| PowerColor 128MB Radeon X800 GTO Graphics Card
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Overclocking:
The fact that PowerColor doesn't include an overclocking utility with the card indicates that they don't endorse such activities. Regardless, I feel almost obligated to see how high a card can get, so I installed ATI Tool to get the job done. I let seek the maximum core and memory speeds independently, and the backed them off just a bit since there was some artifact issues at the highest levels.
From the default setting of 400 MHz on the core clock and 700 MHz DDR on the memory clock, I was able to push the X800 GTO up to 465 MHz and 800 MHz DDR. These speeds were rock solid with absolutely no issues in any of the benchmarks or games to be thrown at it in the next section. These overclocked numbers equate to a 16.25% increase in core clock speed and a 14.29% increase in memory speed... Not bad!
Testing:
Testing the PowerColor X800 GTO consisted of two phases, running it through a series of synthetic benchmarks and logging the average frame rates achieved in actual games.
Fraps was used to record an average frame rate value based on a recording period of 300 seconds as I tried to duplicate the same motions / interactions each time. Each game was tested twice at each setting, and an average of the two results reported by Fraps was then entered into the graphs to be presented. The system was also rebooted between each benchmark and gaming session.
The following list contains all benchmarks and games to be included:
» 3DMark03
» 3DMark05
» 3DMark06
» Quake 4
» Battlefield 2
» Unreal Tournament 2004
» Far Cry
As you can see, we have the three most recent 'gaming' benchmarks in the Futuremark 3DMark series, as well as a handful of first person shooter video games. Quake 4 and Battlefield 2 represent some of the newer, more popular games on the market, while Unreal Tournament 2004 and Far Cry represent some slightly older games that are still quite popular (and fun to play).
All tests were conducted on the PowerColor X800 GTO and Gigabyte X600 XT at their default settings. To make things interesting, the X800 GTO was also tested while overclocked to its maximum speed with the system at default speed, and again at its maximum speeds with the system overclocked as well. This will show what the PowerColor X800 GTO offers right out of the box, as well as what it can offer if you are willing to jeopardize your warranty.
The following list describes the four results found in each graph, with the first values representing the graphics card core / memory speeds and the second values representing the system processor speed / memory speed:
» X600 XT @ Stock Speeds - 500MHz/750MHz DDR (graphics) - 2000MHz/400MHz DDR (system)
» X800 GTO @ Stock Speeds - 400MHz/700MHz DDR (graphics) - 2000MHz/400MHz DDR (system)
» X800 GTO Overclocked - 465MHz/800MHz DDR (graphics) - 2000MHz/400MHz DDR (system)
» X800 GTO & System Overclocked - 465MHz/800MHz DDR (graphics) - 2300MHz/460MHz DDR (system)
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