Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/2100 Geforce
6800 Golden Sample 128MB Review- Page 3 of 7
By John Grabski - September 27, 2004
Topless
Another topless shot. Notice the one-piece ramsink assembly. Tight.
Mmmm...Copper...
A ¾ view, showing the stockiness of the copper heatsinks.
Covered Up
No need to cut the slot cover here. There's plenty of room for exhaust air. Also
worth mentioning is that the wiring for the fans is very neatly tucked
underneath the cover, and routed tightly. Extra touches like that really add up
to make a quality product.
Another Cover Angle
My only reservation about this cooling design is the open rear, which leads me
to believe that the hot air could be routed better if it were closed on this
end. ...Nothing a little duct tape can't fix!
Back Side
Rear view showing the standard power plug. Yes, that's dust on there. Gaming
dust. GREAT gaming dust.
Backplate
Front view showing the standard outputs. No VIVO on this card (makes me wonder
why video editing software was included).
This card sports an original
heatsink/fan setup which Gainward calls "2 Slot". In some systems, this card
would take up the first PCI slot, but in the review motherboard (Abit KV8-MAX3)
it does not take up any, as the first PCI slot is spaced a bit farther out than
most motherboards. US card enthusiasts wanting a single slot solutions for their
SFF pc's need not worry, however, as the US market version of this card is
merely a single slot solution using the same PCB.
Inside My Case
I guess I'm lucky, none of my PCI slots have been taken.
Another Case View
Zooming out, we see that this card is in fact pretty large. To me, it's a "good"
large. A "cool" large. A "fast" large. You'll see that when we get to the
benchmarks.
