X-bit labs

NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX: Monstrous Gaming Performance Unleashed (page 20)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin

[ 06/23/2005 | 04:11 PM ]

Conclusion

So you have just had an opportunity to see the GeForce 7800 GTX in real gaming applications. Basing on the results of our tests we can definitely say that the GeForce 7800 GTX is currently the absolutely fastest gaming graphics card in this world.

The NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX, the first card in the new family, is architectural descendant of the GeForce 6, but with a number of innovations and a much higher performance overall. So, while not a breakthrough in terms of functionality, the GeForce 7800 GTX is a product that pushes the performance and image quality bar to a whole new level, with some nice reserve for the future.

The strongest aspect of the GeForce 7800 GTX is its pixel shader performance, like in Half-Life 2 and F.E.A.R. All games that emphasize the mathematical capabilities of the graphics processor have shown a tremendous speed growth over the solutions of the previous generation, namely GeForce 6800 Ultra and RADEON X850 XT Platinum Edition. For example, the GeForce 7800 GTX is 50% faster than the GeForce 6800 Ultra in F.E.A.R.

NVIDIA’s new product isn’t without certain weaknesses, though. Particularly, it has only 16 ROP units and a relatively low memory frequency. The latter thing sometimes prevents the new graphics processor from revealing its full potential in full-screen antialiasing modes.

It was also a nice surprise for us that we didn’t have any serious driver-related problems. All the games and applications worked fast and without visual artifacts. In other words, the GeForce 7800 GTX comes out a stable and finished product: the buyer is unlikely to have any problems on the software level.

The power consumption of the GeForce 7800 GTX is a little higher than that of the ex-top model, but the difference of 3 watts is negligible, while the twofold performance gain over the GeForce 6800 Ultra is an achievement.

We should also note that the NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX is already available for purchase. This has become quite a rare thing in the graphics hardware realm – NVIDIA puts an end to the notorious practice of shipping the actual silicon months after the announcement.

So here’s our summary about the new graphics card from NVIDIA.

Highs:

• Unrivalled pixel shader performance
• Considerably higher performance in HDR modes
• Transparent texture antialiasing
• The best performance in games for today
• No serious driver-related problems
• SLI support
• HDTV support
• Single-slot cooling system
• Immediate availability since the day of announcement

Lows:

• High requirements to the computer’s power supply
• Price ($599 officially)