Overclocking and thoughts
OverclockingGainward has already significantly upped the GeForce 6800 GT ante by guaranteeing enhanced clocks speeds of 400MHz core and 1200MHz memory. Overclocking past these settings invalidates the card's warranty and should only be carried out by experienced enthusiasts. Using a combination of EXPERTOOL and 3DMark03's synthetic tests as a barometer of stability, our sample hit 415MHz core and 1235MHz memory. That's a disappointing increase in percentage terms, but that's usually the case with premier GPUs.
I dare say that you wouldn't notice the in-game difference between enhanced and overclocked settings. Gainward has obviously gauged the potential of GT cores and chosen just the right ones. Just don't be disappointed if you don't manage 10%+ overclocks on enhanced core and memory frequencies.
Final thoughts
It all seems too good to be true. A GeForce 6800 GT card that's faster than most Ultras when set to the guaranteed enhanced mode. It all seems to be there; extravagant cooling, two-slot cooler and dual-DVI outputs. It would be too good if the asking price was set to usual GT prices that reside between £250-£300. Gainward, however, is keen to match its Goes Like Hell GT's price and performance to Ultra models. Trawling through the web shows an online price of between £360-£400; right in Ultra territory.
Evaluation of the Gainward GeForce 6800 GT Ultra/2400 Golden Sample Goes Like Hell 256MB, to give its full title, should be made against cards in its price bracket and not via GPU terms, I feel. In that context, Gainward's card still looks pretty good, as its extra memory bandwidth begins to tell when image quality is raised to the maximum.
A couple of aspects take the shine away from the GLH package. The first is fan noise that's a touch louder than an Ultra's when set to a minimum fixed 50%. Raising fan speed, as you can imagine, only makes this fact worse. The use of two cooling fans will almost always have this unwanted side-effect. Another facet that needs working on is the bundle. Competitors, and I'm thinking of the likes of ASUS and MSI here, offer a full, comprehensive bundle that usually contains a few decent games. Gainward's GLH card is marginally under £400, but that amount of cash doesn't even buy you a single gaming title.
Gainward's GeForce 6800 GT Ultra/2400 Golden Sample Goes Like Hell 256MB is a fast and furious card that will ultimately appeal to the enthusiast who desires clock speed above all else. In that respect, it's a decent effort. Forget that it's named a GT; that's just clever marketing. The only question you really need to ask yourself when contemplating a video card at this end of the market is whether an NV40-based 400/1200-clocked card is worth £380 of your hard-earned money. If it is, it's well worth considering.
