NVIDIA 1.0-8751 + EVGA 7900GT 256MB

These results seem to clearly demonstrate the advantages of the NVIDIA GeForce 7900GT over its predecessors, and even in most instances its 7800GTX 256MB brother. Of course, we will likely perform additional tests upon the availability of the public Linux display drivers. Now speaking directly about the EVGA 7900GT CO SUPERCLOCKED, its performance was admirable from what we have seen thus far from the GeForce 7900 series. Reaching 560/1660MHz was certainly impressionable using the EVGA 7900GT CO SUPERCLOCKED 256MB, which of course already came overclocked by default to grueling speeds of 550/1580MHz compared against the 450/1320MHz reference specifications. The overclocking abilities can also be heightened by using after-market air or water cooling solutions rather than the stock single-slot GPU cooler, which does not actively cool the memory modules. Some of the EVGA 256-P2-N565-AX features powered by the G71 core include the 256MB 256-bit memory, 24 pixel pipelines, SLI capable, and extreme HD gaming. Extreme HD gaming is for XHD digital displays such as the Dell WS or Apple Cinema 30" monitors with the dual dual-link TMDS DVI-I connectors. To reiterate some of the EVGA exclusives is their lifetime warranty and exclusive trade-up program. Although some manufacturers provide lifetime warranties on their NVIDIA parts, EVGA goes full-fledged in their offerings by providing a warranty that covers overclocking, flashing the BIOS, changing the cooling solution, and allowing GPU waterblocks. EVGA's lifetime warranty should prove to be quite the friend for computer enthusiasts. Although we haven't yet sampled other G71 parts from NVIDIA's other partners, we are fairly certain on EVGA's CO SUPERCLOCKED line-up for their overclocked performance, price of approximately $350.00 USD, step-up program, lifetime warranty, and the overall gist of things from the time spent with this competitive offering. With that said, we award EVGA's 7900GT CO SUPERCLOCKED (256-P2-N565-AX) with our elusive Editor's Choice Award. Other recently launched EVGA products include the e-GeForce 7900 GTX SUPERCLOCKED (512-P2-N575-AX), e-GeForce 7900 GTX EGS (512-P2-N570-AX), e-GeForce 7900 GT CO (256-P2-N563-AX), e-GeForce 7900 GT (256-P2-N560-AX), e-GeForce 7600 GT CO SUPERCLOCKED (256-P2-N555-AX), e-GeForce 7600 GT CO (256-P2-N553-AX), and e-GeForce 7600 GT (256-P2-N550-AX). Additional NVIDIA GeForce 7600/7900 series information is planned soon for Phoronix.

Keep in mind, these drivers used today (v1.0-8751) are considered Beta and are not accessible by the general public. The performance results may change marginally upon the official driver launch. The public Linux NVIDIA display drivers that support the GeForce 7600/7900 should be delivered within a few weeks.

Discuss this article in our forums, IRC channel, or email the author. You can also follow our content via RSS and on social networks like Facebook, Identi.ca, and Twitter (@Phoronix and @MichaelLarabel). Subscribe to Phoronix Premium to view our content without advertisements, view entire articles on a single page, and experience other benefits.