Final Words
While still not quite being what we would call a “mid-range” card, the 7800 GT comes a step closer to it. At about $390 (at the time that this article was written), the XFX 7800 GT puts a noticeably smaller strain on your wallet than the GTX. Meanwhile, it still provides comparable performance at decent resolutions. The lowest priced 7800 GTX that we could find was the MSI NX7800 GTX for about $480; almost $100 more than XFX's factory overclocked 7800 GT. Considering what we've seen in our performance tests, this is a pretty sweet deal, and we feel that those looking for a high end card would not be missing out by choosing the 7800 GT over the GTX.Those who might still want the GTX over the GT are those who like playing at the highest resolutions possible (and have the monitors to do so) with AA enabled. The majority of gamers, however, will be more than pleased with how well this card handles at 1600x1200 with or without AA. We even found that when enabling ultra high quality in Doom 3 at 1600x1200, the game ran just as smoothly on the GT as on the GTX.
If you are on a tight budget though, it's a sad fact that this card is still quite a bit out of your reach. It will be hard for some to justify paying $400 on a graphics card, but if ever there was a reason to do so, then this is it. Coming in at the same price point that the 6800 GT occupied at its launch, the 7800 GT is quite a worthy replacement. Because of the great performance that we see with this card, we feel that it's worth the splurge if you can manage it, especially if you want to make newer games look good and run smoothly. We feel that this card (the XFX GeForce 7800 GT Overclocked) is also a particularly good deal at $390 because of the factory overclock, which puts it closer to the GTX in terms of performance.
We'll be looking at how the different 7800 GTs compare to each other as we review them, so be on the lookout for another 7800 GT article soon. We want to make these reviews as helpful as possible, so any comments or suggestions that you have regarding tests, cards, or anything else, please let us know.
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Leper Messiah - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
I am SO buying one of these to upgrade my 9800np. The thing is starting to die in warhammer 40K and BF2, and my resolution sweet spot is 1600x1200, which means I can max everything with this card and run fine.I cool my 9800np with a zalman VF-7000 Al-Cu, or whatever it is...you know what I mean. I wonder if that will fit on there, would be nice to see a 480/1300 or something with my BGA ramsinks...
blckgrffn - Friday, September 2, 2005 - link
Apparently the 7800GT cards are too cheap to warrant Nvidia requiring a temperature sensing fan like the 7800GTX cards. How about that.*owner of a BFG 7800GT from Dell for $345 w/25 pack spindle of CD-R's :)
NullSubroutine - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
Do we have to request 1280x1024 benchmarks still? I have to believe that alot of us out there have 19" lcd's that run native(max) at this res, so we dont really care what the speeds are at 16x12.n7 - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
NullSubroutine: There is a reason why AT doesn't bother testing at 1280x1024.With a 7800 series card, nearly all games are CPU-limited, meaning there will be basically no difference in performance, since the CPU is holding everything back.
Something many people fail to compregend is that the 7800s aren't really necessary if you don't have a 1600x1200 monitor or higher.
Rocket321 - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
I think reviewing 2-3 cards per article would be best. That way we don't wait weeks for a huge roundup, and we also get to see the aspects of multiple cards at the same time. I don't mind the individual reviews either, but the first one is always less useful and the last one tends to be the most useful due to having more comparisons.--Rocket321
Houdani - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
I'm city folk, and don't have an ounce of cowpoke in me, but that won't stop me from expressing an opinion of what I think life is like out on the range.When herding cows, the preferred method is to gather them all up and move them as a group. In other words, ROUNDUP! Sure a stray bovine might wander off, in which case you may ride out and bring back that individual, but generally speaking it's best to round all the cows up en masse and move them as a collective group.
Likewise, when herding video cards, the preferred method is...[wink]
UltraWide - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
How come the 7800GT is so noisy compared to the 7800GT-X.I did notice my BFG 7800GT is too dang loud. Maybe I should return it and get a 7800GTX???
Marlowe - Thursday, September 1, 2005 - link
A friend recently bought a Gigabyte 7800 GT and that's very noisy as well! Looks like the same cooler. Mounting a Zalman vf700cu would fix it. Anybody got cards from other brands? Post in!photoguy99 - Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - link
Is there any conclusion on if this is true?Didn't see if the benchmarks used the driver that only reviewers have.
According to the "reliable" source below, best case is you will lose 3% performance in high quality modes.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25820">http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25820
Live - Monday, September 5, 2005 - link
I think Derek and/or Josh really should write something about this. Since it really invalidates the HQ benches and puts questions on the review process here at AnandTech. Why wasn’t this spotted when the original reviews came out? If ATI has something like this in there upcoming products I would sure like to know when I read the review here at AnandTech.Hexus has a write up and an apology.
http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dX...">http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dX...
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=53394">http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=53394