The King of AGP: Gainward 7876-BLISS 7800GS Silent 512MB GS+

[DeMarki]

Hi there! I'm new to this forum and I have a couple of questions regarding this new AGP card(Gainward 7876-BLISS 7800GS Silent 512MB GS+) I just ordered from an online store in Germany for 399 Euro.
This card packs a G71 7900GT processor, 24 Pipelines, 8 Vertex Shaders and 512MB GGR3 memory. Fair enough for AGP.

http://www.alternate.de/html/productDetails.html?artno=JBGWA2&

I didn't have to money to upgrade new CPU-MB-GPU, so I chose to spare 400 Euro and buy the fastest AGP card available instead, so I could enjoy the latest games without any sacrifices.

My system is:

P4 Prescott 3.0GHz Socket 478
ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe
4x512MB OCS Platinum 2-3-2-5 Dual Channel
Albatron GeForce 6800 Vanilla
Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS
Seagate 80GB SATA HD
Eizo M1700 17" TFT
Logitech Z-2300 2.1 THX
350W Supply
360W UPS

1) Will I need a bigger Power Supply? I'm thinking of getting a 420W supply if necessary.
2) What Voltage should I apply to my AGP Port? My older 6800 Vanilla runs at 1.5V or 1.6V.
3)Should I try to further overclock the card? Because Gainward says that it's already overclocked!
4) Does my system stall this Graphic card? Cause I heard from somewhere that if your GPU is much much faster than your CPU power then your CPU stalls the GPU card. Do you think my system is ok to handdle tough games?

PS: I only play on 1280x1024 cause I got TFT screen.

[chr0nicles]

As for power supply im not sure, someone else should anwser this :)

You shouldnt put any extra voltage to the agp slot and it should be default provided by your motherboard.

If I had the option to overclock the card, I would certainly do it to the cards max potential.

And Im almost 100% sure that your cpu is going to be a bottleneck.

[Drinkyoghurt]

yes get a better power supply with atleast 400watt and 20amps...i have a bfg7800gs put on a 350watt and it aint that great...im still waiting for my 500watt to arrive

[microfire]

512MB ram on a AGP card, nice!

Keep in mind that the GeForce 6800 series are very power hungrey when compared to the 7800 series, taking into account what particular model you have of course. I would think you could get away with the PSU you are using if it is a nice brand/model.

1. No (if it is a nice one already) / Yes (if it is a old dunger)
2. 1.8v if possible or the highest AGP/NB voltage that board can supply, this will make your system more stable, the chipset and ram will thank you for it.
3. Yes you should overclock it. Start with the ram first as its is easier to get instant stable gains without much trouble.
4. No it will not stall, it will be faster than your old card. The system is fine, I would suggest tweaking the ram parameters and maybe bumping up the FSB alittle (not to high otherwise you will comprimise stability).

[-_{MoW}_-Assasi]

you do know that ur actually buying a Geforce 7900 GTX practically? :)

[DeMarki]

you do know that ur actually buying a Geforce 7900 GTX practically? :)

I don't know, I think more of an overclocked 7900GT, but I'm so glad that AGP can still be competative.

Can anyone plz tell me how much AGP Voltage should I use?

[microfire]

Can anyone plz tell me how much AGP Voltage should I use?
Read my post above, I answered all your questions. (maximum voltage)

[DeMarki]

You said 1.8V but from what I have read in many forums everyone keeps saying that 1.5V should be the maximum volume.

Some people have been messing with pencils and actually lose their warranty and risk their money just to get 1.2V-1.4V. I don't get why they do such a thing, I mean what's the problem with keeping the default AGP Voltage and be sure that the card works perfect and you don't lose the warranty?

[Hipcrostino]

HAHAHAH, we are talking about the AGP voltage, not the card voltage!!!! THEY ARE DIFFERANT THINGS. DO NOT INCREASE THE AGP SLOT VOLTAGE!!!!!! its unnesseary and possibly damaging!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuperDave1685]

yea, what the guys said above... the AGP slot voltage doesn't need to be increased at all.... you face possibly damaging the card by running too much volts through the slot... I would suggesst you overclock your CPU a little bit, as I can see that's probably going to be your biggest bottleneck... Also, I'd invest in a little bit newer PSU... I'd reccomend a Antec NeoPower 480... has worked really well for me and it should do pretty well for you as well...

[microfire]

The APG voltage is also the northbridge voltage. Increasing AGP/NB voltage will not make the AGP card overclock any better and it will not make it any worse or damage it (risk is low to zero). The reason for increasing the voltage is to maintain stability of the Intel 875/865 chipset, especially if you intend to overclock, use agressive timings, or carry a heavy load on the dimm slots.