Introduction

I would like to thank Diamond Multimedia for supplying the review sample.

Diamond Multimedia like many other OEMs are making ATI Video Cards from chips that failed to meet the standards of their high end kin and are taking advantage of "dead die SKUs". We're going to take a look at the Diamond Viper X800GTO which is part of ATI's basement bargain GPUs. This is best explained by D_O_S in his Max Moxx X800GTO² review, in which he explains the "dead die SKUs". Now this can be seen as a good thing or bad thing depending on your perspective. In some cases the extra pipes can be unlocked but in this case the Diamond Viper X800GTO is among the "not this time club". The Diamond Viper X800 GTO has the same core as the ATI X850 series using an ATI R480 as well as Samsung GDDR3 memory, the Diamond GTO has 4 less pipes bringing the total to 12. For more information on GPUs look in the GPU Database. To also understand why the pipes are not unlockable read through the article by W1zzard here. The Viper X800GTO from Diamond looks to be a solid performer, so with the preliminaries out of the way let's proceed with the Diamond Viper X800GTO review.


Fuse Data

Featuring:

• DirectX 9.0 and OpenGL 2.0
• SmartShader™
• SmoothVision™
• HDTV Support
• Hyper Z™ III
• VideoShader™
• Dual Display Support
• CATALYST Software Drivers

Specifications:

• ATI Radeon® X800GTO (R480)
• GPU Core Clock: 400 MHz
• Memory Speed: 490 MHz
• RAMDACS: Dual 400 MHz
• Memory Support: 256MB GDDR3
• 256-bit memory interface
• 12 Full Precision Pipelines
• API Support: DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 2.0
• PCI Express® x16 lane native support
• Output: VGA, DVI, TV-Out
• Hardware Transform and Lighting (T&L)
• Includes temperature chip for temperature control

Samsung K4J55323QF-GC20= DataSheet

From the Datasheet one can see that the GDDR3 is spec'd to run at 500 MHz 2.0ns

Source Samsung

Radeon R480 GPU Thermal Specs

Packaging & Contents

Here we see Diamond's familiar packaging and classic design. I have to admit the artwork and images that are displayed on Diamond's packaging and most others are rather cool, hats off to those who do the artwork and it would be a rather cool job. Now we know you shouldn't make a purchase based on packaging, but it is made to catch your eye. The contents are packed well.



The bundle in this package is much more complete in terms of cables than the last Diamond review.

Package Includes:

• Quick Install Guide
• Install CD : ATI CATALYST Drivers
• Software : Diamond Tools, DVD Playback
• Games : 3DMark'03
• DVI to VGA adapter
• RCA Composite Video Adapter
• HDTV Composite Adapter
• S-Video Cable
• RCA Composite Video Cable

We see the install CD which includes documentation, added software and Windows updates in the form of SP2 for XP, along with .NET Framework.
Included in the Windows updates was DirectX 9.0c.
The CD also contained Bonus Software:

• Acrobat Reader
• 3DMark03
• Final Reality
• VulpineGL
• VulpineGL Patch
• Free DVD codec
• DS Player
• Maximus DVD
• WCPUID

The driver CD is the same as what we saw in our previous review of the X550. This time however Diamond does bundle a game with the X800GTO and adds Deus Ex: Invisible War which is decent game for those who are not familiar with it. The graphics are fair but once you get use to the controls the game can be fun. Screenshots courtesy of TPUCapture Screenshot Utility

Video Card

Here we have the front and back side of the Diamond Viper X800GTO. It has the small HSF with a picture of ATI's Ruby and the Diamond emblem. You can also see the card runs from the motherboard power with no Molex to plug into. On the back side Diamond added RAM heat sinks which are attached on very solid. I tried to take one off and it wasn't coming off unless I wanted a RAM chip with it. During OCing they got fairly warm which meant they were making good contact with the RAM chips and dissipating heat. The HSF performed well at stock speeds but was fighting a losing battle when it came to overclocking. We'll discuss that more in the overclocking section.



As display connectors you get an analog VGA output and a digital DVI output. The round connector in the middle is for TV-out to watch movies on your TV, for example.



After removing the HSF we can see it was a little sloppy but was making good contact with the core. We can see the core cleaned up and make the point here that Diamond opted to go with the R480 core and not the R423.