Now let’s look at NVIDIA’s core
technology behind the ASUS
EN8800 GTS TOP:
Features and Benefits
NVIDIA
Unified Architecture:
Fully unified shader core dynamically
allocates processing power to geometry,
vertex, physics, or pixel shading
operations, delivering up to 2x the gaming
performance of prior generation GPUs.
Full Microsoft®
DirectX® 10 Support:
DirectX 10 GPU with full Shader Model 4.0
support delivers unparalleled levels of
graphics realism and film-quality effects.
NVIDIA® SLI® Technology1:
Delivers up to 2x the performance of a
single GPU configuration for unequaled
gaming experiences by allowing two graphics
cards to run in parallel. The must-have
feature for performance PCI Express®
graphics, SLI dramatically scales
performance on today’s hottest games.
PCI Express 2.0
Support:
Designed to run perfectly with the new PCI
Express 2.0 bus architecture, offering a
future-proofing bridge to tomorrow’s most
bandwidth-hungry games and 3D applications
by maximizing the 5 GT/s PCI Express 2.0
bandwidth (twice that of first generation
PCI Express). PCI Express 2.0 products are
fully backwards compatible with existing PCI
Express motherboards for the broadest
support.
GigaThread™ Technology:
Massively multi-threaded architecture
supports thousands of independent,
simultaneous threads, providing extreme
processing efficiency in advanced, next
generation shader programs.
NVIDIA® Lumenex™
Engine:
Delivers stunning image quality and floating
point accuracy at ultra-fast frame rates.
16x
Anti-aliasing Technology:
Lightning fast, high-quality
anti-aliasing at up to 16x sample
rates obliterates jagged edges.
128-bit
floating point High Dynamic-Range
(HDR) Lighting:
Twice the precision of prior
generations for incredibly realistic
lighting effects—now with support
for anti-aliasing.
NVIDIA® Quantum
Effects™ Technology:
Advanced shader processors architected for
physics computation enable a new level of
physics effects to be simulated and rendered
on the GPU—all while freeing the CPU to run
the game engine and artificial intelligence
(AI).
NVIDIA® ForceWare®
Unified Driver Architecture (UDA):
Delivers a proven record of compatibility,
reliability, and stability with the widest
range of games and applications. ForceWare
provides the best out-of-box experience for
every user and delivers continuous
performance and feature updates over the
life of NVIDIA GeForce® GPUs.
OpenGL® 2.1
Optimization and Support:
Ensures top-notch compatibility and
performance for OpenGL applications.
Dual 400MHz RAMDACs:
Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA
displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh
rates–up to 2048x1536@85Hz.
Dual Dual-link DVI
Support:
Able to drive the industry’s largest and
highest resolution flat-panel displays up to
2560x1600 and with support for
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection
(HDCP).
NVIDIA® PureVideo® HD
Technology2:
The combination of high-definition video
decode acceleration and post-processing that
delivers unprecedented picture clarity,
smooth video, accurate color, and precise
image scaling for movies and video.
Discrete,
Programmable Video Processor:
NVIDIA PureVideo is a discrete
programmable processing core in
NVIDIA GPUs that provides superb
picture quality and ultra-smooth
movies with 100% offload of H.264
video decoding from the CPU and
significantly reduced power
consumption.
Hardware Decode
Acceleration:
Provides ultra-smooth playback of
H.264, VC-1, WMV and MPEG-2 HD and
SD movies.
HDCP Capable3:
Designed to meet the output
protection management (HDCP) and
security specifications of the
Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats,
allowing the playback of encrypted
movie content on PCs when connected
to HDCP-compliant displays.
Advanced
Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing:
Sharpens HD and standard definition
interlaced content on progressive
displays, delivering a crisp, clear
picture that rivals high-end
home-theater systems.
High-Quality
Scaling:
Enlarges lower resolution movies and
videos to HDTV resolutions, while
maintaining a clear, clean image.
