Are you tired of looking at the same old vanilla GeForce 7800 GTX cards that are all based entirely on NVIDIA’s reference design with stock cooling? If so, we’ve got good news for you: the second generation GeForce 7800 GTX cards are here! After sticking with NVIDIA’s reference design for their first generation 7800 GTX boards, NVIDIA’s board partners are slowly but surely trickling out their second-gen cards.
Earlier this week we showed you the first of these second-gen cards, EVGA’s e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO ACS³. Today we’re going to take a quick look at the second high-end 7800 GTX board that we’ve received that’s targeted specifically at enthusiasts, ASUS’ Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV. Whereas the cooling EVGA implemented on their e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO ACS³ board was an adaptation of NVIDIA’s original 7800 GTX cooler with copper components, the cooling ASUS has selected for their Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV board is all original.
From top to bottom: eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO ACS3, ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV, and NVIDIA reference 7800 GTX card
The ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV board
High-end cooling onboard
Just how did ASUS pull off such a feast so fast (remember, the GeForce 7800 GTX was first announced just two months ago!) you ask? Simple, they partnered with Arctic Cooling!
Large fan sucks in air within your case
Which passes through the duct and exits here
The ASUS board looks massive compared to the reference 7800 GTX board
Arctic Cooling inside
Most enthusiasts are probably familiar with the name Arctic Cooling. In the short time that they’ve been on the market, their VGA Silencer series of heatsink/fan units have gained a cult following among hardware aficionados. The VGA Silencer line has made quite a name for itself, delivering big performance in a quiet package. HIS (Hightech Information Systems), and more recently, Sapphire, have integrated VGA Silencer coolers on their high-end line of graphics cards. With ASUS now onboard, Arctic Cooling is sure to get even more exposure.
The cooling unit ASUS uses for their Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV is Arctic Cooling’s NV Silencer 5, which was initially designed for the GeForce 6800 series, including NVIDIA’s former flagship, the 6800 Ultra. The NV Silencer 5 features Arctic Cooling’s Direct Heat Exhaust System (DHES), which takes the air from within your computer’s case and exhausts it out the back of your PC. This is completely different than NVIDIA’s reference cooler for the GeForce 7800 GTX; while it’s also a ducted design like the NV Silencer 5, the hot air within your case remains inside your PC with NVIDIA’s cooler. You’ll also notice that the cooler takes up two slots. Arctic Cooling’s previous VGA Silencer cooling units have been built around this architecture as well.
We’ll provide more details on the card’s cooling in our full article.
Which enthusiast-level board do you prefer in terms of looks?
NV Silencer 5 has a large aluminum heatsink
Like other manufacturers, ASUS overclocks their Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV board from the factory, choosing speeds of 486MHz for the graphics core, and 675MHz for the memory (1.35GHz effective). This is the highest memory clock speed in the market to date.
Another shot of the ASUS board
Dual-slot cooling on the ASUS card
ASUS also ships their Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV board with a few unique software programs, including ASUS’ GameFace technology, which has been enhanced to include instant messaging software, ASUS’ Splendid video enhancement software, and finally GameReplay and GameLiveShow, which allows you to record gameplay clips into MPEG4 files as well as stream gameplay over the Internet.
All this adds up to a package that could give EVGA’s e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO ACS³ a run for its money for the title of best GeForce 7800 GTX card. You’ll have to stay tuned to see which card comes out on top!
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![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ From top to bottom: eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO ACS3, ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV, and NVIDIA reference 7800 GTX card @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/01-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ The ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV board @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/02-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ High-end cooling onboard @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/03-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ Large fan sucks in air within your case @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/04-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ Which passes through the duct and exits here @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/05-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ The ASUS board looks massive compared to the reference 7800 GTX board @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/06-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ Which enthusiast-level board do you prefer in terms of looks? @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/07-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ NV Silencer 5 has a large aluminum heatsink @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/08-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ Another shot of the ASUS board @ 1024 x 768 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/09-s.jpg)
![ASUS Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV Sneak Peek [ Dual-slot cooling on the ASUS card @ 3264 x 2448 ] > View Full-Size in another window.](images/10-s.jpg)
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