Overclocking and noise
OverclockingOverclocking was undertaken by re-running our Far Cry benchmark at the highest setting of 1600x1200 4xAA 8x AF. The card's clocks were raised until the merest hint of a flashing texture or corrupted graphics. The end result was pleasing. I managed a solid 411MHz core and 1100MHz memory.
That's faster than a regular GeForce 6800 Ultra card's default clocks. Not bad for a card that's £100 or so cheaper. Of course, Ultras will, on balance, always overclock higher than GTs.
The comparison GeForce 6800 Ultra clocked in at 425MHz core and 1100MHz memory. I previously made mention that GTs run faster on a clock-for-clock basis. That's reinforced by just how close AOpen's overclocked Aeolus 6800 GT gets to a card that's running with a 14MHz core advantage.
Noise
Being a wholly reference GeForce 6800 GT, AOpen's card is no louder or quieter than the vast majority of other partners' GT cards. It's pretty quiet in 2D mode and only rises to a noticeable level after a few minutes of strenuous 3D work. I would have no problem in using it on a day-to-day basis. It's an improvement over the Ultra both in form and noise profile.
