ASUS V9999 Gamer Edition - GeForce 6800
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With the ASUS V9999 Gamer Edition coming overclocked from the start, we were not overly hopeful that we could squeeze a whole lot more out of it. But then again, it does have a pretty impressive cooling solution, and it's based on the same PCB as a GeForce 6800 Ultra, that ought to help push things a little higher. The hardest part of the process is trying to find the sweet spot because NVIDIA cards have thermal cutoffs that will slow the card down automatically if it gets too hot, without causing the test to fail.
Ultimately, we found the top speed of the card by using Coolbits, raising both memory and GPU speed individually until we got a message that it was too high. Then we settled back a little bit and let the tests ride. In the end, we managed to increase the GPU to 444MHz with the memory hitting 1.1GHz. While the gains were high on the GPU side, the output of UT2004 improved a modest 8% at best. We can also see that the GDDR3 memory yielded little extra, running near its peak at the start.
The ASUS V9999 Gamer Edition comes packed to the gills with hardware, software, and the muscle to play the latest games. From a bundle standpoint, the V9999 GE came with several well-known gaming titles such as Dues Ex: Invisible War, as well as several useful software packages, including GameFace Live, Video Security, and Smart Doctor.
On the performance level, the V9999 GE benefited nicely from the added clock speeds, often adding significant performance gains over a stock 6800 at 325/700. With a 350MHz core clockspeed and 1GHz GDDR3 memory, the V9999 Gamer Edition is a potent GeForce 6800 solution. In our performance testing, the X800 Pro managed to take the top spot most of the time, but when you factor in the 475MHz core speed and price range in the mid $400s, the ASUS V9999 is an attractive card. ASUS backed the card with an exceptional collection of utilities such as Smart Doctor, which gives you complete control over how the card performs. Whether you want to configure the card to run as quietly as possible or have it run as fast as it can when the demand requires it, Smart Doctor lets you do it. Throw in a number of safeguards to make sure you don't run into trouble, and the bases are covered nicely. Top everything off with GameFace Live for online gamers and the surprisingly handy Video Security, and you walk away feeling quite satisfied. From a gaming standpoint, the card handled like a champ. We played most of single-player Doom 3 and countless Multiplayer games with the V9999 with hardly a hiccup.
In the end, if you have some cash to burn on a new video card, the ASUS V9999 Gamer Edition is a solid choice, although at $425, it's about $125 more expensive than a "standard" 6800. The price tag can be justified, however, because of the increased core and memory clock speeds and the use of a 6800 Ultra PCB. If you are a serious gamer who likes to spend time in the multiplayer world, the V9999 GE will be right up your alley.
We give the ASUS V9999 Gamer Edition an enthusiastic Hot Hardware Heat Meter Rating of a 8.5.
