We have spent several weeks with the EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280's we received some time ago. They've been productive weeks, full of testing, playing and living with the EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280 in single card and SLI configuration and while we still have a lot of testing to do, we decided to go ahead with a single card and SLI article. We're saving the 3-way SLI for a week or two and then we'll break it out with some of the hottest titles of the season in what's sure to be an SLI versus CrossFire extravaganza of epic proportions. We have got to tell you that there's a certain feeling that you get when you hold these monsters in your hand that's almost indescribable, which you should just find out yourself. - Bjorn3D

EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280 SLI Config Gaming Review

Knowing that you are holding the fastest, most powerful single GPU video card in the world in your hand, with it straining to get into a machine and drive graphics like you've never seen before. With the introduction of the new ForceWare 180 drivers offering better SLI support, we felt it important to checkout the beast in not only our normal fashion, but in SLI as well. In honor of its debut we spent days testing it and getting a feel for the king of qingle GPU cards. We have to tell you, and the king still rules. In past generations of GPU's, real-time images that appeared true to life could be delivered, but rather unplayable in complex scenes.

Thanks to the increase in sheer shader processing power of the GeForce GTX 200 GPU's and NVIDIA's acquisition of the PhysX technology, these many new features can now be offered without causing horrific slow downs. So earlier we mentioned that the EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280 had arrived big. That would be three boxes of total graphics ecstasy. When they arrived, the opening of the box involved miles of smiles. These cards come individually packaged in an attractive black box with enough information and specifications to just help inform the consumer about the purchase of this beast, and what to expect.

Rest assured that they are well packed inside the box and we'd rather spend our time on the product itself than the box it comes in. Then we have the card itself, even before you get this monster into the machine it exudes power. The back of the GPU is covered but well ventilated. We suspect that this came about after a few people shorted something out on the back of the card doing something they shouldn't have been doing. With more powerful GPU's you need a more powerful fan. Enter the familiar squirrel cage fan that helps keep the GPU cool by drawing in cool air and circulating it across the GPU and PCB.

For a little additional cooling, the end of the GPU is open so air can be drawn in by convection and cool the rear of the GPU too. The EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280 requires an 8-pin and 6-pin connector to correctly power it and even though it comes with molex to PCI Express connectors of each type, if we catch you powering one of these beauties without a proper power supply we'll have to take your GeForce GTX 280 and leave it in the hands of someone more deserving. In other words, it's not a good idea to combine this beast with a pre-PCI Express connector supply to save a few bucks. Of course dual and 3-way SLI ready.

With stock fan speeds we were able to drive the core to 724MHz, an increase of 122MHz, which you'll see gave us a nice little performance boost. Shader speed went to 1559MHz with the clocks linked in EVGA Precision overclocking tool. Memory we got to 2444MHz, which is sure to help out a little when we run some benches to show the increased performance. Please note these aren't maximum overclocks. These are overclocks with the fan set on auto. And we can achieve higher overclocks by kicking the fans up or using additional cooling methods. We don't want to represent a maximum suicide overclocking run.

We have tested a lot of GPU's, and we will continue to test a lot of GPU's, but currently the EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280 and all its brethren are the fastest single core GPU on the planet. Driver support for NVIDIA GPU's seems to be better than the support for ATI cards, and the future of SLI is looking really great. With Far Cry testing done and SLI scaling topping sixty to seventy percent average, and under well optimized conditions even higher than that, SLI could be coming into its prime. NVIDIA has made a concentrated effort to improve SLI and the effort is paying off, though also Intel comes now into the picture.

With Core i7 CPU's pumping out more power than ever before and clock speeds reaching insane levels, it's a powerful combination that's sure to make many people drool uncontrollably. With blazing performance, quiet operation, and ease of setup and use, the EVGA e-GeForce GTX 280 has earned our respect and is sure to be a force in the ever growing demands of high end gaming for some time to come. We could easily say one of these beasts will drive any game for the foreseeable future, then later when prices drop throw another one in SLI or get crazy and throw three in SLI and you'll have unparalleled graphics nirvana.