Leadtek cards, opinions???

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punkitup

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My Sapphire ATI 9800 Pro is starting to produce artifacts from either heat or video memory issues, not sure which and frankly I don’t care; it was just purchased in March and should have easily been able to perform as advertised in my system. I will look to Newegg to replace it under their 1-year OEM warranty, and I will stick the replacement in one of my other little used systems.

In the mean time I have ordered (from Newegg again, I love them) a Leadtek produced card, which brings me to my questions. This is my first Leadtek purchase and I am looking for opinions of their products from you guys? Have you owned, heard stories, been pleased? Also does anyone know what their warranty is, this is a retail version so the manufacture's warranty prevails after 30-days from Newegg; I can’t find the info at Newegg’s or Leadtek’s website.

I have ordered the Leadtek A400TDH it’s an Nvidia GeForce 6800 (noneGT/Ultra) equipped card. The reason I chose it is because in reviews it benchmarks right up there with an ATI 9800XT, even surpassing it at higher resolutions. And further it appears to have a substantially healthier looking heatsink and fan, front and back, compared to the cooling that can be found on the other 6800 cards on offer from eVGA, XFX, MSI and Albatron.

Here is a link to the card at NewEgg

As I said, opinions on Leadtek products would be mush appreciated as I am buying this with no prior experience.

Peace
James
 
i have the GT flavor, and it kicks ass(like all gt's). anywhay, there warenty is 3 years, and the heatsink is absolutly amazing, though the non gt/ultra is only a single slot solution, it should still beat the shit out of a stock cooler
 
Go for it. I did. I sent the Evga back. Point is there is no better heatsink fan combo plus noise ration out there atm. That copper heatsink is massive and it will take 2 slots . Im doing fine with mine and i dont have to wory about temps. Ran rthdribl(mispelled for almost an hour earlier and didnt even reach the mid 60's .

Anyways i have to go to work , all Gts are equal, but not all run cooler , plus you dont have to modify the leadtek thus mess up the warranty .

Either way Gl with your decision . Wether it be Bfg, leadtek,gainward which runs cool too, evga, pny, or anyone they still will pefom the same just cooling diferences . Was worth the 20 bucks more for me. Then again theres MSI and Gainward(not sure on the gainward but it has two fans) too which have copper heatsinks. But the king as in size of that copper is theleadtek .

Choice is yours . Have fun .
 
ya, the heatsink kicks ass. it runs dile at ~49 w/ all fans blasting(ambient about 35), 52 w/ all on silent mode(ambient about 37). but it seems to max out around the mid 60's. i think this hole thing about them running hot may be atributed to leadtek realy slowing down the fan in 2d mode. i could be wrong though
 
Having a choice of fonts/sizes is a great thing as long as you don't overuse it. ;)

Now that that's out of the way....Leadtek makes a good card, I had a Ti4200 (still have it actually) that had a massive hsf and overclocked like a champ. The hsf on the Leadtek 6800's is the best stock cooling solution I've seen yet for these cards.
 
joemama said:
Having a choice of fonts/sizes is a great thing as long as you don't overuse it. ;)

Now that that's out of the way....Leadtek makes a good card, I had a Ti4200 (still have it actually) that had a massive hsf and overclocked like a champ. The hsf on the Leadtek 6800's is the best stock cooling solution I've seen yet for these cards.
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I must have just gotten a bad card - I had one of their dual-fan gigantic-heatsink Ti 4400s and it overclocked horribly (starting artifacting majorly before the memory even reached 600). I have an MSI 6800nu thats arriving tomorrow - maybe I should have given Leadtek another try? :rolleyes:
 
Well leadtek has the best reputation of all nVidia cards in term of the least RMA issues in the past so I think you got very unlucky.

My 6800 ULTRA is amazing. They complained about it running hot but my 6800 ULTRA never runs above 60 C at 430 (haven´t tried anything higher) and I currently have 0 casefans and quite high ambients. I do have my case open though but still.

coolbit want me to run 445 but I will wait how it do as of yet. btw got 10000 3dmark 03 scores with an A64 at 800 mhz and a HTT of 200 ;).
 
i got a realativly "bad" overclocker for a GT. wont do anything above 418/1.13 doom 3 stable. its the only game i have at the moment so ill see how it does in AA(which i am dling at the moment)
 
That isn´t bad the village. It´s still better than average and you are testing it with one of the most demanding games out there!

You do have a bit of high expectations for a 6800 GT ;). They don´t overclock as well as the ULTRA cards do. There is many people who don´t do 400 out there.

