Enhanced Performance & Overclocking

When looking at the Gainward version of the GeForce 7950 GT implementation, and especially the Golden Sample edition we somehow got the feeling that this card is capable of more. The looks and design suspect that this Golden Sample has been designed to deliver stunning performance, but that some still have to be discovered. And that is exactly what we have done. First of all like most pre-overclocked versions, Gainward opted for a slight increase of the core voltage bringing it up to 1.35V steering the G71 chip. Most cards are currently shipped and set at only 1.25V which limits the overclocking potential. With the extra boost in voltage the G71 of the BLISS 7950 GT Golden Sample should able to catch up with the GeForce 7900 GTX by increasing the clock speeds.

Benchmark Results - 1280x1024 - E6300 2.80GHz - 2GB RAM
BLISS 7950 GT 512MB GS	AquaMark 3 Score
580/1500MHz (Reference)	96734
610/1590MHz (Low OverClock)	101507
640/1680MHz (Med OverClock)	105593
670/1770MHz (High OverClock)	109515
675/1800MHz (Max Overclock)	110418

The Golden Sample is even more special as it features as we have shown Samsung 512MB GDDR3 memory rated at 1.2ns, or actually good for 1600MHz. This is quite a change as all other GeForce 7950 GT's just come with 1.4ns, which means 1400MHz. With the extra voltage and the better memory, we just hit an awesome overclocking of 675/1800MHz. Compared to the stock speeds of the Golden Sample of 580/1500MHz this is quite an increase. What? Yeah indeed we got the Gainward card above and beyond the GeForce 7900 GTX settings. One note though, not every sample might be able to hit these speeds... But, before we forget to mention, this is with the stock cooling solution designed by Gainward. Well done Gainward, for the overclocking beyond our senses!

Final Thoughts

What did you expect? Well when we spoke about the Golden Sample edition with Gainward some weeks ago we had high expectations, mainly due the fact that Gainward had just introduced the 512MB version of the BLISS 7950 GT Golden Sample. Before that, they only had the Golden Edition featuring the GeForce 7950 GT with 256MB frame buffer. Did it meet those expectations? Beyond our senses! Gainward can truly stand behind their statement. Their products are built with only one thing in mind and that is to blow you away, beyond your senses. It's exciting to see Gainward bring out these super fast boards, but it really is a tough balancing act to get right. But without any doubt did just that, blowing away all competition.

Boasting higher performance in comparison with the GeForce 7950 GT, the Gainward BLISS 7950 GT Golden Sample graphics card has achieved a victory over its market opponents. There is no denying that this is a seriously fast, impressive graphics accelerator. While Gainward had been thinking out of the box when designing the Golden Sample edition of the GeForce 7950 GT, it does make it all worthwhile. Innovation, being different and providing excellent products is what Gainward stand for, and the way to do this is certainly in favor of Gainward. Their Golden Sample range has a new addition which certainly deserves to be in that list, by being without doubt the best GeForce 7950 GT graphics card made so far.

With Gainward and its company commitment to bring the end user the best possible video card experience and customer support, you are sure to have a professional experience. Gainward puts the consumer first and offers one of the best sales and support staff in the business. Each staff member is highly trained and very skilled at there responsibilities and you will get prompt professional help. Gainward certainly knows how to differentiate themselves and their products, and are second to none when it comes to innovation and going one step further than the competition. We can only encourage Gainward on having taken this approach. Keep up the good work and excellent track record!

The most exciting part about the card, beside the dual slot cooling is naturally the overclocking potential of the Gainward Golden Sample. The BLISS 7950 GT Golden Sample hit straight on a score of 650/1600MHz which we had achieved with the reference NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT accelerator. But that wasn't the end of it; due to the high-end 1.2ns memory chips we could take this card further then we expected to hit a final top of 675/1800MHz. Yes, you got that right, you can say goodbye to those lovely GeForce 7900 GTX cards, because those are no longer needed. If you didn't know NVIDIA already reduced that line of cards at the time the GeForce 7950 GT was announced, and has currently removed it from their production line.

Having said that, the Gainward BLISS 7950 GT Golden Sample is the card to beat... It has excellent performance right out of the box, with tremendous overclocking potential. Quite impressive, and we did stand speechless with the outstanding overclocking results. Outstanding gaming performance, unique cooling solution and overclocking beyond our expectations, what more do you want? Yeah, somehow we hear you coming...a GeForce 8800 series graphics card. Well for those who can afford it Gainward these as well. But if you don't have the budget for such cards, then the Gainward BLISS 7950 GT Golden Sample might be up your alley. Double thumbs up for Gainward!

Pros

• Outstanding Gaming Performance
• Gorgeous Design and Functionality
• High Quality and Quiet Cooling
• SLI Ready, Multi-GPU Enabled
• Fast Samsung GDDR3 (1.2ns) Memory
• HDCP Ready & Compliant
• Amazing Overclocking Capability
• Impressive & Catchy Bundle
• Dual Link DVI Support
• Competitive Pricing

Cons

• N/A

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