| MSI NX8800GT Zilent 512Mb DDR3 (T2D512E) |
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The MSI NX8800GT Zilent looks to makes a splash with its impressive performance
INTRODUCTION
However, this is not always the case when it comes to graphic cards. Most will produce cards based on the reference designs set out by their GPU manufacturer ... and would be AMD/ATI or Nvidia. Graphic cards based on reference designs are OK, but if for example you buy a bog standard Geforce 8800GT, say from Inno3D or Sparkle ... what real differences are there? They would both use the same reference designed PCB board, similar components, and the same stock HSF ... hence the similarity in price.
Now, what if you take this reference design and change or add to it? Maybe change the stock HSF for a better one, add an overclocked GPU and use higher speed ram. This is where BFG, XFX and many others have tried to capature that niche market of hardcore enthusiast gamers ... where performance is king. The standard Geforce 8800GT (G92) from Nvidia is a very good GPU that's been hitting headlines in recent months. It uses the latest 65nm technology, and offers 512Mb of DDR3 ram, 112 stream processors, 256-bit memory interface, 57.6 Gb/sec bandwidth and a massive texture fill rate of 33.6 billion/sec. It's pretty impressive to say the least ... offering one of the best performance/price ratios. 
MSI have taken this one step further. They have teamed up with Zalman and produced a very interesting product. It's the MSI NX8800GT Zilent. It's not based on Nvidia's reference designs ... gone is the stock HSF. It now features a very impressive cooler that has 4 copper heat pipes that fan out into a fairly large array of Aluminum fins ... this is then cooled by a silent fan that spins at approx. 2,500rpm. And to cool the ram chips, there is a large copper coldplate that sits on top of the ram. What is even more interesting is that the MSI NX8800GT uses an overclocked G92 GPU @ 660Mhz (the default is 600Mhz), with memory also overclocked at 1.9Ghz (the default is 1.8Ghz). All of this points to a very fast performing graphics card with added bonus of a pre-installed quiet Zalman cooler.
In this review, we'll be testing the MSI NX8800GT Zilent, with several GPU intensive DX10 games with both 4xAA and 16xAF options enabled, as well as your usual 3D Mark 2005 and 2006 tests. Our test rig includes an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ default 2.4Ghz, Abit IX38 QuadGT motherboard, OCZ PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 2Gb Kit, Coolermaster Real Power M700 PSU and a 19" Samsung monitor that output 1600x1200 resolution. All-in-all, a decently spec'd system for DX10 gaming. OK, lets not waste any more time and see how well the MSI NX8800GT Zilent performs against other cards on the market.
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