Also provides downscaling of videos,
including high-definition, while
preserving image detail.
Inverse
Telecine (3:2 & 2:2 Pulldown
Correction):
Recovers original film images from
films-converted-to-video (DVDs,
1080i HD content), providing more
accurate movie playback and superior
picture quality.
Bad Edit
Correction:
When videos are edited, the edits
can disrupt the normal 3:2 or 2:2
pulldown cadence. PureVideo uses
advanced processing techniques to
detect poor edits, recover the
original content, and display
perfect picture detail frame after
frame for smooth, natural looking
video.
Noise
Reduction:
Improves movie image quality by
removing unwanted artifacts.
Edge
Enhancement:
Sharpens movie images by providing
higher contrast around lines and
objects.
Integrated SD
and HD TV Output:
World-class TV-out functionality via
Composite, S-Video, Component or DVI
connections. Supports resolutions up
to 1080i/1080p, depending on
connection type and TV capability.
1 -
NVIDIA SLI certified versions of GeForce
PCI Express GPUs only. A GeForce 8800
GTS 512 MB must be paired with another
GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB, regardless of
graphics card manufacturer to enable SLI
technology.
2 -
Feature requires supported video
software. Features may vary by product.
3 -
Requires other HDCP-compatible
components.
Courtesy of NVIDIA
At first glance, there’s not much to
differentiate the
ASUS EN8800GTS TOP from
earlier G80-based GeForce 8800 GTS reference-design
cards. Both have a double-wide fan shroud, which
takes up two expansion slots. At 9 inches long and
4.376 inches high, there’s certainly going to be a
lot less drama involved fitting them in most
enclosures compared to the larger 8800 GTX and Ultra
cards. Both receive power from a single 6-pin PCI
Express connector mounted on the front edge of the
PCB, which makes power supply cable routing a bit
less problematic that the GTX and Ultra cards that
have two PCI Express connectors on the top
front edge of their PCBs. Both have dual DVI/D Sub
and HDCP-compliant HDTV-Out connectors occupying
their ventilated rear brackets. The single SLI
connector means that unless NVIDIA has a sudden
change of heart, the EN8800GTS TOP and other
G92 GTS cards won’t be running
Three-way SLI
any time soon.
When
Enable Manual HyperDrive Clock Rate is
checked, the card is not overclocked by
default.
Click
Default however, and the manual setting
will apply a conservative 6 MHz overclock.
Naturally, you can adjust the slider to kick
it up all the way to 60 MHz. As always,
overclocking in small steps to find
the maximum stable overclock is
usually the smarter and safer route.
When
HyperDrive is enabled, SmartDoctor's
Graphics Speed sliders are automatically
disabled.
The
Information tab provides the usual info on
the EN8800GTS TOP.
Minimize closes SmartDoctor back to the
System Tray icon.
Close
will close SmartDoctor completely—though any
clock setting changes you've made will still
be in effect if you checked-off "Use clock
settings after reboot" under Settings
on the System Tray icon's context menu.
And of
course, clicking Help...
...will
bring up SmartDoctor's online User Guide.
With the exception of their skin-deep
specifications in fact, the only way to tell the
difference between the two, is the fan shroud
itself. Like other G92-based 8800 GTS cards, the
ASUS EN8800GTS TOP’s shroud extends over the
entire face of the card to cool not just the GPU and
memory, but the VRM and other support chips (a
feature found only on overclocked editions of older
G80-based 8800 GTS cards).
Also, the shroud and fan on 8800 GTS
512MB cards sit at an angle towards the rear
of the card. This isn’t just a styling exercise.
When two cards are installed in SLI, the upper card
always runs hotter from having part of its airflow
blocked by the lower card. With the revised shroud
design, airflow is improved between a pair of G92
8800 GTS cards like the ASUS EN8800GTS TOP. A
more subtle improvement is that the shroud also
covers and cools the heatsink and heatpipes for
cooler operation.
