To test the temperature we start up 3D mark 2003 and loop it for 20 minutes.We use RivaTuner to determine the load temperature during the 20 minute run. There is no logical reason to list idle temperatures here as all modern video cards run very cool when they are not being taxed (40~50c).

Though the X1900 GT uses the hot running R580 core it has one quad (big chunk of the core) disabled which should make it run cooler than an X1900 XT. The problem is ATI have to pit the X1900 GT against the ultra efficient 7900 GT, so gone is the dual slot cooler found on there higher end R580 parts, and in it's place is a single slot cooler. This means the X1900 GT runs just as hot, if not hotter than an X1900 XT. Just look at the temperature difference between an X1900 GT and 7900 GT, a whopping 32c!

I must point out though, that the X1900 GT is a much quieter running card, the 7900 GT's fan is not just a little louder, its so loud i cannot stomach it! There is so much more Nvidia could have done to make the 7900 GT card run almost silent, but they decided to use a tiny (cheap) heat sink, with a tiny fan running god-like RPM's and no fan controller (cheap) to help keep things quiet while in Windows. It's amazing that more websites haven't pointed this out and put pressure on Nvidia to give the 7900 GT the fan controller it deserve, which I might add is present on the 7900 GTX.

Though ATI's card is quieter, the 32c difference is startling, and as much as i dislike the 7900 GT's noisy cooling solution you cannot ignore that ATI have a very hot running card here.

Overclocking

*Note* Please keep in mind that the results here are representative only of the sample board on test, your results may be better or worse.

We used ATI's Overdrive from within the CCC to overclock this card as currently no other software works properly with the X1900 GT. You'll remember that the default speeds for the X1900 GT are 575MHz on the core and 600MHz on the memory.

We actually maxed out the sliders in Overdrive, i'm sure this card could have gone even further if it wasn't for Overdrive's limitations. These results are very high, i'm not sure if this is what you can expect from retail boards, it's best to have a look around the forums to see what others are getting here.

Below are a few of our previous benchmarks from this review but with overclocking results added.

The huge clock increases do nothing for Oblivion, of which seems to be screaming out for a faster CPU. Considering this card overclocked very high I doubt you will get any extra performance in Oblivion just by overclocking this card, no matter the clocks.

In FEAR there is an 8.8% improvement. Sadly this extra oomph only just puts it ahead of the 7800 GT.

A 7.8% improvement in HL2: Lost Coast. Unfortunately even with a 650 core and 720 memory, it still can't touch the 7900 GT.

COD2 see's little improvement, only 3.7%, and it still lags behind the 7900 GT. I'm sure the extra clock speeds will boost performance quite a bit in 2048x1536 with 4xAA and 16x AF, but i'm not playing that game anymore. These cards are not good choices for those sorts of ultra high resolutions, so there is not point in focusing in on irrelevant data.