SUMA Platinum 64 MB GeForce

Overclocking

Upon first glance at the SUMA Platinum 64 MB GeForce, we were not very impressed. Besides the fact that the card boasts the most memory per processor amount currently available on the mainstream market, not much else is very striking. Some cards, such as the Leadtek WinFast GeForce 256 DDR Rev B, impress us off the bat due to unusual styling or striking heatsinks. The SUMA Platinum 64 MB GeForce, with its small but shiny heatsink did not initially strike us as an excellent cooler. However, as we have learned in the past, first impressions are not everything.

It was not until the SUMA Platinum 64 MB GeForce was placed in a system and PowerStrip loaded to allow overclocking did we really see how much the Platinum 64 MB GeForce was capable of taking. As it turns out, the card did not experience any problems even at the previously high core speed of 162 MHz. Quite obviously a card that can run stable at 42 MHz above stock speed is doing something right on the cooling front. As skeptical as we were of the thermal glue used to hold the heatsink in place, it was quite pleasant to find such an excellent overclocker in the place least expected. Not only does this overclocked speed take the GeForce GPU where we have never seen it go before, it also places it even one step closer to being a Quadro, at least in MHz.

Overclocking the RAM also proved to be a rewarding experience. Due to the fact that all DDR RAM chips that came on previously reviewed cards were always of the same type from the same company, DDR SGRAM chips from Infineon, it was quite nice to see another type of RAM being used on a DDR card. Although the SDRAM chips chosen may not be as fast as the SGRAM chips seen in other DDR cards, what it loses in stock speed, it makes up for in overclocking capability. The Hyundai 6 ns SDRAM chips were able to reach a DDR speed of 352 MHz, meaning that the memory clock was running at 176 MHz. Once again the SUMA Platinum 64 MB GeForce managed to break previous records and shatter our initial impressions.

One thing to keep in mind is that overclockability will vary from card to card. Due to the fact that many of the obstacles found in overclocking are experienced on a chip level, it is almost impossible to guarantee a exact results on separate cards. We can suggest, however, that the chip was kept fairly cool due to the high speeds reached, suggesting that the GPU at least will overclock to a relatively high number. To see how much speed would be gained using these speeds on processors other than the Pentium III 550E shown in the following benchmarks, check out our 64 MB GeForce review and expect performance even greater than the numbers shown.