GeForce GTX 275 shootout BFG | Inno3D | Palit | Sparkle
April 20, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
A week or two ago NVIDIA announced it’s latest graphics card positioned in the high-end region, called the GeForce GTX 275. The GeForce GTX 275 is a bit of a hybrid card in-between the GeForce GTX 260 and GeForce GTX 285.
The card is positioned directly against the new ATI Radeon HD 4890, yet is slightly cheaper. NVIDIA launched the GeForce GTX 275 in an allergic reaction to team red’s product to show and flex their rendering muscle. Now I know that some of you guys might frown a little about this GTX 275 release, but trust me when I say, this is a really interesting move.
The GeForce GTX 275 has the very same graphics processor as that GTX 285, yet the memory configuration of the GTX 260 (896 MB). Fitted on a new PCB and armed with a dandy cooler NVIDIA did another thing, they lowered prices significantly.
The GTX 275 is a card that is being introduced at a 239~249 USD price level. And though features and performance wise the product is not exactly the reinvention of the wheel, it definitely is a massive load of performance at a very fair price. At the time of writing this article it’s two weeks after the launch and the first retail products are now hitting the stores in reasonable volume.
As such we figured to cease the moment and show you a couple of retail boards. For this article, a total of five GeForce GTX 275 graphics cards will be put to the test. We take the NVIDIA reference sample, two reference clocked products and two pre-overclocked products to see where we are at in terms of performance, cooling and features among the difference AIB/AIC partners.
We’ll take the BFG GTX 275 OC edition, the Inno3D Overclock editions GTX 275, the Palit GTX 275 with custom cooling and the all reference based yet blue’ish colored GeForce GTX 275 from Sparkle.
We’ll compare each AIB card at it’s default clocks and compare it to the reference model. Of course, you are on guru3D.com .. we’ll also overclock all cards tested today to investigate and observe what the limit of each product really is. First we start off with a quick introduction of the GTX 275, the differences, the new, and the not so new ….
Palit GeForce GTX 260 55nm Video Card Review
March 17, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Today, we will be reviewing the Palit GeForce GTX 260 Sonic edition. Equipped with an aftermarket cooler and a modest overclock of 625MHz core, 1348MHz shader, and 1100MHz GDDR3, it looks to be a decent representative of future 55nm GeForce GTX 260s. Before we start our testing let’s take a peek at the bundle and the card itself.
Palit GeForce GTS 250 2GB Graphics Card Review
March 11, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Palit has decided to strap 2GB of memory onto the new GTS 250 to make it stand out from the pack. We see what exactly this does for the model today.
Palit Revolution 700 Deluxe 2GB GDDR5 Video Card Review
January 25, 2009 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
By now we all know that the race for the ultra high end performance crown has another competitor with the Nvidia GTX 295 but ATI’s HD 4870 X2 is still an excellent competitor in nearly every application. With this and ATI’s recent price reductions to their ultra high-end card in mind, we are reviewing yet another HD 4870 X2 here today: the Palit Revolution 700 Deluxe. This isn’t your normal run-of-the-mill HD 4870 X2; it is a badass, triple slot monster that has a massive cooler coupled with near-stock clocks.
ATI’s dual GPU card has had a bit of a tough time as of late with the GTX 295 encroaching upon its territory and in many cases beating it quite handily. As mentioned earlier, this has necessitated a price cut but no one expected the cut to be as dramatic as it has been. Where the HD 4870 X2 used to be retailing for $500 USD, it is now sitting pretty around the $399 price bracket. The same can be said for the card’s price here in Canada; that same shiny black card has nosedived from $600 and up to a somewhat more reasonable $500. That leaves the GTX 295 in the precarious position of retailing for significantly more than the card it was supposed to be competing against. All in all, this is an extremely smart move on ATI’s part and it shows that they built enough of a buffer zone into their pricing to allow for any reactionary price changes should Nvidia decide to release a highly competitive product. Remember, Nvidia did the same thing when they were leading the pack so it is interesting to see this regime change coming from the other direction this time.
