512mb 7900GT Sparkle Calibre = Super GTX

[TraX]

Got me a new Sparkle Calibre 7900gt 512mb - hhhmmmm time to play


Same digital vmod as 256mb cards Used conductive paint from ground to +0.2vgpu


Identical reference PCB with nVidia logo an all


I'm EXSTATIC with my new GTX w00t w00t


Card stock at 500/700 (coolbits). Coolbits autodetects at 543/792 - memory looking good

A little conductive paint & she happily goes to 650/800. Benched on stock cooler which went to 69C in '06, quickly changed to Zalman 900LED

8 chips of Samsung 1.4ns
http://www.samsung.com/Products/Semi...ily_cd=GME1002

Mini review on the way, the package is looking pretty fine

[eBoy0]

Sexy How much less does it cost from the GTX?

[Dillusion]

Why dont we get anything cool in the US. We have all the green yucky cards with nothing special like 512MB ram

[Clint]

Interesting, the memory actually positioned as the 256MB version.
That means my modded NV Silencer would fit

Curious though about if those vmem regs will overheat as well, how hot do they get?

[eddieate]

looks tasty, but I bet it won't be at all cheap and then theres the whole 7900gt's dying when overclocked.
I really want to go Nvidia for linux but ATI just keep making better cards
Ed.
|EDIT| almost forgot, where did you pick this up?

[zakelwe]

Sparkle are normally worthy but dull but that is a real step up market from them. THey had a cracking card for the 6600 but it was still dull, just had a great BIOS.

Even a funky name .. Calibre !

Nice work with the card.

Regards

Andy

[TraX]

Sexy How much less does it cost from the GTX?

It works out to about 75% of the cost of a GTX - including the Zalman 900LED.

...I bet it won't be at all cheap and then theres the whole 7900gt's dying when overclocked.

&

Curious though about if those vmem regs will overheat as well, how hot do they get?

The IC's on the back get very toasty, it's really important to actively cool the this area, I'll post my solution as soon as I get a pic, but a fan blowing over the area will solve this.

Sparkle are normally worthy but dull but that is a real step up market from them. THey had a cracking card for the 6600 but it was still dull, just had a great BIOS.

Yeah looking good - stock cooler even performs well - at stock volts Box & contents also looking good... Pics to follow.

|EDIT| almost forgot, where did you pick this up?

The local hardware pimp in my part of South Africa And he's a member here - thanks *flytek*

Nice work with the card.

Thanks zakelwe

Here's the link to the calibre home page:
http://www.calibrestyle.com.tw/main.asp

[Clint]

Thanks for the info!

[smut]

Yah I love the horse logo, thats freakin h0t!

[Garrett]

Pics of the zalman installed?

[adz]

in italy 7900gt 512 is 318 €

[wtkprol]

Any place retail where you can buy these things?

[alpha0ne]

Should have mine in the next couple of days, ordered a few days ago

These cards can be bought for as little as $500AU

It just a pity they dont come with the revised PCB though actively cooling the offending fets worked for me well in the past

[payne280]

any news of getting these in the states?

[TraX]

Heres a dodgy cell phone pic with the Zalman on - looking good otherwise



Not worth posting 3D '06 scores & very difficult as this all happens off my cell phone, but managed 675/820 on 1.4v's, not the fastest... But with 1.55volts I'm sure there would be a nice jump... Point is, that this is a GTX in disguise

Was hoping to show box contents for those interested, but will have to wait for decent camera

[alpha0ne]

Heres a dodgy cell phone pic with the Zalman on - looking good otherwise

managed 675/820 on 1.4v's, not the fastest... But with 1.55volts I'm sure there would be a nice jump... Point is, that this is a GTX in disguise
(

Thats excellent TraX

I'll bench mine first on air then with my Fusion WC block, I just want to see what it does default first

[[XC] MarioMaster]

why does everyone put the small heatsinks on the top of the ram chips - i always thought it would make more sense to put the bigger ones right on the memory as most of the times i can't get any thermal transfer on the back because small SMD chips get in the way of it mounting flat on the circuit board.

[alpha0ne]

Got mine today, optimal frequency @ default detected as 545/797, i cant believe how quiet this card is running stock cooler @ default, the fan is barely spinning yet ony 41C

The usual two hot spots are literally too hot to touch and the first rev PCB is used which is a worry but I'll sink those tomorrow and do a few benchies to compare against my old 256MB version card

[TraX]

Got mine today, optimal frequency @ default detected as 545/797, i cant believe how quiet this card is running stock cooler @ default, the fan is barely spinning yet ony 41C

Yeah I was well surprised with that stock cooler Nice to see the RAM that high after having one of the Legend 512's...

The usual two hot spots are literally too hot to touch and the first rev PCB is used which is a worry but I'll sink those tomorrow and do a few benchies to compare against my old 256MB version card

Yeah I needed to get a slim 80mm fan to fit between the fixing screws of the Zalman 900 & the fins of my Zalman 9500 - small gap on the DFI Ultra-D... The fan I got just fits... Luckily the mounting holes for 2 screws of an 80mm already exist - how convinient

[alpha0ne]

Have you sinked the two hot IC's as yet TraX ??, I'm going to use AS5 and AS epoxy mixed in equal parts and get the best piece of metal I can find/make with an 120mm fan blowing on them

Such a pity they have not used the revised PCB though I am very happy with the professional packaging and general finish of the card

[TraX]

Have you sinked the two hot IC's as yet TraX ??, I'm going to use AS5 and AS epoxy mixed in equal parts and get the best piece of metal I can find/make with an 120mm fan blowing on them

I'm probably not going to sink them, have heard of people frying their cards if you dont get it just right :O I'll start with just an 80mm pumping cold air over & see how that goes. Those IC's do get hot, I made the mistake of keeping my finger on one - smooth skin

Such a pity they have not used the revised PCB though I am very happy with the professional packaging and general finish of the card

It's my first card from them so cant compare to other Sparkles, but presentation is great, contents perhaps a little sparse? In SA nobody uses Scart, so that leaves little for me... But I cannot fault them on the presentation of the goods, very proffesional

BTW: You gonna go for the 1.4v or 1.55v mod?

[alpha0ne]

BTW: You gonna go for the 1.4v or 1.55v mod?

Only the 1.4 maybe in the future, see how the card is after a couple of weeks

I did the 1.4Vmod on my 256MB version so that it could be turned on/off (very easy if your used to using a soldering iron ) and it ram perfectly @ 700/920 but I generally just left it @ 1.2V as the optimal frequency @1.2V was 581/784



This is @ 1.4V

[TraX]

Great scores @ 1.2v's Tell me thats the 256mb card

Bet you cant wait to get stuck into that Sparkle

[alpha0ne]

Great scores @ 1.2v's Tell me thats the 256mb card

Yes thats was my MSI 256MB card

Heres my Calibre @ default

'03


'05


'06


And here are the optimal frequencies, a bit lowwwwww

[TraX]

And here are the optimal frequencies, a bit lowwwwww

Yep, thats almost exactly what my optimals where... You'll get that quite a bit higher with 1.4v's but not to quite to where the 256mb cards go. I coud clock higher than 675/820 but anything over that was a performance loss. Let's see how it goes for you though.