The card was well protected by the packaging, which is one of the best that I have seen in quite a while, as everything slots into place snugly and is also bubble wrapped. Before we take a look at the card, here are all the other bits included in the box.

I was supplied the following:
Driver Disk
Power DVD
DVD Solutions
PCI-E power splitter
TV Out (HDTV) Cable
2X DVI/VGA Converter

Just the way I like it, no older game or demo to play supplied with the card, I think the only time I ever got a game with a card that I actually did not own and did not mind receiving was the in the Great ATi HL2 offer when the X series was launched.

The Gainward Bliss 8800GTS is a very attractive card indeed with the robust cooler and a nice colour scheme, and although just like all the 8800GTS (akin a few) models it shares the same cooler. But I think Gainward has done a nice job here with the cover.

Looking at the card from the side you will notice the heat pipe technology that is used to cool the card, to be honest I am on the fence when it comes to heat pipe technology as sometimes it works and other times it is a complete failure, as long as it does not scream with the extra over clock I am not worried. I suppose we will find out soon.

the fan used on the Gainward Bliss looks to be silent which is something that I have been waiting for having previously owned one noisy ass Radeon, but I am a little worried about the temperatures that the Bliss is going to reach again with the massive GPU and RAM clock speeds, hopefully the cooler will perform better that I am expecting. Also on the plus side unlike the GTX I don’t need 4 Power connectors to run SLi so I won’t be needing a new PSU.

As I mentioned most of the 8800s look the same, Gainwards I think stands out and will catch the eye in any modified PC enclosure. There is one problem with the design though; you can’t see any of the work when it is connected to the computer. Still they have made sure you do see the Gainward sign on the side..

On the back we have two DVI ports, this allows you to use two monitors or even a HD/LCD television, there is a draw back to this though and that is you sacrifice SLi for this, but you can always switch between the two when ever you feel the need so it is not a major issue.
As you may have noticed you also have an S-Video out which is used with so many appliances but above all digital recording equipment. This also has a HDTV connector that can connect up via the supplied cable without loosing SLi

One thing that might be a problem for some is the size of the Bliss 8800, or any 8800 on the market at the moment for that matter, each card will take two slots in the PC and since I have two for this review it doesn’t allow me to use any PCI cards I just managed to get away with my PCI USB card because of its small size.

So if you are planning to buy an 8800 SLI setup say good bye to your internal sound card that’s for sure. Overall though the Gainward Bliss 8800GTS looks great, but due to its size could be a problem for some if they wanted an SLI setup, but who cares about that lets move onto the installation.

Next Page – Installation & Testing