Let’s get back to the card we have on hand here. From the PCB to the cooling, the Revolution R700 Deluxe has been completely designed from the ground up by Palit to offer customers the best HD 4870 X2 available on the market today. Interestingly enough, even though the Revolution can be considered Palit’s flagship ATI product, they have decided to keep near-reference clocks for some reason. On the other hand, this is one product that is extremely hard to find these days even though when it was released you could special order it from a few select retailers. Add to that the fact that Palit’s warranty isn’t exactly the best in the business at a mere two years and some of you may already be looking elsewhere. However, you have to remember that the enthusiast consumer the Revolution 700 is aimed at will probably be changing their graphics card far before the warranty expires anyways.
Will consumers be willing to live with the somewhat short warranty and higher price of this card if it means better performance, cooling and most of all a smaller acoustical profile? Well, we will just have to see how Palit’s new card performs before we jump to any hasty conclusions.
Palit Radeon HD 4870 512MB Sonic Dual Edition Video Card Review
September 24, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
In the last few months we have seen more new graphics card releases than many people were ever expecting after the longest time without much change in the GPU market. While some of these new cards were just rehashes of existing technology, some were brand new series based on evolutionary technologies. One of the more talked-about topics lately has to be ATI’s new 4800-series of graphics cards and how it has provided a springboard for a whole new generation of competitive products from the boys in Markham. Without a doubt, the ATI HD 4800-series has helped vault ATI’s name back into the limelight after many people had begun reading them their last rites. We have had several reviews of these cards and their follow-up designs here on Hardware Canucks and have been impressed again and again.
With all the hoopla surrounding recent releases in the graphics card industry, it has been a bit hard to focus on the cards which are based on existing technology but still bring something new to the table. Nvidia’s board partners are well known for releasing legions of pre-overclocked cards into the channel but ATI’s partners have always been somewhat lacking when it comes to introducing anything other than reference designs. However, with the release of the HD4800-series, things have rapidly changed with custom PCBs, better cooling solutions and higher clock speeds becoming more common place on ATI graphics cards. While it doesn’t seem like these out-of-the-box overclocks reach the same heights as their Nvidia counterparts, ATI’s partners are trying and succeeding in adding value to their products.
One of the first companies to release their non-reference cards is always Palit Multimedia and when it comes to the HD 4870, they came to the table with all guns blazing. They have released their HD 4870 512MB Sonic Dual Edition which not only sports a custom dual slot, dual fan heatsink but it also features a unique dual BIOS setup. With this type of setup, a user is able to quickly and painlessly switch between a stock BIOS and a custom overclocked BIOS. There will also be a 1GB version of the Sonic Dual Edition which will be released within the next few weeks with all the same features and (of course) a “slight” price premium.
Speaking of pricing, the Palit Sonic Dual Edition is surprisingly affordable at around the same price most other reference-based HD 4870 cards. Unfortunately, while the bang for buck value may be through the stratosphere Palit’s paltry 2-year warranty sours the experience somewhat but just remember that two years is probably longer than you will probably keep this card.
All things considered, it seems like Palit’s stars have aligned perfectly since the HD 4870 Sonic Dual Edition is being released at just the right time to compliment the rest of the ATI lineup while adding some needed spice with its faster clock speeds. Let’s hope it performs up to our expectations.
GeForce 9800 GT Video Card Roundup (EVGA, Gigabyte, ASUS & Palit)
September 2, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Usually, when a new graphics card is released it is impossible to ignore all the reviews and flurry of forum posts that are kicked up in its wake. There are however those odd times when a card sneaks itself into the market without nary whimper from the usual sources and the things literally start showing up at retailers without rhyme or reason. This generation of Nvidia cards has seen several almost-silent releases with the 8800GS and 9600GSO which had reviews here and there but not much was made of their appearance. Today we will be looking at another card which has popped up in at retailers without the usually marching bands and fireworks: the 9800 GT.
Knowing many of you who read these reviews, we think it is safe to say that the release of the 9800 GT has gone largely unnoticed by the majority of tech-savvy consumers. It will without a doubt add even more confusion to the already-crowded Nvidia lineup but it also represents (in some cases) a minor evolution of the now-legendary 8800 GT. Truth be told, many of the G92 cores on the 9800 GT cards on the market have initially been 65nm but supposedly as time passes, there will be some 55nm products released as well. The interesting thing about these cards is that while their reference design is identical to that of the 8800GT 512MB, many of Nvidia’s board partners have decided to go with a non-reference approach straight off the line. This will differentiate them from the 8800 GT cards they are replacing while giving some value-added features along the way. However, as you will see along the way in this review, the 9800GT product range has already become the Wild West with some board partners using “unlocked” cores while others are using standard cores. If you are scratching you head now, wait till you read a bit further.