Although the
EN8800GTS TOP
may not be physically different from other
cards in its class, there’s no doubt that ASUS has
made the EN8800GTS the best looking one on
the market. The glossy, smoke black shroud is
accented by a die-cut reflective foil NVIDIA logo
along the top, and a portrait of the warrior
princess on the side, while the ASUS logo on the
fan’s hub has a semi-holographic foil finish that
changes color depending on which angle the light
hits it. The EN8800GTS practically cries out
for a case with a windowed side panel where it’s
worth the effort to crane your neck to admire it
every now and then.
The ASUS EN8800GTS TOP
requires a power supply with a minimum of
400W and capable of providing 26A on the 12V rail.
In “real-word” terms, a good 500 - 650W power supply
would be a safer bet, particularly if you plan on
additional overclocking of the card, or have other
components installed that can place additional
demands on the power supply. If you’re planning to
run two EN8800GTS cards in SLI, you’ll
definitely need more than 400W on tap. Two sites
that can aid you in choosing the right power supply
are
eXtreme OuterVision
and
NVIDIA’s SLI Zone.
Installation/Benchmarking
Installing the ASUS EN8800GTS TOP
is as easy as plugging the card into an available
PCI Express slot and connecting a PCI Express
connector from the power supply to the card. If you
have to use the Molex to PCIe Adaptor Cable, make
sure that the two Molex cables from the power supply
that plug into the adaptor cable aren’t sharing
other peripherals in your PC. If you have an analog
display, you’ll need to use the included DVI-I to
DB-15 VGA adapter to connect it to the EN8800GTS
TOP.
Now let's
take a look at GamerOSD. Click
Advanced Settings with the Movie
radio button ticked...
...and
you can adjust the size of videos recorded
while playing games, from 320x240 up to
720x480...
...Video
Capture Frame Rate up to 30 FPS...
...whether or not to record sound using your
default audio device...
...change
the HTTP Broadcast Port...
...and
whether to use GamerOSD's default XviD
MPEG-4 or Windows Media File
format for the recorded movie.
GamerOSD
allows you to broadcast your gaming session
live to other GamerOSD users via a web
browser...
...but
you'll have to unblock GamerOSD from your
firewall, though.
Click
Stop Broadcasting when you're done.
You can
change GamerOSD's HotKeys for
activating GamerOSD, Recording Movies and
Screenshots, by clicking on the little
"pencil-tip" icon like so, which will turn
orange...
...bring
up the appropriate dialog box where you
click into the HotKey field with the
mouse...
...and
type in the HotKey replacement of your
choice.
Both of the aforementioned scenarios
are a good indication that you should strongly
consider a power supply and display upgrade. A
upgraded power supply will insure that the ASUS
EN8800GTS TOP will get plenty of juice to keep
it happy, with the added bonus of more stable and
reliable power should you choose to overclock the
card further, or add future hardware upgrades. And a
digital widescreen LCD display will allow
you to get the most out the EN8800GTS TOP’s superior
visual quality. As always, you should check the Web
for the latest video card drivers and any
supplemental utilities, to insure that you get
up-to-the-minute enhancements and bug-fixes. If
you’re upgrading, don’t forget to uninstall you old
card’s drivers first and then follow up with a good
driver cleaner like
Guru3D Driver Sweeper.
