HIS X800XL

[Stormheart]

Anyone know much about these cards, are they any good..? HIS X800XL

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

nice but how much? they are equivalent to the 6800gts thats all i know.

 

[ddogg]

ya they're all good...but it all depends on how much they cost! if its under $300 it would be worth buying unless u can get a 6800GT for a similar price!

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

good point, but ur never going to fin ti under300 unitl r520 and g70 come out.

 

[ronnn]

Nice and very silent from what I have read.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: ronnn
Nice and very silent from what I have read.

LOL...u referring to the G70 thread?

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: SuperTyphoon
good point, but ur never going to fin ti under300 unitl r520 and g70 come out.

the AGP GT has fallen below $300....

 

[Scrubber]

Originally posted by: Stormheart
Anyone know much about these cards, are they any good..? HIS X800XL

I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago and went to install it on a DFI LANPARTY N4 SLi-DR yesterday. Much to my annoyance, I found that one of the protrusions on the underside of the Artic Cooler - each of which contains a tiny screw used to lock the top of the enclosure to its base - juts out below the card so that when you insert it into a PCI-e slot, it makes contact with the top of the N4 chipset cooler fan housing forcing that to tilt to one side. Although I'm not a mathmetician, I'd say that the amount of tilt is about 15 degrees, giving the impression at least that the fan housing isn't making proper contact with the thermal pad underneath it.

This is obviously a source of some concern bearing in mind that with an nForce4 chipset, there's no North and South Bridge, but rather a single chip that does the work of both. That translates into the chip running a lot hotter than a system board with an actual chipset.

I phoned DFI this morning and they advised me that provided the fan makes contact with the thermal pad on both sides, it won't matter that much if it runs at an angle (provided the fan can actually spin of course). I was also told that removing the fan housing and adding a little more thermal compound might help matters. However, I'm loathe to do that since I haven't installed the OS yet and don't know whether the system will even boot yet.
If anything, I'm more inclined to remove the screw that's in the offending protrusion and then file that off completely. It'll kill off the warranty of course and even though the card cost me more than the MBD, at the end of the day, it's just and expansion card which can be replaced easily albeit at some additional cost.

I've also mailed details to HISDigital in Hong Kong, but haven't received a response yet.

But if you're thinking of buying one of these graphic cards, it's something to bear in mind.

 

[RussianSensation]

not worth spendign extra from regular x800xl. With these you might get to 460mhz on the core. Regular x800xls will get to 430. The price difference will probably be more than $50.

just get the regular x800xl pcie for $275

 

[Diasper]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
not worth spendign extra from regular x800xl. With these you might get to 460mhz on the core. Regular x800xls will get to 430. The price difference will probably be more than $50.

just get the regular x800xl pcie for $275

Unless you're looking for something quiet...


Say how does noise compare between the 6800GT and X800 XL typically (and in particular if possible)?

 

[Cheesetogo]

It's probably cheaper just to buy a regular card and then buy an artic silencer. It will give you the same performance.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
It's probably cheaper just to buy a regular card and then buy an artic silencer. It will give you the same performance.

yup...!!

 

[Scrubber]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
not worth spendign extra from regular x800xl. With these you might get to 460mhz on the core. Regular x800xls will get to 430. The price difference will probably be more than $50.

just get the regular x800xl pcie for $275

Prices for the X800 XL seem to have dropped somewhat since I bought my card, or at least they have in the Netherlands which is where I live. There's a list of them here
Of course, you lucky peeps in the land of milk & honey don't have to pay the 19% to 21% sales tax that we do this side of the pond, so I expect prices will be cheaper in the US where nobody seems to have even heard of sales tax.

 

[Diasper]

Originally posted by: ddogg

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
It's probably cheaper just to buy a regular card and then buy an artic silencer. It will give you the same performance.

yup...!!

Except that it'll void your warranty...

 

[Chode Messiah]

Originally posted by: Scrubber

Originally posted by: Stormheart
Anyone know much about these cards, are they any good..? HIS X800XL

I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago and went to install it on a DFI LANPARTY N4 SLi-DR yesterday. Much to my annoyance, I found that one of the protrusions on the underside of the Artic Cooler - each of which contains a tiny screw used to lock the top of the enclosure to its base - juts out below the card so that when you insert it into a PCI-e slot, it makes contact with the top of the N4 chipset cooler fan housing forcing that to tilt to one side. Although I'm not a mathmetician, I'd say that the amount of tilt is about 15 degrees, giving the impression at least that the fan housing isn't making proper contact with the thermal pad underneath it.

