We tested power consumption in the same way we always do. We measured the power draw of the entire system using each of the cards installed in two different states; idle and full load. In order to make sure our results were accurate, we used the same exact hardware wherever possible.

• scheda madre: abit AW9D-Max (chipset Intel 975X)
• memoria: Corsair CM2X1024 6400 (3-4-3-9) @ 800 MHz; 2x1 Gbyte
• hard disk: Western Digital WD1600JS - Serial ATA - 7.200 rpm, 160 Gbytes
• processore: Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800
• alimentatore Tagan TurboJet TG1100-U95 (1.100 Watt)

There is a small hardware difference in our SLI tests. In order to properly utilize SLI, we had to use the EVGA nForce 680i motherboard. This is because the Abit motherboard we used for single-card tests supported Crossfire only. For our idle tests, we had an empty desktop with Windows XP booted. Under “full load”, we had the Sciencemark 2.1 benchmark running at a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels, effectively stressing the video subsystem.

Both overclocked 8800s end up consuming more power than their default clocked counterparts. The heat generated by these cards is also higher when overclocked, however, altogether it is still very similar with the default clocked cards. For both the overclocked XFX GTS and GTX video cards we recorded a temperature of 83 degrees Celsius when they were under stress.