But put some extra fan blowing on the copper heatsink and see what happens. The one ev weakpoint of the leadtek design is it´s quiet fan that don´t pull as much air as the reference cooler. The copper more than makes up for it but put a big fan blowing on it and it will rule even more :). But more than 430 you are unlikely to achieve then you are just asking to much.
 
I just received my Leadtek A400 GT THD and I am very pleased with it. This is my second Leadtek video card that I have owned. My other one being a TI4600, which still is a good running card. I don't think you can go wrong with a Leadtek.
 
oqvist said:
That isn´t bad the village. It´s still better than average and you are testing it with one of the most demanding games out there!

You do have a bit of high expectations for a 6800 GT ;). They don´t overclock as well as the ULTRA cards do. There is many people who don´t do 400 out there.

But put some extra fan blowing on the copper heatsink and see what happens. The one ev weakpoint of the leadtek design is it´s quiet fan that don´t pull as much air as the reference cooler. The copper more than makes up for it but put a big fan blowing on it and it will rule even more :). But more than 430 you are unlikely to achieve then you are just asking to much.
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i know its a good overclock, but most poeple seem to be getting around 425/1.2(i was looking for some more on the ram). hence the ""s. anywhay, i have a case fan blowing onto the card(window fan) but its just a bit above the open space(half is blowing on the coper plate on the top of the card(i dont know why thats there). i still love this card. realy love it
 
Do you have a copper plate on top of it? Mine is all plastic?

But try another game then Doom 3 like Far Cry and others. Those people that got 430 didn´t bench with Doom 3 I think :).
 
Do you think the leadtek would be a better way to go than the galacy glacier? It's cooling solution looks pretty impressive as well...
 
I don´t know. It depends. Leadtek is a quality brand that was one of the reason except for the cooling I got it. That and the very good bundle it got. And I would imagine that cooling isn´t compatible with 6800 ULTRA since I guess it´s a Arctic cooling rip off? It sure looks like the stuff they work with? Do it also exhaust hot air from the case?
 
oqvist said:
I don´t know. It depends. Leadtek is a quality brand that was one of the reason except for the cooling I got it. That and the very good bundle it got. And I would imagine that cooling isn´t compatible with 6800 ULTRA since I guess it´s a Arctic cooling rip off? It sure looks like the stuff they work with? Do it also exhaust hot air from the case?
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it looks like it exhausts air from the case... and why would it not be compatible with the ultra? It looks like they are selling GT's and Ultra's with the cooler preinstalled... I agree that it looks like a rip of arctic cooling, but if it works as well then it might be a good deal ;)
 
philodox said:
it looks like it exhausts air from the case... and why would it not be compatible with the ultra? It looks like they are selling GT's and Ultra's with the cooler preinstalled... I agree that it looks like a rip of arctic cooling, but if it works as well then it might be a good deal ;)
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it IS arctic cooling. its the new NV silencer 4. it should be comming out in a weak or two for us lowly users
 
the_village_treky said:
it IS arctic cooling. its the new NV silencer 4. it should be comming out in a weak or two for us lowly users
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figured that might be the case... so would you say it is a better cooling solution than leadtek's massive heatsink?
 
philodox said:
figured that might be the case... so would you say it is a better cooling solution than leadtek's massive heatsink?
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tbh leadteks solution, silencer, stock cooling, they are all fine. People overclock to 425/1100 on stock cooling fine. You will likely run into yield problems before you run into cooling problems.

the main benefit to leadtek/silencer is that they are quieter for silent pcs, though for the average pc stock cooling is fine.
 
They are fine but you do get lesser overclocks :).

the NV5 Arctic cooler is not compatible with the 6800 ULTRA of the simple reason of the double backplate it got. Which blocks the exhaust on the Arctic Cooling :). Now perhaps there will be 6800 ULTRA that sells with the Arctic cooling preinstalled and are premodded so the second backplate let air coming out that way :)
 
Any retail stores out there selling the leadtek's? All I find is pny's at compusa and bfg's at bestbuy (never in stock of course), but bfg's new fan does a poor job and pny's warranty could be done in as little as a few months with the way things are going, leadtek seem to have the best cooler thus far. Any feedback would be appreciated, altho something tells me I wont have any luck...
 
umm, you can remove the backplate, and the NV 5 should come w/ a spair like they did for the rev 1's and 2's (i think rev 3's didnt have it)
 
