BFG 8800GTX OC finally arrived!

[n7]

The box.
Laid out.
8800 GTX beside X1900 XT
Installed in the messy case.


Here's a few really quick benches i ran
Specs in sig.
Vista 64 Ultimate, Catalyst 7.4, & Forceware 158.18.


CSS Stresstest @ 2560x1600 everything maxed 4x AA 16x AF
X1900 XT 512 MB - 98.33 fps
8800 GTX OC - 165.82 fps
8800 GTX OC @ 621/2106 - 179.96 fps

FEAR @ 2048x1536 everything maxed 4x AA 16x AF
8800 GTX OC -
min - 30 fps
ave - 53
max - 113
FEAR 2560x1600 everything maxed 4x AA 16x AF @ 621/2052
8800 GTX OC -
min - 23
ave - 41
max - 94

Company of Heroes @ 2560x1600 everything maxed
X1900 XT 512 MB -
ave - 28.2 fps
max - 69.4
min - 11.6
8800 GTX OC -
ave - 48.1 fps
max - 109.1
min - 21.5
8800 GTX OC @ 621/2106 -
ave - 50
max - 133
min - 21.5

3Dmark01SE defaults
X1900 XT 512 MB - 32973
8800 GTX OC - 46403

3DMark05 defaults
X1900 XT 512 MB - 12610
8800 GTX OC - 17895
8800 GTX OC @ 621/2052 - 18429

3DMark06 defaults
X1900 XT 512 MB - 6302
8800 GTX OC - 10630

So far, no issues, which i am glad of.
I gotta get to bed now...i'll add more later.




Previously...

I am about to install my new 8800GTX

RIP X1900 XT

I use Vista 64, so i grabbed the latest official Vista 64 drivers from nV's site.

I got Rivertuner 2.01 & ATiTool 0.27b1 waiting in the wings for a little OCing action.


Anything i've missed?

Any other drivers or OCing appz i should have gotten?

Thanx.

I'll update this w/ pics & results when i get the 8800 installed

 

[Noema]

:thumbsup: Cool man! Be sure to post the pics. And we want benchmarks! It'll be interesting to see how that baby can push the pixels on your 30"

I ordered my 8800GTS yesterday as well. Should be here early next week. Yay.

 

[Zenoth]

Congrats on the new card :thumbsup:

And don't forget to update your rig in your sig

I just upgraded from a Radeon X1800XL 256MB to my new GTS last week-end, so I have a good idea how it feels, the excitement must be almost palpable.

 

[renozi]

Congrats! I'm getting myself an 8800GTS to replace my x1900xt as well! A-HIGH 5!!

 

[Keysplayr]

Contrats on your new monster. I just got a GTS about 3 weeks ago. Upgraded my whole system. Was using a 7900GT. You are gonna be amazed. Although I have no idea how it would perform on Vista 64. Hope it works out well for ya!!

 

[Matt2]

Must... purchase... GTX...

 

[CrystalBay]

Jasper, just run it stock OC your oc heartbreaks aren't worth it. IMO

Nice card BTW...

 

[n7]

Updated OP a bit...goin' to bed now though.

 

[lopri]

What is that huge case?

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: CrystalBay
Jasper, just run it stock OC your oc heartbreaks aren't worth it. IMO

Many of us OC just for the sake of OC. Yeah heartbreaks do occur but such is life. :moon:

 

[n7]

I've got RivaTuner working for OCing...

Is it normal to see the shader clocks increase when you up the core clocks?
Can they be controlled separately, or do they just increase along for the core speed?

Defaults for this card are 600/1400/900.

It seems to be stable @ 621/1458/1026, as i've run various benches & game benches, not to mention playing UT2k4 for a few hours.

I did notice it would stutter every once & a while in UT2k4...something i read about before...

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: lopri
What is that huge case?

Huge case is the Thermaltake Armor.

 

[thilanliyan]

Originally posted by: lopri
What is that huge case?

Seriously!!!! That case makes the GTX look like my old Geforce 2 MX. My GTS just barely fits in my P180B and I thought my case was on the big side.

 

[the Chase]

Congrats on the new card. OT- does the 4GB of memory make a difference or "feel smoother" in Vista compared to 2GB?