This is obviously a source of some concern bearing in mind that with an nForce4 chipset, there's no North and South Bridge, but rather a single chip that does the work of both. That translates into the chip running a lot hotter than a system board with an actual chipset.

I phoned DFI this morning and they advised me that provided the fan makes contact with the thermal pad on both sides, it won't matter that much if it runs at an angle (provided the fan can actually spin of course). I was also told that removing the fan housing and adding a little more thermal compound might help matters. However, I'm loathe to do that since I haven't installed the OS yet and don't know whether the system will even boot yet.
If anything, I'm more inclined to remove the screw that's in the offending protrusion and then file that off completely. It'll kill off the warranty of course and even though the card cost me more than the MBD, at the end of the day, it's just and expansion card which can be replaced easily albeit at some additional cost.

I've also mailed details to HISDigital in Hong Kong, but haven't received a response yet.

But if you're thinking of buying one of these graphic cards, it's something to bear in mind.

2 things:
why did u get the SLi mobo w/ATi card?
You can switch Pci-e x16 slots, that might help.
I heard that was a great card btw:thumbsup:

 

[amheck]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
It's probably cheaper just to buy a regular card and then buy an artic silencer. It will give you the same performance.

Without any warranty

 

[Scrubber]

Originally posted by: Chode Messiah

2 things:
why did u get the SLi mobo w/ATi card?
You can switch Pci-e x16 slots, that might help.
I heard that was a great card btw:thumbsup:

Yes, I know it doesn't sound logical since ATi in an SLi configuration isn't supported, but after researching the merits of a single X800 XL vs dual nVidia cards I came to the conclusion that SLi wouldn't benefit me very much in the resolutions I intend to play games in. Having said that I like to keep my options open for the future hence the choice of an SLi system board.

But after buggering about with the installation again this morning I note that the problem is even worse than I'd originally thought. That plastic mounting on the underside of the Arctic Cooler that protrudes below the level of the bottom of the card forces the fan housing down to the degree that the frame of the housing actually makes contact with the mobo PCB.

But I'll check out the possibility later of installing the card in the second slot. I didn't do that up till now because I was under the impression that the other slot ran in 4X mode as opposed to 16X on the main slot. But I could be wrong about that.

Anyway, thanks for the tip.

 

[PrayForDeath]

This is obviously a source of some concern bearing in mind that with an nForce4 chipset, there's no North and South Bridge, but rather a single chip that does the work of both.

This is an A64 thing, not an nForce4.
Did you try to replace the chipset fan with a smaller one? That might solve the problem. And can you post some pics, this way we can help you more with the problem.

 

[RussianSensation]

even a stock x800xl will still be quieter than stock 6800GT though. We have to look at his overall system. If his PSU, other fans, cpu fan are loud, then a quiet videocard wont make any difference.

 

[Scrubber]

Originally posted by: PrayForDeath

This is an A64 thing, not an nForce4.
Did you try to replace the chipset fan with a smaller one? That might solve the problem. And can you post some pics, this way we can help you more with the problem.

Actually it's neither. At the end of the day, it's the manufacturer trying to keep the tracelength to the sockets to a minimum in order to enhance performance when using dual cards. If you look at the layout of most nforce4 boards, you'll see that they all place the chipset in the same place i.e. between the two PCI-e slots. And no, you can't use a smaller fan due to the lack of space between the back of the graphic cards and the chipset. There's a good review of the board over @ Legitreviews.com You'll find a closeup image of a 6600GT sitting right on top of the fan housing there.

The basic problem with buying parts in the Netherlands which is where I live is availability. More often then not you're forced to buy from more than one supplier in order to get the bits you want and have to rely on images posted on the web for the attributes of a given component. In the case of the HIS X800 XL for which Stormheart posted a link at the beginning of this thread, the Arctic Cooler that you see on the HIS site gives the impression that the back of the housing slopes upwards in such a way that it won't interfere with the chip cooler on the mobo. In reality it's dead straight and one of the mounts on the underside protrudes some 5mm below the level of the card. That's just sufficient to cause the metal fan housing that sits on top of the nForce4 chipset to make contact with the motherboard.