1 Attachment(s)
Nvidia 790i with single GX2 - 600FSB (round 1)
Intel E8400 Retail Core2Duo 9x600=5.4Ghz
Biostar 790i Ultra reference design
Nvidia 9800GX2 unmodded air 750/1900/2300
Corsair Dominator 1800C7DIN 2Ghz 8-8-8-20 1T
Corsair HX1000 PSU
Three stage cascade -100c
Im in sort of a jam with my 790i board not accepting the latest bios update so I ran with the original bios to get scores out. The new bios offers higher bandwidth that would bump the scores up quite a bit, most noticible is the horrid 2K1 CH score of sub 300FPS when it should be closer to 400FPS.
My CPU cold bugs at -100c and even with valve adjustments for lowest temp I was still bugging at idle desktop. I could boot, run the bench and save the score, the time it takes to setup for screenshot usually ended in reboot. I just saved score and moved on as I plan to update scores after I force update the bios or try another board. Basicly when the CPU gets to cold at idle it will spontaniously reboot.
With first testing of the 8900GX2 I was able to reach 800Mhz on the cores and 2400Mhz on the memory without artifacts but I was subcooling the case. I cannot run the ac blasting with the benches below so I backed off the clocks a little for the tests below for 100% stability.
With the GPU's set to 750/2300 it idles around 54c on both cores, they are within 1 degree of each other. when I run 2K6 for example the cards would rise to 64c max and both scores are within 2 degrees of each other. The card shroud is barely warm to the touch but heat can be felt from touching the PCB itself. These cards run much cooler than previous generations.
With a single 8800 Ultra I was 412w idle and it would kick up to 625w loaded and I am very impressed the numbers went down with 9800GX2 dual GPU. I idle at under 400w and it will not break 600w fullly loaded. I am measuring from the power cord draw from the UPS. It is safe to say that the GX2 draws less power and generates less heat than a single 8800Ultra. The heatsink on the GX2 does a good job even though it appears to be slightly obstructed on the air discharge on the back of the card.
I dont have a DB meter to get an accurate measurment but I am running watercooling and enjoying the silence, the previous noisy part was the Ultra, the GX2 is definitly quieter, the loudest part is now the SB fan. (Side note; for those with Skulltrail and a noisy sb fan, adjust the shroud as the card sit over it and clearances cause air noise with the solid base of the GX2)
I am using Rivatuner 208 and so far everything works correctly, temps are correct and fan speed is adjustable.
First up 2K1, the GPU scores are unreal for the clocks and the FPS in the game test are far above par. The 790i can deliver higher frame rates than other boards with the same GPU clock settings. I was unable to run the tests in my usual order so I just checked all the main benches and let it roll.
Not to shabby, 106k with LOD
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=9352728
2K3 is more dependant of GPU clocks that CPU speed, this score can be matched at a much lower CPU speed. 82K is still very impressive with a single card.
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=5779015
2K5 is the most impressive in my opinion, retaking of this ATI dominated bench is eminent. Not bad for a single card on air ripping it up.
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=4118952
2K6 fares much better, in fact for a duo cores this is a really good score and there is room for improvement. 24K from a duo is very impressive. No LOD
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=5853243
For the next round I plan to use a quad, I am sure I will lose some FPS in 2K6 with the lower FSB but I will gain in the CPU tests to place me around 28k with the GPU's on air.