The raison-d’être of the 9800 GT is a bit of a mystery considering it is being offered in two distinct flavors of core architecture: 55nm and 65nm. With the recent deep price cuts to the 8800 GT cards, it is safe to say that the 9800 GT has come into being to try to liquidate yet more 65nm GPU cores so Nvidia can fully move their lineup to the more efficient and higher profit margin 55nm manufacturing process. Unfortunately, as mentioned there is an overlap with the 9800 GT cards since some hold the older 65nm core while others may use 55nm core, but how will consumers know which one they are getting? The long and short of it is that in many cases they won’t. After talking to a number of manufacturers, some don’t even plan on labeling the 55nm cards as such but hopefully that will change.
Since there have not been many reviews of this card which will eventually replace the 8800GT, we have decided to take a fundamentally different approach this time around and get enough samples to do a full-fledged roundup. A number of companies were more than happy to step up to the plate so today we will present you with cards from Gigabyte, ASUS, Palit and EVGA. While all of these board partners have fundamentally different policies and warranties, they usually all release a reference version and eventually move on to either overclocked or non-reference designs. What makes this roundup a bit different is that NOT ONE of these cards is the same; some have custom PCBs, others are overclocked and one has the underpinnings of an 8800GTS 512MB. So, I guess you could say that this will be one interesting review.
While we could talk and talk about what is new about these cards, let’s save that for another section and get on with this.
Palit Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB Video Card Review
August 11, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
As of late, ATI has been riding the winds of success with their HD4800-series after months and months of playing second fiddle to a surging Nvidia. In the last little while we have reviewed both their HD4870 card and the more budget-minded HD4850. Both have offered an amazing amount of performance considering their respective prices and when they are paired up in Crossfire they will blow your mind with blisteringly high framerates. With a huge amount of media coverage, it has been pretty hard to avoid the phenomenon these cards have kicked up in their wake. With all of the reviews and the massive numbers of new users attesting to these cards’ prowess in all of the latest games, ATI looks like it is poised to make up for months of lackluster performance in one fell swoop.
There hopefully isn’t a soul alive in the enthusiast community who isn’t even partially surprised with how well ATI has been able to turn around their fortunes but there is one area they have not yet tackled: the ultra high-end performance crown. Riding on the coattails of their recent inroads, today marks the launch of their HD4870 X2 2GB card which is looking to capitalize on the growing popularity of the 4800-series while taking performance to the next level. Technically, this new behemoth is called the “R700” even though it uses a pair of R770 cores and 2GB of memory but for clarity’s sake we will keep its full retail name as much as possible in this review. It is with this card that ATI is hoping to capture the hearts and minds of those few people out there who can afford the best of the best.
Even though the HD4870 X2 may be firmly targeted at the high-end market, it carries with it an amazingly “affordable” price of about $550. Does anyone remember when bleeding edge performance came at an eye-watering price? Heck, even the recently-released Nvidia GTX 280 had a jaw-dropping MSRP of nearly $700 here in Canada before its recent nosedive into the $470 price category. While 550 smackers may make it the highest priced stock clocked card currently on the market, there are actually a number of overclocked GTX 280 cards we have seen in the last few weeks retailing for about that price as well. So, while this new 2GB monster from ATI may not be within everyone’s grasp financially, it is much more attainable to you and me than past ultra high end cards.
ATI has a large cadre of board partners ready to launch the HD4870 X2 in North America but we will be focusing on one manufacturer in particular: Palit. This is one company that is absolutely hell-bent on making its presence felt here in the North American marketplace even though it only entered it a few years back. They have extremely aggressive pricing on most of their cards, good customer support but a somewhat unfortunate 2 year warranty on all their products. While this may hold them back a bit, we don’t know too many people who will spend $550 on a graphics card and keep it for more than a year. It should also be noted that for all intents and purposes, stock will be quite tight for launch but should pick up in weeks thereafter.
All in all, it seems like the HD4870 X2 2GB could very well be the new card to have for the foreseeable future considering its pedigree and the expectations we have for it. However, with the GTX 280 retailing for almost $100 less, the HD4870 X2 may have a little unexpected competition based on its current $550 suggested retail price. On the other hand, if it can pull off performance similar to the HD4870 Crossfire setup we saw last week, it will be worth every penny. Especially since it costs less than a pair of HD4870 cards.
