Product Listing

Gigabyte GV-3D1-7950-RH (GeForce 7950 GX2)

By Vincent Chang - 23 Jun 2006

The Gigabyte GV-3D1-7950-RH

The Gigabyte GV-3D1-7950-RH

With a core clock speed of 500MHz, coupled with 1.4ns DDR3 memory running at 1200MHz, the GeForce 7950 GX2 is on paper similar to a pair of GeForce 7900 GTs running in SLI and at the same time, not exactly so. First, the core speed of 500MHz of the GeForce 7950 GX2 is 50MHz faster than a GeForce 7900 GT but NVIDIA also took something away in exchange. This was the slower memory frequency on the GeForce 7950 GX2, 1200MHz instead of 1320MHz. For most consumers, the crucial difference is that you don't need a SLI motherboard for the GeForce 7950 GX2 and that could sway some to try it out. However, one does need to update the motherboard BIOS to support the integrated PCI Express switch on the GeForce 7950 GX2 before the card can work properly.

The GeForce 7950 GX2 is one of the longer graphics cards around, so make sure your casing has the allowance.

Gigabyte's implementation unsurprisingly keeps to the specifications outlined by NVIDIA and follows the standard clock speeds. The card itself looks no different from the many competing vendors out there, the only difference being Gigabyte's sticker on the cooler. The two coolers too follow the NVIDIA design and while they are decently quiet compared to a 'traditional' SLI pair of GeForce 7900 GTs, we should warn you not to expect the silent goodness of a GeForce 7900 GTX. We should probably also warn you now of the 143W peak power consumption for this card so a decent PSU of at least 400W is required.

The black standoffs help to support the upper PCB layer and both GPUs have their own dedicated coolers.

Since Quad SLI is not officially available for the general public yet, the SLI goldfingers on the Gigabyte are protected by a plastic sheath.

Another boon for consumers is that the GeForce 7950 GX2 is one of the earliest cards available now with true HDCP support. So no worries about whether you can use the Gigabyte GV-3D1-7950-RH to power your television, for if you choose to do so, you'll just need a DVI-HDMI converter for the two DVI-I outputs onboard. The timely addition of PureVideo HD to the latest NVIDIA drivers also makes his scenario more delectable so experiment all you want with High Definition formats.

It may look similar to the countless DVI-I outputs that you have seen before. The difference is that the ones on the GeForce 7950 GX2 are truly HDCP ready.

Gigabyte has included quite a 'fresh' bundle of applications for its GeForce 7950 GX2. CyberLink's Power DVD 6.0 is still relative new for graphics card bundles though version 7 is already available. Meanwhile Serious Sam II is another recent sequel to a sleeper hit first person shooter and the bright and colorful environments in the game should get a nice boost with the GeForce 7950 GX2. Finally, we found the usual handful of cables and adaptors that are standard issue for most high-end graphics cards nowadays. Here's a summary of the contents:-

  • 2 x DVI-to-VGA adaptors
  • 9-pin mini-DIN to Component/S-Video dongle
  • 6-pin PCIe to 4-pin Molex power plug converter
  • Quick Installation Guide
  • Driver CD
  • CyberLink Power DVD 6.0
  • Serious Sam II (full game)
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