The Card and The Test
As mentioned, we currently have both a 7800 GS from EVGA and the 7800 GS OC from BFG. Neither of these cards run at the default 375/1.2 clock speeds set forth by NVIDIA. For the purposes of these tests, we underclocked a card to the minimum speed that NVIDIA is endorsing. With the high clock speeds that we see from BFG and EVGA, we'd be willing to bet that even 7800 GS parts that don't come factory overclocked would have some head room. The EVGA card is clocked at core/mem clocks of 460/1.35, while the BFG part runs at 400/1.25. It is interesting to note that the BFG part makes a bigger deal out of being overclocked on the box than the EVGA card, but either way, the 7800 GS is no slouch.
Our test system is configured as follows:
Gigabyte K8U-939 ULi based motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
2x 1GB OCZ PC4000 RAM @ 200MHz 2:3:3:8
160GB Seagate 7200.7 HD
OCZ 600W PowerStream PSU
For reference, we have included the 7800 GTX 512 and the X1900 XTX. This gives us a clear look at the highest end ATI and NVIDIA hardware available for both the AGP and PCIe platforms. The 7800 GT is also included in order to show us the performance of the next fastest NVIDIA part out there.
Here's a breakdown of the 7800 GS specifications as outlined by NVIDIA.
Comparing this to the 7800 GT indicates that we will have less fillrate potential. The 7800 GT has 20 pixel pipelines, while the 7800 GS has only 16. In addition, the 7800 GT has 16 ROPs while the 7800 GS has only 8. This is still efficient from a shading standpoint, but drawing more pixels on the screen should have a larger impact on the 7800 GS than on the GT. Features like stencil/z ops, fill rate, and antialiasing will show decreased performance. Likewise, the 7800 GS is more powerful than the 6800 GS, which only has 12 pixel pipelines and 8 ROPs.
As mentioned, we currently have both a 7800 GS from EVGA and the 7800 GS OC from BFG. Neither of these cards run at the default 375/1.2 clock speeds set forth by NVIDIA. For the purposes of these tests, we underclocked a card to the minimum speed that NVIDIA is endorsing. With the high clock speeds that we see from BFG and EVGA, we'd be willing to bet that even 7800 GS parts that don't come factory overclocked would have some head room. The EVGA card is clocked at core/mem clocks of 460/1.35, while the BFG part runs at 400/1.25. It is interesting to note that the BFG part makes a bigger deal out of being overclocked on the box than the EVGA card, but either way, the 7800 GS is no slouch.
Our test system is configured as follows:
Gigabyte K8U-939 ULi based motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 FX-57
2x 1GB OCZ PC4000 RAM @ 200MHz 2:3:3:8
160GB Seagate 7200.7 HD
OCZ 600W PowerStream PSU
For reference, we have included the 7800 GTX 512 and the X1900 XTX. This gives us a clear look at the highest end ATI and NVIDIA hardware available for both the AGP and PCIe platforms. The 7800 GT is also included in order to show us the performance of the next fastest NVIDIA part out there.
Here's a breakdown of the 7800 GS specifications as outlined by NVIDIA.
Comparing this to the 7800 GT indicates that we will have less fillrate potential. The 7800 GT has 20 pixel pipelines, while the 7800 GS has only 16. In addition, the 7800 GT has 16 ROPs while the 7800 GS has only 8. This is still efficient from a shading standpoint, but drawing more pixels on the screen should have a larger impact on the 7800 GS than on the GT. Features like stencil/z ops, fill rate, and antialiasing will show decreased performance. Likewise, the 7800 GS is more powerful than the 6800 GS, which only has 12 pixel pipelines and 8 ROPs.
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spinportal - Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - link
Whats very strange here is that looking around on another ANAND article, for FEAR 16x12 4xAA (this vs. newer article):the X1900XTX got 51 fps vs. 43 (wow, ATi got downgraded in the future? hmm)
the 7800GTX512 got 31 vs. 40 (hmm it later got a boost? odd)
the 7800GT got 22 vs. 28 (wow, nVidia keeps getting much better all of a sudden)
the 7800GS got 13 vs. 27 (NOW THATS IMPRESSIVE!)
Seems this article was garbage as it really downplays nvidia h/w and is on the verge of craptastic fantasy for ATi.
boa49 - Friday, February 10, 2006 - link
There is definitely interest!!!!!!!
yacoub - Tuesday, February 7, 2006 - link
For those who wanted a review that shows how the stock-overclocked 7800GS compares both to a stock-clocked 7800GS and all the other AGP cards out there, check out this review:http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_e-geforce...">http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evg...00_gs_co...
Very comprehensive and what I think a lot of us were looking for.
araczynski - Tuesday, February 7, 2006 - link
thanks, that's EXACTLY what i was after.i haven't been to firingsquad in ages, i guess i better start going there more often now.
Scarceas - Saturday, February 4, 2006 - link
I disagree with those who said it was pointless to compare to the x850xtpe. This let's me know which card I can top out the AGP slot with.I would have liked this a bit better if the benchmark results included something using the Source engine.
Why no overclocking results? Heck, we didn't really even get to see mfgr defaults... I'd like to see how 460 MHz scales.
araczynski - Friday, February 3, 2006 - link
comparing a middle of the line card against high end cards is pointless and quite frankly a waste of time.this card is meant for those of us that are running middle of the line systems and aren't quite ready to put down the change to scrap the whole system.
i.e. compare this to the 6800 agp line (and ati's equivalent if you want).
AND, use a realistic processor for this graphics card range, i.e. intel 2.4's to 3.2's (and AMD's equivalents).
haven't been visiting as much lately and i'm seeing the quality going down...give me a reason to come back guys.
jzander - Friday, February 3, 2006 - link
I can not stand Best Buy, and the fact that Nvidia is getting into 'bed' with them brings them down a notch in my book. As for the card, does not look like a reason to upgrade from my 6800 GT AGP, card.Alphafox78 - Friday, February 3, 2006 - link
50+ people have complained and the article STILL hasnt been updated with more cards! what gives?!stephenbrooks - Friday, February 3, 2006 - link
--[50+ people have complained and the article STILL hasnt been updated with more cards! what gives?!]--Hey, I guess if you offered them some money they might do it. :)
puffpio - Friday, February 3, 2006 - link
It's only been a day...if they do update it, it may take a few daysI think the general concensus is
1) Add some benches of AGP cards to show it's true competitors as well as give an indication of what end AGP users currently have
2) Overclock the 7800GS and show that benchmark
3) Discuss the potential of softmodding the card, unlocking pixel pipelines, shader units, ROPs