The Gainward Bliss 9600GSO is slightly overclocked compared with a generic Nvidia 9600GSO model. We were really curious to see whether the card would allow us to push its clocks a little more, so we started a usual trial-error testing procedure. We used the latest RivaTuner software and we increased the core/memory/shader frequencies until we got an error-free 3-round Crysis benchmark.

The overclocking performance was very good, considering that we managed to make the core run at 900 MHz, which is 150Mhz higher than its default value. The shaders were also overclocked at 2250MHz (375MHz more than default), while the gain for the memory clock was just 83Mhz ..

- Conclusion

Gainward released an interesting solution, based at Nvidia's 9600GSO platform. While this graphics card won't put fire at your gaming ring, it will offer high frame rates in most games, provided that you will play at the highest resolutions and that the visual details are set at acceptable - not low - levels.

The card proved to be as fast as a generic Nvidia 9600GT and even more faster in some tests. For a strange reason, the HL2 Episode 2 scores were much lower than what we expected but that could be a driver issue after all.

Considering that this video card would cost you around 150 euros, the Gainward Bliss 9600GSO offers a good value for money. Of course, the availability of the ATI 48xx series might be also an appealing purchase.