AT Exclusive Preview: The GeForce 7800 GS Hits the Scene
by Derek Wilson & Kristopher Kubicki on November 22, 2005 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
Let us preface this conclusion with a reminder that we have not been briefed on this part by NVIDIA. While we have seen internal roadmaps pointing to the 7800 GS, we still don't have any confirmation from the source on it. We don't have absolute certainty that this part will even make it out the door -- much of that seems dependant on the performance of the upcoming G73 and G72 GPUs. That being said, it would be really nice to see this part make it to the light of day. The fact that we've actually seen hardware is a hopeful indication of the future.
We really don't know anything about price at this point as NVIDIA hasn't even spoken with us about this part and it's still too far out for any online retailers to have a price yet. As always, value depends on the cost of the product, and we wouldn't want to leave that out of our analysis. Instead of talking about the value we have here, we are more inclined to talk about how much a part with this kind of performance should cost to become a competitive product.
Since the performance of the part falls between the 6800 GS and the 7800 GT, we took a look at what those parts cost in order to get a lay of the land. The 6800 GS is priced between $200 and $230, and the 7800 GT comes in at $320 to $370. If we look simply at averages, this would mean we should expect the 7800 GS to be sold between $260 and $300 if 7800 GT prices stay stagnant - but most likely lower if the 7800 GT prices move before the 7800 GS launch. NVIDIA roadmaps confirm that even though GeForce 6800 GS will reach sub $190 levels by the end of the year, the product will not actively be continued.
At the same time, this part performs in the same class as the X1800 XL. While the ATI card fairly consistently beats the 7800 GS in these benchmarks, the fact that that the 7800 GS keeps up at all (and will cost even less than the 7800 GT) means that it would be very difficult for this card not to have a lot of value. Of course, if this part debuts at the high end of our estimate, a cheap 7800 GT would definitely be a better way to go. There are some rebate and coupon offers that can get you a 7800 GT for $300 right now if you look hard enough.
We are quite excited about this part; the sooner it arrives the better. The 7800 GS will be a great part for people who can't decide between the 6800 GS and the 7800 GT. Hopefully the introduction of the 7800 GS will also allow the price of the 6800 GS to get pushed down a little more without leaving a huge gap between it an the next higher performing part.
We will definitely publish more news on the 7800 GS when we get more details.
Let us preface this conclusion with a reminder that we have not been briefed on this part by NVIDIA. While we have seen internal roadmaps pointing to the 7800 GS, we still don't have any confirmation from the source on it. We don't have absolute certainty that this part will even make it out the door -- much of that seems dependant on the performance of the upcoming G73 and G72 GPUs. That being said, it would be really nice to see this part make it to the light of day. The fact that we've actually seen hardware is a hopeful indication of the future.
We really don't know anything about price at this point as NVIDIA hasn't even spoken with us about this part and it's still too far out for any online retailers to have a price yet. As always, value depends on the cost of the product, and we wouldn't want to leave that out of our analysis. Instead of talking about the value we have here, we are more inclined to talk about how much a part with this kind of performance should cost to become a competitive product.
Since the performance of the part falls between the 6800 GS and the 7800 GT, we took a look at what those parts cost in order to get a lay of the land. The 6800 GS is priced between $200 and $230, and the 7800 GT comes in at $320 to $370. If we look simply at averages, this would mean we should expect the 7800 GS to be sold between $260 and $300 if 7800 GT prices stay stagnant - but most likely lower if the 7800 GT prices move before the 7800 GS launch. NVIDIA roadmaps confirm that even though GeForce 6800 GS will reach sub $190 levels by the end of the year, the product will not actively be continued.
At the same time, this part performs in the same class as the X1800 XL. While the ATI card fairly consistently beats the 7800 GS in these benchmarks, the fact that that the 7800 GS keeps up at all (and will cost even less than the 7800 GT) means that it would be very difficult for this card not to have a lot of value. Of course, if this part debuts at the high end of our estimate, a cheap 7800 GT would definitely be a better way to go. There are some rebate and coupon offers that can get you a 7800 GT for $300 right now if you look hard enough.
We are quite excited about this part; the sooner it arrives the better. The 7800 GS will be a great part for people who can't decide between the 6800 GS and the 7800 GT. Hopefully the introduction of the 7800 GS will also allow the price of the 6800 GS to get pushed down a little more without leaving a huge gap between it an the next higher performing part.
We will definitely publish more news on the 7800 GS when we get more details.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
43 Comments
View All Comments
nserra - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
the 7800GTX512 is the card to buy because it's much faster than the others. ;)I want one but with 256MB memory, and less than 399$. Call it 7800GTX256 i dont care.
What happen to the Ultra (naming), doesnt sound good?
coldpower27 - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
Your basically dreaming here, since the MSRP of the 7800 GTX 256 is 499US now, best we could hope for is GTX 256 Rev.2 at MSRP 549US.lexmark - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
Could you guy possibly replace doom3 benchmarks with CoD2? The game is growing cobwebs now! :) Quake 4 should account for doom3 since its built with an optimized doom3 engine.KHysiek - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
I think it needs a bit faster memory on release version. Something like 1.2GHz would be nice.coldpower27 - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
The problem is both a lower product and a higher product, have the exact same memory bandwidth of 32GB/s, so it doens't look like they have much flexibility with the bandwidth. Unless you want to pull an ATI, and have memory bandwidth at different levels, across the entire line like X800 Series.Wesleyrpg - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
I'm a bang for your buck sorta guy. Seems like its going to be a great card should it ever get released!How about the important stuff, does it overclock well, and how aboout those estra pipelines, are they unlockable?
DerekWilson - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
Its a tough sell to even claim that the 7800 GS will ship with this pipeline and clock speed configuration, let alone to say that retail units will function similarly to this random early sample we happened to get our hands on.Up to 8 pipelines could be unlocked on this unit with RivaTuner, but if NVIDIA starts building G70 based silicon with only 16 pipes that capability could go away. And just becuase something can be unlocked doesn't mean it will work.
Finding out how overclockable this part will be is a big reason we want to see this card make it to market.
gibhunter - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
Fine, since I've been a reader of AT for about 7 years (this is the first PC enthusiast site I visit every day) I'll give you guys a benefit of the doubt.Next time you write an article about an unanounced card, try not to sound so defensive. It makes you look guilty.
DerekWilson - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
I didn't defend anything :-)My opinion on the subject is that the truth doesn't change if someone decides to believe a something else. And if you can't take us at our word in our articles then there's nothing I can say that will change your mind in our comments.
I would hope that our track record has proven us to be trustworthy and plain spoken with our readers. But that doesn't mean I want people to stop questioning us and keeping us honest.
Paratus - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - link
Are any of these tested with AF?