The ASUS EN8800GTS TOP was
tested on the following hardware:
●
Intel Core2 Duo
E6850 CPU @ 3.00 GHz
●
Zalman CNPS9700
LED CPU Cooler
●
Abit IP35 Pro
P35 “Bearlake” Motherboard (BIOS 11 – 07/09/07)
Windows XP
Professional SP-2 w/latest critical updates, latest drivers for all
hardware, NVIDIA ForceWare 169.28 Beta Drivers
The vital statistics on EVGA’s
e-GeForce Ultra KO card is 636 MHz on the Engine
Clock, 2250 MHz on the Memory Clock and 1.63 GHz on
the Shader Clock. That gives the KO a mild 4%
overclock on the Engine and Memory Clocks and an 8%
overclock on the Shader Clock when compared to the
612 MHz engine, 2160 memory and 1.516GHz shader
clocks of a “generic” or non-overclocked GeForce
Ultra. Since the Ultra is currently the fastest
flagship card in NVIDIA’s line-up, it should be an
interesting race between it and the EN8800 GTS Top,
with the e-GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB card serving as a
baseline comparison. The
SilverStone Temjin TJ09
case is upgraded with two Cooler Master
TLF-S12-EB (Blue) 120 x 25mm Neon LED Case Fans
(rated at 42.734 CFM / 1,220 RPM / 22 dBA),
in the upper exhaust fan bracket to provide
additional cooling. I encountered no issues installing
the ASUS EN8800GTS TOP into the test rig.
Clicking
Movie under the View
section...
...will
bring up the dialog box for you to open any
movies recorded with GamerOSD in the
Movie folder under My
Documents\ASUS\GamerOSD.
Ditto for
Screenshots...
...which
are stored in the ScreenShot folder
under My Documents\ASUS\GamerOSD.
When we
press our OSD HotKey in-game, the GamerOSD
Menu pops up. Maneuvering though the
tabs and settings are quick and easy with
the <Arrow>, <Home>, <End>, and
<Page Up> and <Page Dn> keys.
Under the
3D Display Setting Tab we can
overclock the ASUS EN8800GTS TOP,
toggle the FPS Counter, adjusting its color
and on-screen position and tweak the
display's Gamma, Brightness and Contrast
settings.
Our
Video Capture settings and adjustments
are on the next tab.
Under
Screenshots we can choose to capture
single or multiple screenshots at intervals
up to 30 seconds in .BMP, .GIF and
.JPG formats.
In addition to the latest version of
ASUS Gamer OSD (v. 2.05.1023), and ASUS Smart Doctor
(v 5.08), the most current versions of the following
benchmark tools and utilities were used:
● 3DMark06 Advanced Edition v1.1.0
● EVEREST Ultimate Edition v4.20 Beta
Build 1285
● FRAPS v2.9.3 Build 6914
The whole point in reviewing a card
like the ASUS EN8800GTS TOP is games,
obviously—so the following were elected for the job:
● Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.4
● Crysis v1.1
● The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
v1.2.0416
● World in Conflict v1.005
With a fresh install of Windows XP
and all the aforementioned software installed, I
benchmarked the
ASUS EN8800GTS TOP and the
two EVGA cards for comparison with the Samsung
SyncMaster 226BW 22” LCD Display at its native
1680x1050 resolution; then the Samsung SyncMaster
244T 24” LCD Display at its native resolution of
1920x1200. All benchmarks were conducted with the
default visual settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel;
the benchmark or game’s native anti-aliasing and
anisotropic filtering settings were used, and
Vsync was set to off, unless otherwise
specified.
3DMark06
An enduring standard for
video card benchmarking and stress/stability testing (and
overclock record-breaking),
Futuremark’s 3Dmark06 is the world’s leading
synthetic benchmark utility. Though getting on in
years with the inevitable wide-spread adoption of
Windows Vista and DirectX 10, and with Futuremark’s
new
3DMark Vantage looming over the horizon,
3Dmark06 is still the benchmark every gamer
and enthusiast reaches for when searching for the
speed limit of their video card.
1920x1200 Hi-Res
Images—Click to Enlarge
I ran the full suite of 3Dmark06
benchmarks with and without antialiasing enabled,
but always with 16x anisotropic filtering enabled,
at both 1680x1050 and 1920x1200 in order to obtain
the three primary 3DMark scores for
3DMarks, HDR/SM3.0
and SM2.0 (click
here for a more in-depth explanation 3DMark06's
tests).
