AOpen Aeolus 7800 GT DVD256MB

At last, it is time to equip myself with a new graphics card, the one that I've been looking for.. nVidia 7800 GT. I chose to buy AOpen Aeolus 7800 GT DVD256MB because I found it to be the cheapest 7800 GT around at Low Yat Plaza (RM1148). Forsa 7800 GT is the next best thing (RM1150) but it wasn't available at that time.





The feeling was great. The price is right and I think I've waited for the right time to buy this card, although waiting for the release of G71 a.k.a. 7900 series might promise a better pricing for 7800 series.

At home, I anxiously opened the box to reveal its contents, especially the card itself. Here is what AOpen has offered me in the package:

The card itself:



The card looks similar to nVidia reference card without any additional features such as unique cooling system. In fact, I can't see any AOpen sticker even on the fan itself, contrary to what I saw on the reviews of AOpen Aeolus 7800 GT DVD256MB on the web.

Then, the cables and adapters. Hmmm, the cables....



AOpen has supplied 2 DVI to VGA adapters, one 6-pin Molex power cables and TV-Out and Component cable. I immediately notice that there's no VIVO cable here, which leads me to believe that this card is a TV-Out version from AOpen. Further investigation reveals that VIVO version is labelled as AOpen Aeolus 7800 GT DVDC256MB. The strange thing is when I checked about this in the Internet, the box for the VIVO version is exactly the same as mine, where it still printing 'DVD256MB' and not 'DVDC256MB'. I guess for those who are looking for AOpen card like mine or the VIVO version, better ask for details.

The rest of the contents are the CDs: Installation CD and bundled games: PitFall: The Lost Expedition and Second Sight.







After checking all the contents, I began to understand the reason for such a cheap pricing for the card. First of all, this is not the VIVO version. Secondly, there's no VideoStudio 7 software bundled as well (since this isn't a VIVO!). And then, there's a possibility of another reason...

When I checked the specs for AOpen Aeolus 7800 GT in the official website and various reviews about it, the specs indicated that it comes with factory-overclock core freq. at 430 MHz and memory freq. at 550 (1.1GHz): this goes for both TV-Out version and VIVO version! What a good package that is! However, when I checked mine using Coolbits hacking and also RivaTuner, both reported the core and memory freq. to be 400 MHz and 500 (1 GHz) respectively, which is the reference clock by nVidia. Now how do we describe a situation like this? Is my card the third version released by AOpen, a clock-down version to justify a very cheap retail price??

Nevertheless, it didn't affect me much as I'm not hunting for VIVO functionality anyway, and it is still the cheapest 7800 GT around in Malaysia, currently. Furthermore, I run the Optimal Clock Testing in the overclocking section of the driver (I use Forceware 81.89 anyway) and I am happy to report that this card is able to run at 490/590 (1.18) optimally! According to various reviews on the Internet, this setting is able to match or beat the performance of 7800 GTX at stock clock (430/600), (can't use fillrate to fillrate comparison anymore!). I found it to be true on most benchmarks that I've read.

Currently, I'm running the card at the reference clock, and have been doing a few benchmarks so far. The experience is truly different now, and as some might say that I am making a big deal out of this, IT IS a big deal when you can run your game at full settings with framerates higher than before!

As for X800 GTO, its duty is over, and now sitting comfortably in its box. Who knows, I might need it again later!

Coming soon: benchmarks results!