Tomb Raider Legend

	Min	Max	Ave
MSI NX7900GT	24	84	59.62
ATI X1900	11	61	46.87

At about the one minute mark, we started to hit the waterfall and swimming areas of that map. On the X1900, we took a nose dive so to speak and struggled a bit for about half a minute. Eventually it leveled off, but the 7900GT definitely felt smoother playing on this level.

Image Quality

	Min	Max	Ave
MSI NX7950GX2	18	51	36.45
MSI NX7900GT SLI	10	48	34.28

Both setups were pretty even in performance. 8xAA is pretty intense, and there were some obvious slowdowns in some of the corridor battles. Once we hit the open area, the performance evened out.

Multi-GPU Vs SLI - Battlefield 2

	Min	Max	Ave
MSI NX7950GX2	19	56	31.9
MSI NX7900GT SLI	5	68	45.7

Despite some of the dips at about the 30 second mark, the true SLI setup was faster overall in that it spiked over 60fps several times. That said, both setups didn't really feel any different and since the image quality was identical, we would be hard pressed to tell you which setup was which without looking at the cards used.

Overclocking

MSI does include an overclocking utility but we normally use NVTweak with our NVIDIA based cards. While MSI's tool isn't as aggressive, it is covered under warranty. The default NVIDIA clock speed for the core is 450MHz, and as we've mentioned earlier, the MSI 7900GT (this model) is clocked at 500MHz. The larger than usual cooler kept the GPU around 53°C under load. We moved the slider up in 5MHz increments and settled on a 570MHz overclock before we experienced system lockups. For kicks, we tried bumping both cards up in SLI mode, but we maxed out at 555MHz on the second card.

For the memory, we managed to hit 1.5GHz before we experienced artifacts on screen. This falls a little below MSI's specs, but well above the default reference numbers.

Final Words

In our last few reviews, we've stated that HDCP isn't a big deal right now and we still don't think it will impact the majority of consumers for at least another year to 18 months. HDCP is a reality though and we will need hardware that can decrypt the signal in hardware for optimal performance. That said, the MSI Geforce NX7900GT-VT2D256EHD is a superior product to most 7900GT products, including MSI's own non-HDCP 7900GT due to it's higher default speeds and HDCP support.

Performance of the MSI NX7900GT is very good, though it will likely be outpaced by NVIDIA's latest revision to the GPU family. Compared to the ATI X1900, the 7900GT is clearly a faster product and does so without sacrificing image quality. Other reviewers here at VL have stated this, but we feel that the image quality of NVIDIA based products have surpassed ATI when it comes to gaming. Personally, I feel ATI still has the edge in multimedia, but the gap is narrowing.

The bundle is what we feel is adequate. There's nothing really earth shattering, but all the VIVO cables are there, as well as extra adapters and Serious Sam II. No HDMI cable is included, so that will need to be picked up separately unless by some luck your new TV has an extra cable.

Overclocking was very good considering the card arrived overclocked out of the box. At 570MHz core and 1.5GHz memory, the GPU hovered in the low 60°C range. We were not able to match the OC on the second card in SLI mode (alone, we only reached 560MHz core).

While we don't think the HDCP support is really a "must have" at this point, at $249 USD, we think the MSI Geforce NX7900GT-VT2D256EHD is a good choice given that it offers more than what you would normally get from a 7900GT product. Despite that, it's also cheaper than some competing products which makes this a good deal.

If you have any questions or comments on this or other articles here at Viper Lair, then please feel free to leave your thoughts in our forums.

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