Inno3D GeForce 6800 GS Review --- TheThirdMedia Hardware

A Closer Look

Looking at the new GeForce 6800GS reminds us of the older GeForce 6800GT. In fact, both cards look a like no matter which way you look at them. Just like the 6800GT, the Inno3D GeForce 6800GS comes with a single slot cooler that cools both the GPU and memory chips. Inno3D went with an all green PCB, much like the reference NVIDIA GeForce 6800GS. Other than the Inno3D sticker on the blower fan, we could not locate any difference between the reference NVIDIA GeForce 6800GS and the Inno3D GeForce 6800GS. The first picture shows a full frontal view of the card and followed by a back-shot on the second picture. As you can see, the new 6800GS does not have memory chips located on the rear, just like the 6800GT. By the way, you may also notice that the 6800GS does not come with any MOSFET heatsink. We will take a closer look on this later in this review.

The rear panel is somewhat different that what we usually see on a 6800GT. Unlike the 6800GT, the 6800GS comes with the DVI-out port located on the right followed by a VGA-out on the center and composite out on the left. Note that there are also some 6800GT with dual DVI-out.

Just like the 6800GT, the 6800GS requires additional power via the 6-pin PCI-E connector. The power MOSFETs and voltage regulators on the 6800GS were a bit more sophisticated and advanced when compared to the 6800GT. This explains the missing MOSFET heatsink that is usually found on fast graphics cards such as the 6800GT, which requires cooling heatsinks on the power regulators.

Currently the 6800GS only works for PCI-E compatible motherboards. It requires a PCI-E x16 slots or dual PCI-E x16 or x8 for SLI configuration. Next, the 6800GS comes with a SLI link where a SLI bridge gets connected. Note that we did not receive the SLI bridge in the package. So please make sure you have a SLI compatible motherboard and a SLI bridge if you are planning to purchase two of these cards. By the way, you may also notice the full copper heatsink used to cool the GPU.

Before we move onto the next section, here?s a nice picture showing a pair of Inno3D GeForce 6800GS in SLI mode. That?s about USD380 / RM1,444 worth of graphics processing power there! All right, let?s take a closer look at the cooler and see what lies under the hood.



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