A few maps in the Project Reality Mod for bf2 are unplayable with 2 GB with high res. and textures set to high with Vista.

The shader clock does increase in set increments with the core clock and as of now they can't be clocked individually. The best stable setting for me was 634. This is the only core clock that keeps my core stable at 621 but yet increases the shader clock to 1512? which is no problem for the shaders. If I go one more step to 635 it takes my core speed up to 648 and almost instant corruption in games.

 

[n7]

Yes, 4 GB is smoother in Vista.

I held onto 32-bit Vista for a while, & now i don't know why
I've been quite happy with Vista 64 with 4 GB RAM + 2 GB ReadyBoost, & now having this card...it's like icing on the cake

Unfortunately, RivaTuner only seems to clock the GPU up in large jumps.

So i have to go from 621 to 648, which isn't stable.
Same with the RAM. It goes from 1026 to 1044.

I looped 3DMark06 for a while...seems to be fine @ 621/1026.

621/2052
Can't really complain...faster than eVGA Superclock speeds for a lot less


I find the auto fan settings kinda silly.
Auto lets the card idle really hot, & then kicks in full blast when playing a game.

Since i find ~85% or higher fan speed too loud, i just set it to 81% permanently...seems to be okay for temps, & is about the same noise as my PSU & other fans.

 

[Nightmare225]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
Congrats on the new card :thumbsup:

And don't forget to update your rig in your sig

I just upgraded from a Radeon X1800XL 256MB to my new GTS last week-end, so I have a good idea how it feels, the excitement must be almost palpable.

Imagine how I felt when I went from a 9700 Pro to a GTX.

 

[the Chase]

Originally posted by: n7
Yes, 4 GB is smoother in Vista.

I held onto 32-bit Vista for a while, & now i don't know why
I've been quite happy with Vista 64 with 4 GB RAM + 2 GB ReadyBoost, & now having this card...it's like icing on the cake

Unfortunately, RivaTuner only seems to clock the GPU up in large jumps.

So i have to go from 621 to 648, which isn't stable.
Same with the RAM. It goes from 1026 to 1044.

I looped 3DMark06 for a while...seems to be fine @ 621/1026.

621/2052
Can't really complain...faster than eVGA Superclock speeds for a lot less


I find the auto fan settings kinda silly.
Auto lets the card idle really hot, & then kicks in full blast when playing a game.

Since i find ~85% or higher fan speed too loud, i just set it to 81% permanently...seems to be okay for temps, & is about the same noise as my PSU & other fans.

Sounds good to me. What memory stick are you using for Readyboost?

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: the Chase
Sounds good to me. What memory stick are you using for Readyboost?

OCZ Rally 2.

I actually didn't really plan the whole 4 GBs out thing.

I was gonna stick w/ my 2 GB Team Xtreem high end RAM till 2 GB dimms came down in price, & then go 4 GB (2x2 GB).

So i got a the 2 GB USB drive to match.

But then RAM prices got so dirt cheap, & i knew Vista would make use of the extra RAM via Superfetch, etc.

So i grabbed the 4x1 GB cheapo RAM

Next plan is to get a 4 or 8 GB ReadyBoost drive.
As Readyboost works on a 2:1 compression rate, that sets me up with 8 or 16 GB worth of cached goodness.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: n7
Yes, 4 GB is smoother in Vista.

I held onto 32-bit Vista for a while, & now i don't know why
I've been quite happy with Vista 64 with 4 GB RAM + 2 GB ReadyBoost, & now having this card...it's like icing on the cake

Unfortunately, RivaTuner only seems to clock the GPU up in large jumps.

So i have to go from 621 to 648, which isn't stable.
Same with the RAM. It goes from 1026 to 1044.

I looped 3DMark06 for a while...seems to be fine @ 621/1026.

621/2052
Can't really complain...faster than eVGA Superclock speeds for a lot less


I find the auto fan settings kinda silly.
Auto lets the card idle really hot, & then kicks in full blast when playing a game.

Since i find ~85% or higher fan speed too loud, i just set it to 81% permanently...seems to be okay for temps, & is about the same noise as my PSU & other fans.

