The Official Nvidia 8800 Series Thread!

[Angry_Games]

Ok, so Foxconn sent me the new 8800GTS 320MB OC card, so this is my first attempt at anything 8800.

 

Having a few issues like low performance so far has made me cruise around the net and find some answer.

 

 

I want this thread to be something we can post in and I can update this first post with any new or good information.

 

I'll start first, and we'll add more as more becomes available:

 

*****

• Old Nvidia Contorl Panel in new 8800 97.xx Series Drivers:
   
  I've only tried this in the lastest version that I have installed at the moment, which is official Windows XP WHQL Certified 97.92 (which seem to suck but it is the only driver I have tried at the moment).
   
  I do not know if it works or not on any other driver.
   
  I do know that I HATE the stupid new Nvidia Control Panel, and ALWAYS go back to the old one...however since this is my first 8800 card, I didn't realize that ONLY the new CP is offered...
  

*****

 

 

I'm off to check out some RivaTuner 2.0 Final in a bit, installing FEAR, CoH, HL2, etc to get it all done now

[HarryTaco]

Curious about the results. After what Carmack said, and the reviews that I've read, finally someone I can trust is checking it out.

[Kingfisher]

I am looking at picking up the EVGA 8800GTS.

 

Angry, have you any more information on your card and how is that mod to the old CP working out?

 

I assume the stock cooler will work just fine. I am not sure I would even need to bother overclocking this monster , well not until I get a bigger LCD.

[killagorilla187]

Hi guys, I have the EVGA 640mb 8800GTS and I am curious what are the temps you guys are getting. Right now Everest reads: 52C GPU, 57C Diode, 47C Ambient, 52 Mem. The main reason I am asking is just recently I took the 8800 apart and applied some arctic silver 5 and upgraded from a past version of everest to 3.80.941 Beta and now I'm getting readings that hasn't been there in the past. Sooo I was wondering if it's okay for the Ram to get as hot as the GPU (at load 65-70C)? Any help would be appreciated!

[Peanut2001]

Killagorilla I have the GTX with AS5 and at idle my memory is sitting at 44c in Everest Ultimate. I only added AS5 to the core though. Gpu is 44c, diode is 54. Nothing ever gets hotter than 64c in mine in part because of the AS5. I also have a custom fan profile via Rivatuner 2.0 final. Here it is

below 55c 60%

@ 55c 70%

@ 60c 80%

@ 65c 90%

@ 70c 100%

And btw as you can see in my sig its overclocked.

[killagorilla187]

Killagorilla I have the GTX with AS5 and at idle my memory is sitting at 44c in Everest Ultimate. I only added AS5 to the core though. Gpu is 44c, diode is 54. Nothing ever gets hotter than 64c in mine in part because of the AS5. I also have a custom fan profile via Rivatuner 2.0 final. Here it is

below 55c 60%

@ 55c 70%

@ 60c 80%

@ 65c 90%

@ 70c 100%

And btw as you can see in my sig its overclocked.

 

Thanks Peanut2001, I will take my 8800 back apart and redo the thermal compound.(considering that I have two 120mm fans blowing directly on it and temps are worse then yours and have the same OC) It's a real pain in the arse with the gaps they have in between the heatsink and the mem. Shame on Nvidia for using those thick thermal pads to close the gap! Also if anyone finds a aftermarket air cooler for these please post here.

[Peanut2001]

I have one 120 exhaust fan mount on the side of my case opposite my 8800gtx. Other than that I have a 120 rear exhaust and another in front for intake. I've noticed that at 80% this card never goes above 64c( even when running the nvidia smoke demo which will really push temps). But it is a little noisy to me there so I idle it at 60/70( I game with headphones). Also, just like with a cpu, just use a small amount of AS5 (2/3 the size of a bb).

[killagorilla187]

Yeah, I game with headphones as well. I also use a fan controller because at full speed my aerocool turbines get loud. I have one mounted on side panel, one for exhaust, and a coolermaster one blowing up from the bottom of the case to cool both the 8800 and the chipset. And I never use more AS5 then the recommended, but it's really difficult to get good contact unless you apply a little more because of the 1/8 inch gap.

[Peanut2001]

You really should buy some thermal tape for the memory or make some heatsinks for them.

[killagorilla187]

You really should buy some thermal tape for the memory or make some heatsinks for them.

Hrmm. I havn't seen any thermal tape for sale anywhere. Can you provide a link so I can get an idea about what I would be looking for? :confused:

[Peanut2001]

http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merch...deoCard_Cooling

 

Thats one of several sources. One of the better priced ones I could find. Google "thermal tape", lots of sources. I dont know about what you might find locally. I saw some at CompUSA once if you are close to one of those you might give them a call.

[politbureau]

Thought I'd add some results to the thread...

 

This was an early run with a very mild overclock on my E6600, just to see what the card could do.

 

Setup

 

- EVGA 680i - Rev A1, BIOS P24, no voltage tweaks

- Intel E6600 - 356 x 9 = 3204, stock voltage

- OCZ PC2-8500 Reaper HPC - Unlinked @ 1066MHz, EPP Timings, Stock voltage

- XFX 8800GTS 320MB XXX - 580/900 (stock)

- Hitachi 7K500 - 500GB

- Windows XP Pro - 'Ultralite' (158MB nLite build)

- OCZ GameXstream 600W

- nVidia Forceware 97.92

 

3DMark test at stock settings:

 

3DMark03 - 29213

3DMark05 - 18481

3DMark06 - 10117

 

I also ran 3DMark06 again with the Card overclocked to 650/1000:

 

3DMark06 - 11122

 

Not bad overall for a $275 card. The card was 100% stable at 650/1000, and ran 3DMark06 several times without crashing.

 

Temperatures:

 

Idle: 55°C

Load: 74°C

 

Both with Fan at 100%, which is reasonably loud in my rather silent case. I've got a Thermalright HR-03 sitting around that I'm going to try on this card, along with a set of OCZ BGA RAMsinks. I'll update when I have more results.

 

Cheers

 

EDIT: I got a PM asking for some 3DMark results with the E6600 and RAM overclocked (he asked for me to use the settings from my sig), so I will post some more results when I get home from work today.