Hi.

I was wondering what people's opinion/experience is with the Gainward Golden Sample graphics cards. I can't recall seeing a GGS being reviewed in CPC and as the GGS GTX275 is around the same price as other cards, and with a custom cooler, I was thinking whether I should get one.

Super-duper OC performance is not essential, but I might add a few MHz to it, but it's "quiet" that I would be most interested in. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

It's the same custom cooler as I have on my Palit, so it is very quiet. It also runs 6oC cooler under load compared to a standard 275
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/04/17/palit-geforce-gtx-275-review/9

It's not a great overclocker apparently, but to be honest, I don't see the need, it's fast enough for most things at stock.

Thanks for that. According to the figures on Scan (the only place to have a range of GTX 275s in stock) the GGS is clocked higher than many of the others and is still only £175, so even if the cooler is a little inadequate, a factory OC is covered under warranty.

Gainward Golden Sample
Core Clock: 648 MHz
Shader Clock: 1450 MHz
Memory Clock: 2370 MHz


Asus (£160)
Core Clock: 633 MHz
Shader Clock: 1404 MHz
Memory Clock: 2322 MHz


EVGA (£217)
Core Clock: 648 MHz
Shader Clock: 1458 MHz
Memory Clock: 2376 MHz

So, unless someone really puts me off, I'll have a look at reviews tomorrow and that's the one I'll get if all is well.

I'm chuffed to bits with my 275, so whichever one you buy I'm sure you'll be happy with. I got mine in Novatech for £157.

Well, it arrives this afternoon, so I'll have to fire up Far Cry 2- only to test the graphics power; I think that the game is [LIFTED] and it keeps crashing after I've done 20 minutes of hard fighting

I've been playing Freelancer (for the fifth or sixth time) and that doesn't bother an 8800 GTS, never mind a GTX 275

I can't wait for CoD Modern Warfare 2

I have a Gainward 4870X2 GS GLH (Goes Like Hell) http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=101

I can play Crysis at 1900x1080 with everything on max and not get any slowdowns or stutters.

If you look into the FC2's "bin" directory, you'll find the benchmark tool - use that instead. I personally loved the game and still wander around collecting diamonds from time to time, but I know it wasn't to everyone's tastes.

[LIFTED][LIFTED][LIFTED][LIFTED] ArmA.

If Bohemia want to know why I WON'T be buying ArmA II, they only have to look at the pile of utter [LIFTED] that is ArmA.

It's just about the only game that hasn't even come close to playing at full detail and now it isn't working at all. I get a blank screen, and then half a menu screen with blank squares instead of the proper buttons.

BOLL... you know the rest.

Blank textures? Yeah, I had the same problem.
http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=75732

Nah. It isn't ArmA 2 that's the problem. I won't be buying ArmA 2 because I have:

a. never finished ArmA 1 and
b. probably never will, now.

Once the game is started, there are no screens "Bohemia" or "nVidia" or "Intel" or any of that trademark stuff and then the title screen appears but the top half of the screen is black and the bottom half shows the menu buttons on the background, but the menu buttons are black and the text is a bit like a bar code.

Both the graphics and sound (music) are jerky.

It could be X-Fi related, but I switched it to Entertainment mode (no EAX etc.) and it still didn't work.

Some good news- I can play Crysis on Very High settings and only very occasionally does it drop below 25fps. (1280x1024 only)

The full game of Arma 2 actually works far better than the demo with the 1.04 patch...and to be honest, I'm really getting into it. It's quite an achievement to make a map that vast and good looking and the combat is surprisingly good. Missions are a little buggy and sometimes don't trigger a completion when you've done all the objectives...oh and once during boot camp doing "first aid", I put the guy on my shoulder and then couldn't walk anywhere until I had put him down again and tried again. Still, worth a look if you liked Stalker - same open worldy hyper-vulnerable feel, but without the mutants and anomalies. Lots of walking and directing your team too.

Flying is a pain though.