
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="150" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 FX-60 @ 2900 MHz<br />(Toledo, 2x 1024 KB Cache)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">Sapphire PC-A9RD580<br />ATI Radeon XPRESS 3200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 1024MB G.Skill F1-4000BIU2-2GBHV CL3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">WD Raptor 360GD 36 GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">OCZ GameXStream 700W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Drivers:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">NVIDIA: 91.47<br />ATI: Catalyst 7.1</td>
</tr>
</table>
All video card results were obtained on this exact system with the exact same configuration.
All games were set to their highest quality setting
The following resolutions were tested per benchmark:
1024 x 768, No Anti-aliasing, No anisotropic filtering. This is a standard resolution without demanding display settings.
1280 x 1024, 2x Anti-aliasing, 8x anisotropic filtering. Common resolution for most gamer flatscreens today. A bit of eye candy turned on in the drivers.
1600 x 1200, 4x Anti-aliasing, 16x anisotropic filter. Highest non-widescreen resolution available to a wide range of users. Very good looking driver graphics settings.
2048 x 1536, 4x Anti-aliasing, 16x anisotropic filter. Highest non-widescreen resolution available to any consumer video card. Very good looking driver graphics settings.
[page=Far Cry]
Far Cry
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry.jpg
Far Cry (http://www.farcry-thegame.com) was released in early 2004 by the new development studio Crytek. It quickly became a massive success because it was one of the first titles to take you in a beautiful 3D outdoor world. Far Cry was one of the most demanding games at its time. Even with today's video cards you can still see big differences in frame rates, especially at the higher resolutions.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/farcry_2048_1536.gif
[page=FEAR]
FEAR
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear.jpg
The first person shooter F.E.A.R (htttp://www.whatisfear.com), developed by Monolith Game Studios, was released in Fall 2005 and has a great 3D engine that uses a large number of shading and shadow effects to accurately model the game world. In addition to that it features a realistic physics engine that lets you interact with many objects in the game world. The game was voted game of the year by several publications.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/fear_2048_1536.gif
[page=Prey]
Prey
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey.jpg
Prey (http://www.prey.com) is based on a highly modified 3D engine made by id Software. This first person shooter brought a completely new way of gaming to the genre. In many levels you find yourself walking upside down or on the walls. This adds a completely new aspect to the gaming experience in this genre.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/prey_2048_1536.gif
[page=Quake 4]
Quake 4
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4.jpg
The Quake titles are among the most successful first person games. Developed by id Software, the famous game studio that brought you DOOM, you find yourself in a scifi world that is full of aliens and shocking effects. The main focus of the game is the single player story line. Quake 4 (http://www.quake4game.com) puts you on the home planet of the Strogg. In a number of missions you and your fellow marines will encounter all sorts of enemies, including some really huge aliens.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/quake4_2048_1536.gif
[page=X3]
X3
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3.jpg
X3 (http://www.egosoft.com) is a space combat/trading simulation game with beautiful graphics. The game world is gigantic and there is always something new to see. Even though the user interface is not that great, the title has found many fans that love to explore the rich content. When you are flying in your spaceship you are sometimes tempted to just stop the action to take a look at the highly detailed ships and planets.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/x3_2048_1536.gif
[page=3DMark03]
3DMark03
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03.jpg
Futuremark Corporation (http://www.futuremark.com) is the number one player in the world of synthetic benchmarking. The 3DMark series is the most popular test suite for video card testing and is used by gamers, overclockers and manufacturers alike to determine how fast their hardware is. Even though it is a few years old, 3DMark03 can easily stress today's video cards.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark03_2048_1536.gif
[page=3DMark05]
3DMark05
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05.jpg
Another benchmark from Futuremark (http://www.futuremark.com) is 3DMark05 which comes with four completely new game tests that make massive use of shaders and lighting effects. 3DMark05 is a great test for modern video card architectures - in some tests you are often close to the 30 fps mark, below which your games will feel sluggish.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_1024_768.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_1280_1024.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_1600_1200.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/3dmark05_2048_1536.gif
[page=Power consumption]
Power consumption
Cooling modern video cards is becoming more and more difficult, especially when users are asking for quiet cooling solutions. That's why the engineers are now paying much more attention to power consumption of new video card designs.
