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Introduction

When it comes to Nvidia board partners, there are a few stand outs. These partners go above and beyond the norm in terms of performance or customer service. BFG Technologies is one of those partners that have impressed us in both departments; their focus on both of these segments have garnered them quite a following here in North America. Today however, we take a look at a board from another one of Nvidia's partners. Gainward is another one of the increasingly rare graphics manufacturers that are devoutly loyal to one camp and Gainward has their foot firmly planted on Nvidia's side which bodes well for Nvidia. Gainward was the only company that released a true single slot 5950 solution; yes there were pseudo single slot solutions from other manufacturers but Gainward managed to leave the adjacent PCI slot usable unlike others. Gainward also released exotic watercooled versions of their products a trend that is just beginning to gain traction amongst other companies.

Unfortunately, Gainward's presence in North America is not as pronounced as BFG or eVga but they are definitely the performance player in the rest of the world. Today we take a look a card from their infamous Golden Sample lineup of cards, the 6800 GT based Ultra/2400 Golden Sample. Being a Golden Sample means that this is not a run of the mill 6800 GT card. We heaped accolades onto the BFG 6800 GT OC for being faster than stock. Gainward however, takes this further but further may not be a sufficient description as Gainward takes the Ultra/2400 to 400 mhz for the core and 1.1 ghz for the memory. That's right, up to 6800 Ultra speeds which bodes very well for Gainward and not so well for competitors trying to scrounge up 6800 Ultra cards.