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The Verdict
Well .. impressive .. very impressive. You guys already know that I am a big fan of the 7900 GT card series. But this Calibre and especially P790+ version rocks in every way it can. Compared over the reference 7900 GT with 512MB the performance increase is substantial and in most cases very notable. Obviously the higher standard clocks on both core and memory help. But once overclocked I was shocked to find out I was able to run the memory at 840 (x2) MHz which gave the product an immense boost in framebuffer bandwidth.
This is a lower segment priced high-end graphics card that is performing extremely well for it's money. Suffice to say that the 512MB memory will boost the price a little, it's well invested though as we already see several games pick up on that trend. Higher Quality textures, high IQ settings and better performance is what the extra 256MB will bring you. I just checked and at the moment you can purchase this card as shown today for roughly 329, so two in SLI will set you back 660.
The one thing you need to keep in mind though is that a GeForce 7950 GX2 will cost you roughly 550 and it offers only slightly less performance.
Play F.e.a.r and enable 4x AA and 16xAF, set your resolution at 1600x1200 and you'll still see a 40 FPS framerate on average. A year ago this wasn't even something we could think about. The Calibre GeForce 7900 GT is a very strong performer and with the default higher clocks and a three year warranty it is positioned at an absolutely fair price. Also do not forget that entire Series 7 feature set can be found back in both products of course, including the dandy PureVideo options.
The Sparkle Calibre P790+ is slightly more expensive then the regular 7900 GT, but it's clocked higher and thus performs better, comes with a great hard- and software bundle and a really nice cooling solution. I was and still am impressed, this is looking like a high-class product and therefore comes highly-recommended by yours truly.
Editor's choice, without a doubt in my mind.
Sparkle Calibre P790+ 512 MB (SLI)Model: GeForce 7900 GT 512MB
Manufacturer: Sparkle
Distributor: dollarshop
Info: calibrestyle.com.tw
Price: 329 EUR
