Hardware Secrets


Home | Camera | Case | CE | Cooling | CPU | Input | Memory | Mobile | Motherboard | Networking | Power | Storage | Video | Other
Content
Articles
Editorial
First Look
Gabriel’s Blog
News
Reviews
Tutorials
Main Menu
About Us
Awarded Products
Compare Prices
Datasheets
Dictionary
Download
Drivers
Facebook
Forums
Links
Manufacturer Finder
Newsletter
On The Web
RSS Feed
Test Your Skills
Twitter
Newsletter
Subscribe today!
Search




Recommended
Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies
Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies, by Mark L. Chambers (For Dummies), starting at $15.25
Home » Video
ECS GeForce 9800 GTX+ Hydra Video Card Review
Author: Gabriel Torres
Type: Reviews Last Updated: August 13, 2008
Page: 2 of 11
Real-time pricing for Transcend TS16GSDHC10.
TRQU Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 10 Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC10E Tristan Pub 04110401-8120-0001234542 Electronics 16GB TS16GSDHC10 Usually ships in 24 hours
Amazon: $16.98 TigerDirect: $18.99
Newegg: $17.99 Wal-Mart: $34.88

Introduction (Cont’d)

As you may already know, GeForce 9800 GTX+ is simply an overclocked GeForce 9800 GTX. On GeForce 9800 GTX the graphics chip runs at 675 MHz, while on GTX+ it runs at 738 MHz (a 9.33% overclocking). On both cards the memory runs at 1.1 GHz (2.2 GHz DDR) and is accessed through a 256-bit interface, achieving a maximum theoretical transfer rate of 70.4 GB/s.

Hydra system comes with two GeForce 9800 GTX+ to be connected under SLI configuration.

ECS Hydra GeForce 9800 GTX+
click to enlarge
Figure 5: One of the video cards that come with Hydra.

ECS Hydra GeForce 9800 GTX+
click to enlarge
Figure 6: One of the video cards that come with Hydra, back view.

We removed the video card coldplate to take a look. As explained, this part is all made of copper.

ECS Hydra GeForce 9800 GTX+
click to enlarge
Figure 7: Video card coldplate.

On Figures 8 you can see the video card without its coldplate. It uses eight 512-Mbit Samsung K4J52324QE-BJ08 GDDR3 chips, making its 512 MB memory (512 Mbit x 8 = 512 MB). These chips can officially work up to 1.25 GHz (2.5 GHz DDR) and on this video card they are running at 1.1 GHz (2.2 GHz DDR), so there is 13% headroom for you to overclock the memories keeping them inside their specs. Of course you can always try to push them above their official specs.

ECS Hydra GeForce 9800 GTX+
click to enlarge
Figure 8: GeForce 9800 GTX+ with its coldplate removed.

This video card requires the installation of two auxiliary 6-pin power connectors, so in theory you need to have a power supply with four auxiliary cables for video cards. The product, however, comes with four adapters for you to convert standard peripheral power plugs into 6-pin power plugs, so if you power supply doesn’t have enough power plugs for video cards this won’t be an issue.

In Figure 8, you can see all accessories and CDs/DVDs that come with this video card. With the accessories that come with this card you can convert the video output to VGA and HDMI, plus the DVI and S-Video connectors already present on the product.

Hydra system comes with one full game, Tom Clancy’s Rainbowsix Vegas 2.

ECS Hydra GeForce 9800 GTX+
click to enlarge
Figure 9: Accessories.

Now let’s compare GeForce 9800 GTX+ specifications to its main competitors.

« Previous |  Page 2 of 11  | Next »
Print Version | Send to Friend | Bookmark Article | Comments (0)

Related Content
  • Who Are the Biggest Board Manufacturers?
  • SLI vs. CrossFire
  • ECS NGT240-512QI-F Video Card Review
  • ECS GTX 460 Black Series (NBGTX460-1GPI-F) Video Card Review
  • ECS P67H2-A Motherboard

  • Recommended Deal.
    Diamond 5830PE51GDiamond 5830PE51G

    Diamond ATI Radeon HD5830 PCI Express 1024 MB GDDR5 Video Card 5830PE51G DH5830PE51G Electronics Usually ships in 24 hours

    Amazon: $270.52

    RSSLatest News
    Antec Announces the One PC Case
    February 9, 2012 - 8:06 AM PST
    Cooler Master Releases Elite 361 PC Case
    February 8, 2012 - 7:50 AM PST
    Microsoft Launches Kinect for Windows
    February 2, 2012 - 8:42 AM PST
    Transcend Announces SSD720 SSD Series
    February 1, 2012 - 7:55 AM PST
    .:: More News ::.


    © 2004-12, Hardware Secrets, LLC. All rights reserved.
    Advertising | Legal Information | Privacy Policy
    All times are Pacific Standard Time (PST, GMT -08:00)