Leadtek WinFast PX7900 GS TDH

Overclocking:

We overclocked the Leadtek WinFast PX7900 GS TDH using NVIDIA's coolbits registry hack. This should give an indication of how well this video card overclocks, but please bear in mind that your own mileage may vary. We cannot guarantee that manufacturers aren't sending us samples that overclock particularly well.

The stock clocks for the Leadtek WinFast PX7900 GS TDH are 450MHz core and 1320MHz on the memory. These are the same as NVIDIA's reference clock speeds.

We managed to get the card stable through several hours of gaming at 597MHz core and 1596MHz on the memory. At these frequencies, the card showed no signs of artifacting or tearing in Call Of Duty 2, Oblivion, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Counter-Strike: Source. While this is a near 33% core overclock, it appears to fit in line with our overclocking experiences on the other six GeForce 7900 GS cards we've had in the labs. Simply put, GeForce 7900 GS is a very good overclocker and there is plenty of headroom in both GPU and memory frequencies.

Final Thoughts...

As we have said before, GeForce 7900 GS is an incredibly good prospect at this moment in time and Leadtek's PX7900 GS TDH is no different to any other on the outside. However, we commend Leadtek for stepping outside of the box and including the heavily discussed HDCP crypto-ROM chip. Not only that, but Leadtek has managed to keep its card at an attractive price point that will no doubt appeal to price-conscious enthusiasts that are looking for a good bargain.

The DirectX 10 question pops up in the forums almost every week and many end users appear to be hesitant in spending money now when DirectX 10 cards are not so far away. Ultimately, it depends how fast your current video card is and whether or not you are disappointed with the gaming experience it delivers for you.

For those looking for a decent upgrade, the mid-range could not be more intense. Both ATI and NVIDIA have resorted to using cut-down versions of their high end GPU's in order to attain the performance levels required to meet the price points that end users seem to demand. Both are potentially good performers depending on the title and it will come down to the games that you play.

Unfortunately, we haven't had the chance to test one of ATI's newly-specified Radeon X1900GT’s (clocked at 512/1315MHz), so we are unable to comment on how well it performs in comparison to the older Radeon X1900GT we have tested here (clocked at 575/1200MHz). We have been in discussion with ATI though, and we are hoping that it will clarify its price points and attempt to remove the products that are insanely overpriced for what they actually are.

Along with the HDCP crypto-ROM, the other fantastic thing about Leadtek's card is the cooling solution. It looks a little bit like the old GeForce 6800 GT cooler, but its acoustics are vastly improved and almost silent. We'd go so far as to say that this card was as quiet as both the Galaxy and Inno3D cards that came with the Zalman cooling solution. However, the plus side is that this card doesn't require two slots because Leadtek has managed to keep the cooling solution a one-slotter.

Given the fact that the card overclocks as well as any other GeForce 7900 GS, we think this is tremendous value for money. It seems reasonable to suggest that – on average – you're going to see around 580MHz on the core after overclocking and there may be more in there too. GeForce 7900 GS is proving to be as overclockable as GeForce 7900 GT (if not moreso), meaning that it delivers a better bang for buck for those looking to get more for their money.

Taking all of this into account, we think this is arguably the best GeForce 7900 GS out there. If you decide that GeForce 7900 GS is the card to buy and you're willing to overclock, this is the one to get. However, if you find an older Radeon X1900GT with a decent cooling solution at the lower end of its wide pricing spectrum (around £135), it's definitely well worth considering and will give you better default performance if you are not one to overclock.