7800GFX advice please

[Alta Rica]

I will be upgrading to 7800GTX in SLI. Like everyone here, I will be overclocking them and so want a pair of cards that will go well without too much hassle - but I do not want to pay the earth for them either (Yes, I do want my cake and eat it ).

Can anyone advise a decent pair of cards to go for please?

Thanks in advance.

 

[GoLLuM4444]

At the moment all cards are the reference model and therefore exactly the same. If you're overclocking them yourself then don't pay extra for the pre-overclocked BFG or XFX cards. Basically they're all the same - get the cheapest ones (with no games bundle or anything). £305-315 is the sort of price to look out for.

 

[maverik-sg1]

Check out inno3d units they are the best priced cards out there, also a generic card from 'well known' overclocking shop for £305.

Ultimately all units available are generic so a BIOS flash or using Rivatuner will ensure that you overclock will be as high as possible, on air that should be around 500/1380 on water it should be 525/1400.

Cheers

Mav

 

[jellybeard999]

You go around saying that, but it may not be that cut and dry....

Say BFG have a non overclocked card...

what if they speedbin, and the non oc cards are some that may not make the speed...

yeah, so the OC cards are generally only VERY slightly OCed, but what if

just a thought...

 

[maverik-sg1]

You go around saying that, but it may not be that cut and dry....

Say BFG have a non overclocked card...

what if they speedbin, and the non oc cards are some that may not make the speed...

yeah, so the OC cards are generally only VERY slightly OCed, but what if

just a thought...

In the same way that you could get really lucky with a non-speed binned unit?

Either way - unless you perform a hardwire voltage modification the max clocks you can usually obtain from any 7800GTX is 530/1450, tehre are exceptions to the rule for ANY GTX out there - but save your self £60 or so and get the cheapest, one thing you will not be disappointed with is performance.

Lets put this into perspective - one overclocker on this site purchased a R507 GT, FX57 and a pair of XFX EXTREME Edition GTX's - Could not break into top 5 on this forum on any test and that was purchasing the most expensive GTX's.

Remember that XFX also offer a 'Standard' overclock version too (which is also supposedly speed binned). One would assume with these being 'the best of the best' that the speed binning of these units would be of the highest level than in any other range - alas it was not to be, said overclocker is very disappointed with his purchase and even more disappointed to be beaten by generic cards.

Put simply people (as in overclockers not normal people who look at stock clocks) now accept now realise that there is no difference in any of these and that they could of save themselves up £160 on their SLI purchases and get similar results to any other GTX (non-volt modded) out there.

Of course this could all be down the the fact that yields from Nvidia are so good in this range almost every unit is a golden sample.

 

[Dazboots]

one overclocker on this site purchased a R507 GT, FX57 and a pair of XFX EXTREME Edition GTX's - Could not break into top 5 on this forum on any test and that was purchasing the most expensive GTX's.

sorry 2 say this mav but im on air and no vmods done to cards......

and if u look @ 03 im 4th on the board.... still bloody good going to say im only

got both cards on stock fan on air.

 

[maverik-sg1]

one overclocker on this site purchased a R507 GT, FX57 and a pair of XFX EXTREME Edition GTX's - Could not break into top 5 on this forum on any test and that was purchasing the most expensive GTX's.

sorry 2 say this mav but im on air and no vmods done to cards......

and if u look @ 03 im 4th on the board.... still bloody good going to say im only got both cards on stock fan on air.

Sorry mate - no offence intended , and of course it was no disrespect to you or your scores at all mate- just making a point about generic cards versus the pre-overclocked ones.

In fact you are probs in a better position to answer the question: Knowing what you know now - would you buy the current XFX Extreme Edition 7800GTX's or just buy a 7800GTX any make?

Custom PC say they are all the same too.

 

[Alta Rica]

Thanks for the advice. I will probably go with the generic cards from 'well known' overclocking store. The cheapest Inno3d units I could find were around £350 which is a lot more than their £305

 

[Vrykyl]

remembering that 'overclocked' gtx cards are for those folks that what a guaranteed overclock without voiding their warranty....or to get the most speed out of their card if they dont want to overclock at all.....plus there is to some extent a degree of speed binning with these cards, and no matter what anyone says I do know a few folks who's gtx cards genuinly havent overclocked to anywhere near those 'for certain' speeds your throwing around...the cards just werent up to it....

