GeForce 7950 GX2 Retail Round-up

XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 570M XXX Edition

Core Clock: 570MHz
Memory Clock: 1550MHz
European Warranty: 2 years limited (parts and labour)
US Warranty: limited double lifetime warranty (details here)
Price: £527.52 inc VAT - Scan.co.uk

XFX's GeForce 7950 GX2 570M XXX Edition video card comes well-packed in a large box with a good complement of bundled extras. The front of the box advertises HDCP support and also RoHS compliancy, while the back of the box has a rather light hearted health warning discussing the effects of Extreme Gaming Performance. There is a copy of the popular Tomb Raider: Legend included in the bundle, along with a drivers/utility DVD. This contains four game demos, some useful tools and a copy of the manual.

Along with the included software, there is are hard copies of the multi-language quick installation guide, user's manual and a guide to using the 7-pin HDTV-Out port on the back of the video card. There are two DVI-to-VGA converters, an S-Video cable, a six pin PCI-Express power adapter and a YPbPr Component breakout box to round off the bundle.

Aesthetically, the XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 570M XXX Edition is virtually a reference card - the only differentiating feature is the XFX branding on the centre of the fan on the top PCB. The main art work on the main body of the cooling solution is the NVIDIA design - it would have been nice to see an XFX-specific design on here.

Unlike all of the other cards on test, NVIDIA has allowed XFX to increase the clock speeds. XFX has done so, significantly. The core speed has increased from 500MHz to 570MHz and the memory clocks have gone from 1200MHz to an impressive 1550MHz. It will be interesting to see how much difference these additional clock speeds make to the gaming experience, and whether it is worth spending the extra cash on a pre-overclocked GeForce 7950 GX2.

Warranty: XFX's video cards have differing warranties depending on the region you buy your video card in. In the UK and mainland Europe, XFX operates a standard limited two year warranty service covering the repair or replacement of the product - this is similar to what both Leadtek and MSI offer on their own products. In the US, XFX operates a limited double lifetime warranty - you can read more about that here.