Size Comparison:

The Volari V8 is a lot smaller in size than the dual slot NV35 (5900 Ultra 256MB) However it still requires an external power source. This picture will give you a pretty good idea of the compact size this card has.

One thing you can notice as well is that the Volari V8 has less components on the PCB. When you compare both cards a dual slot cooler versus a single slot low profile cooler, it makes you think just how much heat the NV35 is generating compared to the Volari V8.

What can I say, somehow the NVIDIA card looks more appealing to me. I wonder why, I guess size does matter? In any case both cards need the extra power connection, which means that they both should be supplying enough power for some decent gaming.

XGI Volari V8 Exposed:

Now that we removed the HSF here is what is under it, the XGI Volari V8 core. I must say this, the V8 core looks really nice and is surrounded by eight memory chips making a total of 256MB graphics memory. Somehow the core reminds me to the ATI Radeon cores with the same alloy strip around it.

The Volari V8 core runs at 280MHz stock speed and contains around 90 million transistors. The chip features next to that a 128bit memory interface to interact with the memory chips.

Once I removed the HSF, the core shows the use of a very lose thermal paste. The paste remains essentially wet even after we put 40 hours on the card. So it cleaned up nicely and what you see is what you get. The PCB is printed with the outline for the first revision HSF cooling system. Since then the Volari V8 HSF has been revised to what we see here today.

Using a magnetic free Philips head screw driver I was curious to see what type of fan is being used to cool the Volari V8, I opt'ed to disassemble the HSF and see, here is what we got.

The all aluminum cooler is held in place by two plastic retention fasteners and is easily removed with needle-nose pliers. The electric fan is a DATECH DS5010-12HFA-TY. This fan is standard DC brushless design operating at 12 volt @ 0.22 amp. The HSF is a stable design which sit'ss firmly against the Volari V8 core and provides ample thermal dissapation.

As you can see, the thermal paste has left a foot print of the Volari V8 core on the surface of the heatsink. Cleaning this HSF will be a snap and is easily installed and removed. The fan is quiet and spins at a maximum rate of 3,200 RPM.