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- Date:
- Monday , December 03, 2007
- Author:
- Matthew Krysiak
- Editor:
- Brent Justice
- Google +1
GeForce 8800 GT Overclocked Roundup
We have three builder overclocked GeForce 8800 GT video cards from Asus, EVGA, and MSI. We see what kind of gameplay experience can be achieved in Crysis, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Need For Speed: Pro Street and Unreal Tournament 3.
Introduction
EVGA is a familiar name to most PC hardware enthusiasts and are known for their lifetime warranties and 90 days setup-up program. They were founded in 1999 and are located in California. This past year they have made a name for themselves in the motherboard low end and high end enthusiast market with their motherboards based on the NVIDIA nForce 680i chipset.
EVGA GeForce 8800 GT SSC
The EVGA GeForce 8800 GT SSC uses a reference design PCB and has a factory overclocked GPU and memory. The GPU is running at 700 MHz (100 MHz over the reference design of 600 MHz). The video card’s memory is running at 2 GHz, which is 200 MHz faster than the 1.8 GHz reference design. These are the exact same overclocked frequencies as the ASUS EN8800 GT TOP. This doesn’t come cheap either, with an MSRP of $299 currently, and as of this writing they are currently on backorder on EVGA.com. Also, unfortunately, this model does NOT include the new bundled Crysis promotion from EVGA, though it does have Enemy Territory Quake Wars full version included.
The box has a dark copper and black color theme. On the front it has EVGA’s standard logos: the 90 Day Setup program logo, SLI logo, NVIDIA logo, HDCP logo, DX10 logo, 512 MB DDR3 logo, and the PCI-E logo. It also has an Enemy Territory Quake Wars (which you receive with the card) graphic and a “#1 Seller in U.S. of NVIDIA Based Products” award on it. Underneath the award it has the actual picture of the card. Underneath the 8800 GT text it has a SSC Edition sticker which means the card is factory overclocked, though nowhere on the box does it say by how much of an overclock.
The back of the box EVGA lists the features of the video card and states a lifetime warranty. It also lists what the package contains, though it leaves out the Enemy Territory Quake Wars CD, the 4-pin to 6-pin Molex connector, and the 9-pin to component cable. On the right side of the box there is a picture of the video card again and underneath that it has a window to the card’s label.
The card is bundle with a driver CD, a manual, an installation guide, an Enemy Territory Quake Wars CD, two DVI to VGA adapters, an S-Video cable, a 9-pin to component cable, and a 4-pin to 6-pin Molex connector.
The EVGA GeForce 8800 GT SSC uses a standard green PCB board, a black colored IO bracket and is nine and half inches long. The top of the reference design heatsink uses a very slick EVGA graphics design. There is a large opening by the SLI connector to let out the hot air. It does require a 6-pin auxiliary power connection, if this all sounds familiar; it is, so far no different in design than other 8800 GT’s.
The graphics design of the card is gorgeous, though the box needs to be updated with a correct contents list. Again we find a factory overclocked video card in the box but no listing of the overclocked frequencies anywhere on the box itself. It sure would be nice to know exactly what the clock speeds are so someone could compare it with other video cards sitting on the shelves.