Before writing this roundup, I was very curious as to how three 7950GT cards would perform, with different core/memory clocks and features. According to Nvidia "...GeForce 7950 GPU delivers smooth, high-definition video playback and crisp picture quality thanks to its advanced NVIDIA PureVideo technology. If you are searching for an extreme HD gaming and video experience on the PC, look no further than a Geforce 7950 GPU..."

For an easy comparison, we gathered the most important features for the three cards in one table:

Before proceeding to the differences, lets see what's inside the retail package for each card: 2x DVI-D dongles, TV-Out cables, 6 pin PCI-E cable, CD-ROM with drivers and a printed manual. All three cards provide dual DVI outputs with HDCP support and are rated "Vista Ready", according to their respective manufacturers. Let's now see each card's strong points:

eVGA 7950GT KO: This card was the top performer in all tests, since it had the highest core frequency. The eVGA has bulked the retail version of "Call Of Duty 2", that will please gamers. The air cooling system is adequate and the card generated temperatures ranging from 51°C up to 78°C maximum! At full speed, the fan is the noisiest of all three cards. The card didn't have any problems overclocking or competing with the Gainward 7950GT Golden Sample in this department.

Performance
Overclocking
Bundle
Value for money

Gainward 7950GT 512MB Golden Sample: The second fastest card, by one FPS in most tests in this roundup. The main reason was the lower core frequency and possibly different memory modules (Samsung as opposed to eVGA's Infineon). There is no retail game included, but there is a #SN that can be used to download games from Gainward's servers. The air cooling system is impressive, but large. It makes little noise(!) and keeps the G71GT core cool. Imagine that under full load, the temperature never passed above 61°C. Due to its size, it will occupy two backplane slots, which is not a big deal unless you have few PCI slots or a lot of PCI cards installed since several motherboard have them positioned between the PCI-E slots. Overall, a good proposal and somewhat lower priced than the eVGA 7950GT KO.

Performance
Overclocking
Bundle
Value for money

XFX GeForce 7950GT 550M: The less "powerful" card in this roundup, with however, different characteristics. Its passive cooling system produces zero noise and keeps the card running. However, things get really hot, especially if you consider that at full load, the GPU reached 91°C! But if you think that overclocking is not possible with this card, think again. We managed to reach a stable system with 632/804 frequencies and performance was greatly improved. We suspect that if the card had an active cooling system, it could possibly match the performance of the eVGA's 7950GT KO. Users who love Ghost Recon can find the retail version of "Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter" bulked with this card. Something we also noticed was the 13 language printed manual, useful for non-english speaking users. Lastly, it has the lowest price in this roundup, with a retail price of €270~300.

Performance
Overclocking
Bundle
Value for money