Page 9 - Power Usage, Overclocking
In idle conditions, our Seasonic PowerAngel measured our total system power consumption of 190W with Asus' EN8800GTS. This means that in idle conditions, the video card uses 42W more power than the X1950 Pro. This certain makes sense, because our Asus EN8800GTS 320MB idles at 84c (GPU diode) with fan on default settings. The PCI backplate opening is burning hot to touch. Yes, literally!
The maximum power consumption of our entire test system is 270W with graphical load. This is 64W more power than the X1950 Pro based Asus EAX1950PRO. The fan does spin up; our recorded GPU diode temperature is 95c.
On the other hand, this card is at least half-overclockable; if not quite overclockable. The maximum effective memory speed I was able to attain was a 21% overclock -- from 1584MHz to 1914MHz effective. That is quite impressive.
Overclocking the graphics core is very good as well. A 24% overclock is observed -- stably -- with maximum core frequency at 636MHz from 513MHz. The Asus EN8800GTS 320MB is certainly an overclockable card. However, with the amount of power consumption, it generates a load of heat; therefore a powerful aftermarket cooler is highly recommended.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Specifications, Bundle
2. A Closer Look
3. Test System, Benchmark: Half Life 2: Lost Coast
4. Benchmark: FEAR
5. Benchmark: Prey
6. Benchmark: Quake 4
7. Benchmark: CS:S cs_militia
8. Benchmark: 3DMark06
9. Power Usage, Overclocking
10. Noise Factor and Conclusion
