Interesting reads about the 7900GTO

[pauldh]

GTO talks are everywhere with some pretty impressive OC's being reported. But not all talks are good. Is it an enthusiasts dream, or is there reason for alarm? Who knows what to think, Just thought some folks here may be interested in these links. I wonder how it will all play out. Hopefully not with large numbers of RMA's. Were the bad batches of 7900GTX's really using the Samsung chips with the newer fixed ones using Infineon? If so is finding the Samsung chips on these GTO's reason for alarm? Thoughts, opinions, links anyone?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=118140

http://www.evga.com/community/messageboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20147

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=1938002&frmKeyword=&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

 

[pauldh]

Alright, I found it interesting so I guess I'll start with some thoughts. :roll:

Many people are treating the GTO like it is a GTX, even using GTX benchmarks to compare the GTO to other cards. It's being talked about like every GTO will run as a GTX, so buy it. And while I was under the impression that NV was clearing out chips for upcoming G80, these links bring up questions on whether eVGA and others are clearing out not chips, but 7900GTX cards, quite possibly from the old bad (non-reloaded)batches that had the burn/artifact/sudden death issues. So my thinking is, if this is the case, that these are 7900GTX cards (not chips) that didn't make the cut or were set aside becasue of RMA issues, then we surely can't assume that these GTO's will work at 7900GTX speeds. Already a couple guys in that link fried theirs and part of eVGA forums discussions always talked about does your card work if the mem is underclocked.

 

[Flopmouth_Fish]

Alright, I found it interesting so I guess I'll start with some thoughts. :roll:

Many people are treating the GTO like it is a GTX, even using GTX benchmarks to compare the GTO to other cards. It's being talked about like every GTO will run as a GTX, so buy it. And while I was under the impression that NV was clearing out chips for upcoming G80, these links bring up questions on whether eVGA and others are clearing out not chips, but 7900GTX cards, quite possibly from the old bad (non-reloaded)batches that had the burn/artifact/sudden death issues. So my thinking is, if this is the case, that these are 7900GTX cards (not chips) that didn't make the cut or were set aside becasue of RMA issues, then we surely can't assume that these GTO's will work at 7900GTX speeds. Already a couple guys in that link fried theirs and part of eVGA forums discussions always talked about does your card work if the mem is underclocked.

I thought that only the 7900GTs were having burn-up issues. I must have thought wrong. Nonetheless, at first, this card looked interesting; a 7900GT with a GTX cooler, but after reading this, I'd hesitate to buy one.

Although it does make sense; nV (or, in this case, eVGA) using the GTO monkier for a "crippled" card (in this case, crippled means lowered clock speeds).

 

[GeneticWeapon]

Those 7900GTO's are going to burn up on people 8O

 

[Flopmouth_Fish]

Those 7900GTO's are going to burn up on people 8O

In a blaze of glory, just like your X1900GT will :lol: . Just kidding; please don't shoot me.

 

[GeneticWeapon]

I'm not going to overclock it any further than it is :idea:

 

[Flopmouth_Fish]

I'm not going to overclock it any further than it is :idea:

But then you'll never beat Paul's 3DMark score :lol:

 

[pauldh]

Ahhh, check his sig. He walked right by me. 8O

 

[pauldh]

I don't know, it could go either way and makes you wonder if certain brands of GTO's will be better than others. At least eVGA honors their warranty and has a trade up program. Some people may just luck out with a card that handles super high clocks, and others might burn up like GW mentioned.

BTW, Where are the GTO reviews from the big sites?

 

[pauldh]

Those 7900GTO's are going to burn up on people 8O

My first thought exactly.

Nice new score BTW! Someones been messing more with voltage. I'll have to give you a few days to enjoy it and then break out a new one myself. :mrgreen:

 

[Mousemonkey]

Well after reading some of those posts I really want to rush out and buy an eVGA 7900GTO 'NOT', I thought the post about the GTO sticker covering the GTX label was quite amusing seeing how an eVGA tech is giving it large on another forum about how they are 'new cards' just using(cough) old boxes (cough) , lifetime warranty or not I would'nt go near them. My 2p's worth on the matter :lol:

 

[13thmonkey]

Well I'm getting artifacts at 60C when I up the RAM to 790, so far I've gotten to 750 with no artifacts.... so I guess that they are not all GTX capable. I'm backing it down to lower levels now.

Also looking at some of those links (and others) there are some suspicions that it is another component (a memory controller of some kind perhaps) that is limiting their use, i.e. they may have 1.1ns RAM but something else will fail above certain speeds.

Having said that I'm confident that it'll be OK at normal speeds, in which case its not too bad a purchase, between a GT and a GTX for the right kind of money, and I maintained my driver set, not an nvidia fanboi, just never understood ATI.

But I'm changing my mind officially now to 'its not a GTX in disguise..'

 

[pauldh]

Yeah, but still a nice card for a great price if you want NV. Enjoy the card.

I posted this in Cleeve's FS 7900GTO thread, but then though it should have been here. Along the lines that these are downclocked old version 7900GTX's. I'll just quote what I said (too lazy to reword it)

" I was surprised to see that only MSI and eVGA are making these. Another interesting note is that there will be no KO or SC model from eVGA, which leads me to believe that maybe there is some truth that these are leftover batches of troubled 7900GTX's. eVGA had too big a RMA fiasco with earlier OC'ed cards, so they are avoiding that situation this time".

 

[Heyyou27]

I'm getting two of them to hold me off until I go for 8800GTXs. I'll be stepping up in about 3 months.

 

[GeneticWeapon]

I'll have to give you a few days to enjoy it and then break out a new one myself. :mrgreen:

I'll be ready for you.

 

[pauldh]

HUh, those 7800GT's can't keep you happy until then? Must be nice to have unlimted funds.

Hey, maybe you can test yours to see how high they go before burning. Shoot, it's just return shipping fees and a short wait for replacements. :tongue:

 

[Anoobis]

Fr3ak at xtremesystems has a very nice signature pic.

Ohh...and thanks for the info.

 

[Flopmouth_Fish]

Fr3ak at xtremesystems has a very nice signature pic.

Yessir!

 

[pauldh]

I thought that only the 7900GTs were having burn-up issues.

I forgot to respond to this. The GT's seemed to have been worse off, but plenty of GTX's also. Look over this thread at the eVGA forums: http://www.evga.com/community/messageboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15366&whichpage=1

Looking over just the first page, (just one of the ten) I count 15 bad 7900GTX's (have to look at Question 1 and question 8 -# of RMA's to get this total) Go through thses pages and you are easily up into the hundreds of bad 7900's in no time.