9800xt

[bsdgeek]

As expected, nothing really new. Just a clock bump (a small one at that) and a fancy schmancy new cooler. Still very fast though.

[bsdgeek]

Write-up over at Tech-report too.

[GT98]

hmmm might have to trade up my 8500DV in my Shuttle box for a 9600XT

[VJ]

What is the point of Overdrive ? I mean, you start to run a game (with Overdrive enabled, so the card is overclocked), enable a lot of detail and everything runs smooth... Then, when the game is running, and the system is running too hot, the card has to switch back to normal clock speeds, resulting in less fluent performance as your detail is set too high to be properly handled with this normal clock speed... So in the end, the game doesn't run smooth anymore as the initial detail/resolution settings are not viable through the running of the game.
Or am I missing something ?


Jög

[Technoid]

that seems like good description of it

[Paddy]

I doubt it will make THAT much difference!

Anyway, that's what case mods are for

[VJ]

Paddy: Well, if it doesn't make that much difference, why bother (from ATIs point of view) ? Case moders and overclockers don't want an automated overclock...

The whole idea of manufacturer-offered overclock smells like a way to get better benchmark-performance , as the card will most likely be able to maintain its overclocked performance during the time required to run a benchmark...


Jörg

[Paddy]

So in the end, the game doesn't run smooth anymore as the initial detail/resolution settings are not viable through the running of the game.

Perhaps i am wrong, but i have yet failed to find an overclocked graphics card that can do more than give a few extra FPS.

My PDA has an 'overdrive' feature for when it is connected to the mains power supply.

Having the card scale down when i gets hot is a good thing, but if heat and power arn't an issure, then why not let it run full steam ahead all the time?

[dbdg]

Nice looking card but I think I will wait a while before replacing my 9700Pro.

Had it for 9 months so far and it is still managing to perform extremely well, Nice that the graphics industry has slowed down a little.

[dZeus]

Originally posted by VJ
What is the point of Overdrive ? I mean, you start to run a game (with Overdrive enabled, so the card is overclocked), enable a lot of detail and everything runs smooth... Then, when the game is running, and the system is running too hot, the card has to switch back to normal clock speeds, resulting in less fluent performance as your detail is set too high to be properly handled with this normal clock speed... So in the end, the game doesn't run smooth anymore as the initial detail/resolution settings are not viable through the running of the game.
Or am I missing something ?


Jög

The idea would be that it would run at the fastest speed without overheating, which can be considerably higher depending on the ambient temp in the case. How well it works all depends on how the hardware/driver implement it. But imho it's a very nice feature for people who want to get max performance without needing to overclock themselves or run the risk of overheating their card because they overclock too far.

[Tomasz]

Originally posted by VJ
What is the point of Overdrive ? I mean, you start to run a game (with Overdrive enabled, so the card is overclocked), enable a lot of detail and everything runs smooth... Then, when the game is running, and the system is running too hot, the card has to switch back to normal clock speeds, resulting in less fluent performance as your detail is set too high to be properly handled with this normal clock speed... So in the end, the game doesn't run smooth anymore as the initial detail/resolution settings are not viable through the running of the game.
Or am I missing something ?


Jög

From what I have read, it seems that the included fan supports two different speeds. If you play a game and the temperature starts rising, the higher fan speed kicks in, keeping the card cooler and still clocked higher. The card only drops down to 412 MHz at above 55 degrees Celcius.

Also, the point of Overdrive is that the higher clockspeeds are guaranteed and covered under warranty, unlike when you over-clock manually. It is basically a feature for mainstream users.

[Marshmallowman]

I read somewhere where they thought the heat sensor based OC'ing, was probably to satisfy one of their OEM's thermal requirements.

There is no doubt the function can be disabled if you want, but asus have had a similar thiing for quite a while and I thought it worked reasonably well.

I think its good, just having a decent heat sensor on the chip is a great bonus in itself.

And if you slap a water cooler on it the OC headroom will increase, so it is still modder freindly...

[Chrono_Wanderer]

well, on my V9520...

they have the option "adjust fan speed by GPU heat' in their program "Asus SmartDoctor 2" kinda cool. in it you can keep track of core voltage, memory voltage, agp voltage, GPU temp, mem temp, and fan speed. Also, you can adjust fan speed. (5 speed options)

The only complement I have is the program interface is rather crappy for practical use. It did be better if it can be put into the system try when it starts up, and save pervious settings before restart. So because I want to use the "low" fan setting, I have to change it everytime I restart...

AFAIK it takes only a few lines of codes to do it lol... wonder why they don't do it!

[Wombat]

Complaint, not complement.

[VJ]

Originally posted by dZeus
The idea would be that it would run at the fastest speed without overheating, which can be considerably higher depending on the ambient temp in the case.

Hmm, this makes sense... So basically, the ambient temperature requirement can be made higher... And if your case is adequatly cooled, your card is able to run faster...
Still, if the perfmance doesn't differ that much, is it worth it ? (of course, the benefit of having temperature-monitoring is interesting)

Jörg