But WAIT, there is more….
Believe it or not though, this isn’t the only card that is being announced here. While the HD4870 X2 sees its release and availability today, ATI has also released some tantalizing details to us about a manufacturer-specific card called the HD4850 X2. We will have a few more details about it on the next page let’s just say for now that there will only be a few board partners releasing this card since it is not an ATI-produced reference design. Rather, in true ATI fashion partners are left free to design their own cards which will get subsequent approval from ATI’s engineers.
This could be shaping up to be a very interesting year-end in more ways than one.
Palit Radeon HD4870 512MB Graphics Card Review
June 25, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
In the last few months the mid and high end graphics card market has once again become a battleground between the two heavyweights: AMD (the artist formerly known as ATI) and Nvidia. There was a time where ATI slipped a bit with the release of their R600 and it seemed like Nvidia was going to run away with the graphics card market once and for all with the 8800-series. Luckily for all of us things began to brighten considerably for the boys in red when they introduced their RV670 core with the HD3870, HD3850 and eventually the HD3870X2. These cards were greeted with enthusiasm and completed well against their Nvidia equivalents but in the end the RV670 core was nothing more than a die shrink of the infamous R600. Hot on the heels of what could only be called an extremely successful product launch particularly with the HD3870; AMD is now poised to give us a completely new architecture in the form of the R770 core which adorns both the HD4850 and the HD4870. In this review we will be looking at the HD4870 which will be launching today.
In the hard-fought war between GPU manufacturers, both Nvidia and ATI know that it is best not to bring a knife to a gunfight or you will get stomped pretty hard by the competition. Interestingly, even though they are targeting their products to basically the same clients both companies have taken a decidedly different approach to the way they approach the market. On one hand we have Nvidia releasing ultra high-end, power hungry cards like the GTX 280 that cater those few gamers and enthusiasts who are willing to pony up $650 and more for a graphics card. On the other hand, AMD figures that the majority of gamers don’t want to spend $650 for a graphics card in this day and age so have taken a very different approach with the HD4870. With this card they are giving us a product that is supposed to be able to play the majority of games on the market with high IQ settings while retailing for around $300. This is a pretty lofty goal but it is well within the realm of possibility since the HD4850 (our review is due out shortly after this one) has proven to live up to everyone’s expectations and then some. With words like “recession” on everyone’s mind and the cost of living going through the roof due to record-high gas prices, it looks like AMD has targeted the prices of these cards at just the right place.
With ATI catapulting this product into the void left in the $300 price point by Nvidia’s seemingly knee-jerk move of reducing the price of their 9800 GTX to around $200, you would think they would want to get it out as soon as possible. While they may be chomping at the bit to get the HD4870 to market, today marks its soft launch with the majority of product only being available in fits and spurts between now and the starting of July. Believe it or not though, there is the very distinct possibility that this will turn into a hard launch since there is quite of few of these cards out there.
While many of you may be used to the Sapphire, Diamond and VisionTek cards on the market which do a good job of representing the ATI and AMD names here in Canada, there is one other player who’s HD4870 we will be reviewing today: Palit. There is not much about this card that really stands out from the competition since it is a stock-clocked product other than the fact that it is made by the world’s largest video card manufacture. Yes, that is right the company which hasn’t been heard much of here in North America is at the top of the pile when it comes to sales in Asia as well as Europe. Even though they have been in a large part absent from the North American market, they are taking us by storm with widespread availability of their cards at most leading retailers.
The HD4870 512MB represents quite a few firsts in the consumer graphics card world: the first single chip 1.2 teraflop card, the first implementation of GDDR5 and the first single chip AMD graphics card above the $290 price-point in quite some time. It definitely seems to have a lot going for it so without further ado, let’s get on with this review.
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An Interview With Palit
June 2, 2008 by Cabro · Leave a Comment
Recently, Vjeran Mandic had the opportunity to speak with David Makin, Palit Multimedia’s Consumer Marketing Manager. The idea was to get a better idea of Palit, the hitherto little known manufacturer of graphics cards.
They may not be as well-known as ASUS or Gigabyte but they are certainly more than just another manufacturer of reference-design graphics cards. We also wanted to know what they are doing to put their products ahead of their competitors and of course, their plans for the future.
Continue Reading a transcript of the interview…
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