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Gainward Ultra 1600XP GeForce FX 5900 Ultra Video Card Review

Author: Dennis Garcia

When it comes to reference design cards and boards you get rather hard pressed to find any change in performance except for the vendor specific tweaks and included software. In the case of the Ultra 1600XP the included software contains the vendor specific tweaks and in effect allows the user to easily overclock their video card. The provided "Enhanced Mode" in the EXPERTool isn't much over the safe settings which is most likely attributed to early card samples that didn't overclock well.

Considering that the 5900 Ultra is still maturing I don't think it will be long before we see Gainward and other nVidia partners producing their own line of 5900 Ultra cards and improving on the reference design.

So to finish up in typical Ninjalane fashion here is my list of Good things and Bad things.

Good Included Software
EXPERTool Enhanced Mode
Uses GeForce FX5900 Ultra chip
Good Overclocking potential when chip matures
Oversized heatsink

Reference design not by Gainward
Cooling takes up an extra expansion slot
Conservative "Enhanced Mode" clock settings

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