In the end it all comes down to what you have to spend - if you want the best stock rated cards then buy preoverclocked and take em higher, if your on a budget or prepared to risk then buy cheaper.....

my stock 450/1250 clocked xfx cost less than £300...

 

[Phil Stanbridge]

I managed to pick up some Asus Extreme GTX for a good price - they retail at £405 at the cheapest place I've seen but I tend to agree that going for the cheapest makes the best sense in terms of value for money - but with the pre-overclocked cards you do get the extra warranty (for what its worth). They're still very expensive however.

 

[maverik-sg1]

remembering that 'overclocked' gtx cards are for those folks that what a guaranteed overclock without voiding their warranty....or to get the most speed out of their card if they dont want to overclock at all.....plus there is to some extent a degree of speed binning with these cards, and no matter what anyone says I do know a few folks who's gtx cards genuinly havent overclocked to anywhere near those 'for certain' speeds your throwing around...the cards just werent up to it....

In the end it all comes down to what you have to spend - if you want the best stock rated cards then buy preoverclocked and take em higher, if your on a budget or prepared to risk then buy cheaper.....

my stock 450/1250 clocked xfx cost less than £300...

IMHO

But on the other hand there will always be a 'dud' and having a guarantee for certain clocks does have its benefits.

But most people who cant overclock the cards to the levels that they had hoped, it normally relates to another component holding them back (PSU for instance) or a lack of cooling or understanding of how to get the most from what you have (rivatuner to force specific clocks, BIOS flashing, not just relying on Nvidia coolbits or drivers which have proven to be problematic when trying for an overclock).

As far as warranty goes, I take your point but it just might be possible to get RMA if it just dies?

 

[bennywidag]

I have just seen the first non standard gtx around, leadtek, quite expensive though and im not sure if its worth it.

Link

 

[maverik-sg1]

With non-reference designs coming through over the coming weeks it's probably best to wait until the reviews come out for each one.......... just to be sure as i feel some will be better (much better) than others.

 

[Vrykyl]

Is that a non reference card or a fancy cooler that looks suspiciously like the dell coolers for the gtx...?

 

[GoLLuM4444]

I'm fairly sure that's a reference PCB with a fancy cooler.

 

[maverik-sg1]

I'm fairly sure that's a reference PCB with a fancy cooler.

Me too.

 

[mcmad]

Just to make it a bit clearer how cards are made..

The cores are made by TSMC, they test each core to meet NV spec & no more, the cores are then shipped to an assembly factory..

ALL cards that follow the reference design are made in the same factory using the same cores etc, pcb's memory etc..

these generic cards are then flashed with a vendor bios & the vendors heatsink is installed..

NO SPEED BINNING TAKES PLACE WITH THE CORES/MEM or anything else..

The cards are tested at the Vendor rated speed at the very end of the cycle before packaging.

So unless you are very unlucky your generic cheapo card should hit the speeds of the higher ones..

The reason this is done is to ensure initial supply can meet demand, look how well the launch went, multiple vendors offering cards on day 1, that would never happen if they had to make their own cards.

Once the initial sales are out of the way then NV will start to sell cores to companies to make their own cards, they can then speed bin to their hearts content, make fancy coolers etc etc..

 

[maverik-sg1]

Just to make it a bit clearer how cards are made..

The cores are made by TSMC, they test each core to meet NV spec & no more, the cores are then shipped to an assembly factory..

ALL cards that follow the reference design are made in the same factory using the same cores etc, pcb's memory etc..

these generic cards are then flashed with a vendor bios & the vendors heatsink is installed..

NO SPEED BINNING TAKES PLACE WITH THE CORES/MEM or anything else..

The cards are tested at the Vendor rated speed at the very end of the cycle before packaging.

So unless you are very unlucky your generic cheapo card should hit the speeds of the higher ones..

The reason this is done is to ensure initial supply can meet demand, look how well the launch went, multiple vendors offering cards on day 1, that would never happen if they had to make their own cards.

Thanks for that McMad mate - which is what I thought but could not put as elegantly as you did here, clearly the choice is clear - Generic all round

 

[mcmad]

at the rate i go through em, generic every time

 

[mcmad]

One thing to note here though..

Once a card has been out for a while, the standard can actually be high end cards that didn't meet spec so if a vendor offers their own cards (ie not reference) at normal & turbo nutter OMG speeds the normal card could be a turbo job that wasn't up to it..