Last Updated on Thursday, 25 March 2010 09:42 Written by Chris Hunter Monday, 31 March 2008 04:11

Installation

Installing the WinFast card was pain free and convenient compared to its dual slot brethren. Due to the nature of the Antec P180 and all G92 boards, the hard drive's SATA connection shared a 1/8^" of space with the six-pin power connector. This is not a problem, and is more of an issue to keep in mind when placing other parts. The Leadtek PX8800GT had no issues with our comparatively cramped ten-dollar generic case.

One notable matter surfaced regarding compatibility with certain PCI-Express interfaces: versions prior to 1.1, including 1.0 and 1.0a, may require a bios update from the manufacture to support the PCI-Express 2.0 PX8800GT. The ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe updated to BIOS v1404 (.zip), and we upgraded our Abit AW9D to revision 16 prior to installation as a precaution.

Despite the thermal disadvantages of the single-slot cooler, the smaller size leaves more room to work with. This card proves more practical in a SLI setups compared to the GTS. There is space for stand-alone cards, like a PCI-X network or storage controller. In addition, our generic case has a rear grill over the PCI-slot support screws. The exhaust port for the PX8800GT conveniently points at this grill. In certain PC cases, the cooler can be advantageous. The video card exhaust flow should not raise the ambient temperature if the air pressure in the case maintains a positive level. Keep this in mind when selecting a case to go with this video card.

The monitor cables are connected after the Leadtek PX8800GT is in the slot and secure. The DVI adapter connects our CM812 (21" forcible 2048x1536) analog monitor, and our Hanns-G HD194DJB (19"1440x900) occupies the secondary port. The monitors were surprisingly easy to plug in, and the included adapter fit well.

Vista and XP recognize the video card and install the standard WDM driver set after booting. Versions 169.21 for XP and 169.25 for Vista are the latest drivers on the NVIDIA website, and they both download and install without a hitch. The WinFast PX8800GT installs and is ready for testing within ten minutes of opening the box. This installation is straightforward and intuitive for the average person as long as the intended motherboard supports PCI-Express 1.1 or higher.

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