GeForce 7900 GS Group Test

Inno3D GeForce 7900 GS 256MB:

Core Clock: 450MHz
Memory Clock: 1320MHz
Warranty: 2 years (parts and labour)
HDCP Compliant? No
Price: TBA - stock arriving in two weeks

Inno3D is another NVIDIA board partner that has gone that little bit further to try and differentiate itself from the pack. The company has followed a similar path to Galaxy, and has teamed up with Zalman to provide the cooling solutions for its cards.

The box is reasonably well packed, with the card secured between some folded card board. It's not quite as good as securing the card inside a vacuum formed plastic case, but it was effective. The card didn't seem to rattle around when we shook the box about a bit. The bundle includes one DVI-to-VGA converter, a component out cable, an S-Video cable and a 6-pin PCI-Express power connector. In terms of documentation, there is a user manual and a utility CD with all of the necessary software.

Zalman has provided Inno3D with a different cooling solution to the one employed by Galaxy. This is your typical Zalman VF-700, but made completely from aluminium. It's quiet and effective but takes up two slots, just like the cooler on Galaxy's card. That's not usually a problem with the way that most motherboards are designed in this day and age.

One problem that we do see is that the cooler comes with a 3-pin fan header that needs to be plugged into your motherboard. It would have been more elegant to power the cooling solution via the card itself. It's something to remember when you're installing the card, otherwise the fan will not spin up (for obvious reasons). On the plus side though, the 3-pin fan header can be used for monitoring fan speeds from inside the Windows via your motherboard's monitoring utilities.

Much like the other cards on test, Inno3D's GeForce 7900 GS comes with a pair of dual-link DVI ports and an HDTV-out mini-din connector. However, like most other board partners, there is no HDCP support - that may or may not be a problem, but it ultimately depends on whether you're planning to play HD DVD or Blu-ray movies over one of the DVI ports on this card.

The card comes clocked at 450/1320MHz and has 256MB of onboard video memory, meaning that Inno3D hasn't moved away from NVIDIA's reference specifications. That isn't much of a worry in our eyes, providing the card is competitively priced compared to other similarly-clocked GeForce 7900 GS cards.

The first batch of cards in the UK are priced at £132.99 including VAT on PCNextDay and Savastore is also said to have some cards in stock too - there's no product page on its website yet though. We understand that the Zalman heatsink is going to add to the price, but we're not quite sure how much it's going to be at the moment - I think it'll cost just under £150 when you factor in the additional cost of the cooler, but we won't know for sure until the card hits the shelves.

Warranty: Inno3D bundles its GeForce 7900 GS with a two-year parts and labour warranty, just like Galaxy's card. If you have any issues with the card, just send it back. During the first year, you should contact your retailer, and after that you should communicate directly with Inno3D's support team. If for some reason you are unable to get hold of the place where you bought the card from, you should contact the board partner directly.