14 DAY TRIAL // If you thought the GF 8800 Ultra is just an overclocked GTX version, it?s time you reconsidered this issue. In order to prove our initial 8800 Ultra verdict wrong, a hardcore overclocker known as k|ngp|n shows us how to unleash the beast within the Ultra model.
k|ngp|n is a member of the Xtreme Systems Forum and has recently got hold of a couple of 8800 Ultra video cards to test and overclock. Although we have seen that the Ultra versions are basically overpriced for what they have to offer, k|ngp|n acknowledges that these babies can perform far better if coupled with an overclocked CPU and a subzero cooling system. k|ngp|n also mentions that he had little time to play with his setup and will be able to post some more results as soon as he finds some spare time.
He managed to overclock his Corsair Dominator 8888 memories and the Quad-core Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme QX6700 up to 4880 GHz and then he first tested a single card followed by the SLI setup. With a single 8800 Ultra overclocked at 974 Mhz Core and 1227 MHz Memory, k|ngp|n?s system scored 20506 3D marks in the ?06 edition. The SLI configuration, with each card overclocked at 961 MHz Core and 1227 MHz Memory, reached an outstanding 25053 3D marks score in the same benchmark.
k|ngp|n admits that he did not fully tap the hidden powers of the two EVGA 8800 ULTRA Tek-9 LN2 cards and he will continue to find the right balance between CPU overclocking tweaks and video card tweaks to fully unleash the potential of this deadly combination.
He also conducted some tests in 3D Mark 2005, 2003 and 2001. While testing these cards in all these three benchmarks, the CPU was overclocked to 5300+ MHz, and thus, only one card managed to score as much as 29686 marks in 3D Mark 2005, 65473 marks in 3D Mark 2003 and 96593 marks in 3D Mark 2001.
Now everybody on the Xtreme Systems Forum is waiting for k|ngp|n to break the 100K barrier in 3D Mark 2001.