No I am talking about the backplate on the ULTRA. You have to cut it in half for the 6800 ULTRA to fit the back plate that comes with that Arctic silencer :). For some reason unknown the 6800 ULTRA have a double thick backplate as regular PCI or AGP cards like the radeons.
 
tranCendenZ said:
the main benefit to leadtek/silencer is that they are quieter for silent pcs, though for the average pc stock cooling is fine.
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good to know, I am planning on trying to make my PC silent [audiophile foolishness :rolleyes: ] so I will probably go with one of these... not sure if I'll go the safe route and get the leadtek [since people have tried it] or try my luck and take the plunge on the galaxy :confused:
 
I REALLY like mine so far. Ordered it Monday and it came yesterday along with my pre-ordered Doom3 from BestBuy. Slow ass fuckers. Never preordering from there again. I installed it into my old system, and surprisingly it does VERY good in it. Its a 845 board with a 1.6a not really overclocked (just 1.7) cause the board is a POS. I played for several hours and then overclocked it to 400/1100 and I played about 20 minutes of multiplayer and it was fine, so I will try more later.

Pic for reference..
old card, GF3 ti2000 ------ new card :drool:
zeek_6800.jpg.JPG
 
I agree, the Leadtek A400GT has been a great card so far. I've been able to get a stable overclock at 425/1180mhz, but if I don't want artifacting (looking at the turtle in 3dmark), the max I can OC it to is 410/1180mhz. Either way, definitely a great overclocker.

I ran rthdribl with my card overclocked, highest it got running for 20 minutes was 68 degrees.
 
am i the only one who is somewhat perplexed by the copper sink on the back of the card? its not heatpiped or anything(though that would be REALY sweet). apart form surving as a backplate, what is its perpos, and why is it made w/ ridges like a sink? could it be too cool off the back of the board ware the mem and core is?
 
the_village_treky said:
am i the only one who is somewhat perplexed by the copper sink on the back of the card? its not heatpiped or anything(though that would be REALY sweet). apart form surving as a backplate, what is its perpos, and why is it made w/ ridges like a sink? could it be too cool off the back of the board ware the mem and core is?
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I believe I recall seeing memory on the back side with thermal tape between it and the heatsink. The fan cover actually directs air around to the bottom side ot help cool it. Plus the riges help air moving in the case to help cool it as well.
 
i saw those too, but their arnt any mem moduals on the back side of the card (pic ). so my only guess is that its ment to cool down the backside of the board around the mem and core(i guess that area can get hot). i just find it kinda weird, and only wish they had heatpiped it. b/c then it would kick even more ass(the window fan on my case blows right on it)
 
ok, this is what it is. they are pads of some sort. i think it is ment to be a whay to press down more in that area w/ out hurting the back of the card(resistors and such).
 
The backplate is attached to a heatpipe and is to aid mem cooling from what I have read.
 
no, its not. enless there is a heatpip running through the middle of the card :p. their IS a heatpip running around the perifery of the main heatsink(red is whare it is)

post-12-1092350988.jpg


anywhay, the main hsf doesnt seem to get hot, but the voltage regulater hs(i think thats what it's for) gets danm toasty. i seem to be getting it stable at around 420-25/1.12-3 now... might just be that i have less stressfull games then d3 to test on now
 
Well my Vapochill case is weird. It has place for an extra PCI or AGP slot ABOVE my AGP slot so that is a perfect place for me fitting a slot cooler :). I wouldn´t want to place it on the below side of the card since that would do more damage than good I think fighting the fan on my 6800 ULTRA :) And that was what got hot or is there two heatsinks on the frontside? I haven´t really looked I just slammed it in as quickly as possible to get it running ;)
 
if you notice their is the main heatsink(under the fan), 3 heatsinks linked by a heatpip around the fan, and at the end of the card(it is less distinkt on the leadtek cards, but it is still seperated from the main heatsink). my case also has 7 pci slots(most large-mid and full tower cases have them, but not only would a fan there do no good, it would not fit( the zalman cnps-7000a-alcu comes w/ in around a 1/2 of an inch of the backplate of the card(to see pics go here)
 
I can recommend the Leadtek A400 TDH GT. I have the retail which comes with a reasonable bundle and fantastic cooling.

Overclocks to 420/1200 (hours of rthdribl & D3 stable) so well that I flashed it with the Leadtek A400 Ultra BIOS modded with these clocks. The chunk of copper on the back must be getting heat from the core or memory as mine is very hot when running flat out - seems too hot to just be drawing excess from the back of the card.
 
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