So let me get this right...an extra 4% increase is too loud? I'm wondering if it's not really 4% at all then.

Did you have any issues with crashing or freezing in games? There's someone in motherboard section that has a GTX and it is freezing in games with a P5B Deluxe. I wonder what the problem could be for him. Curious because I am thinking of getting an 8800GTX soonish and would like to be able to pinpoint the issue so as to avoid it.

 

[n7]

It's too early for me to feel like doing the math, but i just tested out 81% to 100% fan speeds.

81% = 2316-2320 rpm
85% = 2463-2465
90% = 2636-2641
95% = 2815-2819
100% = 2920-2922


At 77% i cannot diferentiate the fan noise of the 8800 from my Noctuas or Corsair HX520's fan.

Around 80% you can sorta make out a slight difference.
85% i can certainly hear a difference.

Bear in mind i am very picky about noise, especially since i run my case side-open two feet away from where i sit.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: n7
It's too early for me to feel like doing the math, but i just tested out 81% to 100% fan speeds.

81% = 2316-2320 rpm
85% = 2463-2465
90% = 2636-2641
95% = 2815-2819
100% = 2920-2922


At 77% i cannot diferentiate the fan noise of the 8800 from my Noctuas or Corsair HX520's fan.

Around 80% you can sorta make out a slight difference.
85% i can certainly hear a difference.

Bear in mind i am very picky about noise, especially since i run my case side-open two feet away from where i sit.

I'm not an expert on sound and how fan speed affects it. I don't know how loud it actually is since I don't have the card. I was just wondering how much difference was in the few % you mentioned.

Any issues with the P5B Deluxe that you found while using this card?

 

[n7]

I want to let people know that in no way is it even close to how loud my X1800/X1900 stock cooler was.

Heck, IIRC, @ 50%, the Radeons' stock cooler was louder than this one at load.

But i was used to my Accelero X2, which was completely inaudible even @ full 2000 RPM.

The Noctua fan i use for the TT BT heatsink is actually likely the loudest thing in my case, as the stupid fan header for it refuses to allow me to run it slower than the 1360-1385 RPM it is right now.
Under load, the Corsair HX520 gets a bit louder too, though it's still extremely quiet.


I suspect most people wouldn't even notice the 8800's fan @ 100% over their case fan, etc...but i'm not most ppl

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: n7
I want to let people know that in no way is it even close to how loud my X1800/X1900 stock cooler was.

Heck, IIRC, @ 50%, the Radeons' stock cooler was louder than this one at load.

But i was used to my Accelero X2, which was completely inaudible even @ full 2000 RPM.

The Noctua fan i use for the TT BT heatsink is actually likely the loudest thing in my case, as the stupid fan header for it refuses to allow me to run it slower than the 1360-1385 RPM it is right now.
Under load, the Corsair HX520 gets a bit louder too, though it's still extremely quiet.


I suspect most people wouldn't even notice the 8800's fan @ 100% over their case fan, etc...but i'm not most ppl

I use a P180 case that hides alot of sound. I run my Panaflow H1BX at max RPM and I can hear it, but it's not overbearing. My X1900XT only gets loud when the system starts up. Otherwise it's pretty quiet.

 

[n7]

So far i've had no issues w/ the card & this mobo or games thus far, but i really haven't done too much other than benching & playing my usual UT2k4 last night.

I did notice that it almost felt like it was about to lock up for a second a few times in UT2k4, but then it would unchug back into the action...that's when i remember reading something about it stuttering in UT2k4.

It may have been the server though, so i don't know.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
I use a P180 case that hides alot of sound. I run my Panaflow H1BX at max RPM and I can hear it, but it's not overbearing. My X1900XT only gets loud when the system starts up. Otherwise it's pretty quiet.

If you run that case closed & don't mind the X1900XT stock fan, you'll never even hear the 8800's fan, seriously.

There's no comparison between it & the X1K coolers

Again, i'm just very picky about noise.

The great thing is that running @ 80% is more than adequate for keeping the card cool enough.

If i was running w/ case side close, i'd likely be letting it run auto, since i doubt i'd notice it then.