<table border="1" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" class="ramtable" width="450">
<tr align="center">
<th colspan="2" scope="row" style="font-size:larger;text-align:center">Test System</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th width="150" scope="row">CPU:</th>
<td scope="row">AMD Athlon64 FX-60 @ 2900 MHz<br />(Toledo, 2x 1024 KB Cache)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Motherboard:</th>
<td scope="row">Sapphire PC-A9RD580<br />ATI Radeon XPRESS 3200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">Memory:</th>
<td scope="row">2x 1024MB G.Skill F1-4000BIU2-2GBHV CL3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Harddisk:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">WD Raptor 360GD 36 GB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Power Supply:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">OCZ GameXStream 700W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Software:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">Windows XP SP2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th valign="top" scope="row">Drivers:</th>
<td valign="top" scope="row">NVIDIA: 91.47<br />ATI: Catalyst 7.1</td>
</tr>
</table>
In order to characterize a video card's power consumption, the whole system's mains power draw was measured. This means that these numbers include CPU, Memory, HDD, Video card and PSU inefficiency.
The three result values are as following:
Idle: Windows sitting at the desktop (1024x768 32-bit) all windows closed, drivers installed.
Average: 3DMark03 Nature at 1280x1024, 6xAA, 16xAF. This results in the highest power consumption. Average of all readings (two per second) while the test was rendering (no title screen).
Peak: 3DMark03 Nature at 1280x1024, 6xAA, 16xAF. This results in the highest power consumption. Highest single reading
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_idle.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_average.gif
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/power_peak.gif
Even though NVIDIA recommends two power connectors, the power draw of the GeForce 8800 GTX is minimal for this class of card. Basically you get almost double the performance at the same power draw compared to the Radeon X1950 XTX.
Since NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTX does not use reduced clocks in 2D mode, the power consumption in 2D and idle is a bit higher though.
[page=Overclocking]
Overclocking
We used ATITool to automatically find the maximum core and memory clocks of our card.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/8800_GTX_ACS3/images/maxclock.jpg
In the end the card runs completely stable at 631 MHz Core (1 % overclock) and 1015 MHz Memory (1.5 % overclock).
The overclocks are very small, but you have to consider that the card is already running above the spec. It seems that EVGA has carefully selected those clocks to be very close to the maximum that is possible with those cards.
On one hand this means that you can not gain additional performance by overclocking, on the other hand it means that you won't have to waste your time with this because the card is already running at its optimum.
[page=Value & Conclusion]
Value and Conclusion
<table width="100%" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" id="result">
<tr><th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/dollar.gif</th>
<td>
The EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTX KO ACS³ comes with a $650 price tag which is a premium of about $50 over a regular GeForce 8800 GTX.</td>
</tr><tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbup.gif</th>
<td>
Extremely fast
Quiet
Warranty for improved clocks
Modest power consumption
DirectX 10 + Shader Model 4.0 Support
SLI capable
No overclocking software required
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/thumbdown.gif</th>
<td>
Expensive
DirectX 10 performance unknown
Drivers: May not work right under anything other than Windows 2000/XP 32-bit
</td></tr>
<tr><th>9.3</th>
<td>We all know that NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTX Series is the fastest card available that you can buy today. Based on these record breaking cards, EVGA has created a product that is even faster. In general we see about 10% performance increase, especially at high resolutions in demanding games.<br />
EVGA's improved cooling solution is well engineered and works excellent at keeping your temperatures down. Even if something turns out to be wrong at a later date, EVGA's 10 year warranty will not leave you in the dark.<br />
Despite the improved cooling, the card has almost no additional overclocking headroom. In my opinion the extra $50 are a good investment for people who want the latest and the greatest and are not worried so much about spending a little bit of extra money. In return they get a hassle free solution that works very good, so that they won't have to invest their time overclocking and losing their warranty from doing so. The hardcore enthusiasts might be better off by getting a regular 8800 GTX and overclocking themselves to save 50 bucks which could be invested in a watercooling solution.
</td></tr>
<tr><th></th><td>http://www.techpowerup.com/images/editorschoice.gif</td></tr>
</table>