Nvidia on top again - GeForce 7800 GTX 512Mb
Conclusion:
This week we have another successful hard launch from NVIDIA with parts available on the day of the announcement. We would once again like to commend NVIDIA on the excellent job they have done in setting the standard for handling product launches. The benefits to reviewers, vendors, merchants, and consumers alike are huge. We can talk about a product without having to worry if what we are playing with will ever exist or not, and consumers can avoid the confusion that vaporware and paper launches add to the market.
Not only was this another excellent example of how to launch a product, but NVIDIA has also recaptured the high end in performance with this latest product. In just about every benchmark the only solution (not including its winning SLI configuration) that could beat the 7800 GTX 512 was the 7800 GTX SLI setup. ATI parts do become much more competitive when looking at 4xAA tests, but in the end the 7800 GTX 512 still comes out on top.
At $700 we are a little weary of recommending this part to anyone but the professional gamers and incredibly wealthy. The extra performance just isn’t necessary in most cases. But if you’ve got the money to burn, the added power can definitely make a difference in ultra high resolutions with all the settings cranked to the max. Hopefully the introduction of this part will further serve to push down prices on the rest of the cards out there this holiday season.
The bottom line is that the 512 MB GeForce 7800 GTX is one incredible piece of hardware. It allows a better gaming experience in every game we tested over a 256 MB GeForce 7800 GTX. The 512 MB GeForce 7800 GTX provides a better gaming experience in all the games we evaluated than a Radeon X1800 XT. You can buy two 512 MB GeForce 7800 GTX video cards — today — and enjoy the best gaming experience on a consumer PC to date. It is amazing that NVIDIA can put this much punch in a video card and actually provide a cooling solution that is quieter than the slower 256 MB GeForce 7800 GTX.
The downside, of course, is the price. We asked the question on the first page if the $100 price difference is worth it. Well, if you already have a GeForce 7800 GTX 256 MB video card, it really doesn’t seem like a smart upgrade. While you do get more performance, you’d be better off just purchasing another 256 MB card for SLI.
If you have a previous or older generation GPU, this card could be a very good upgrade that could have a longer gaming life than a 256 MB GeForce 7800 GTX. If the Unreal Tournament 2007 hardware demands that we are hearing about are true, a 512 MB video card could provide a much better gameplay experience than a 256 MB card. This could be a good upgrade if you are looking for a video card that you are going to stick with for a year or two.
In addition, keep in mind the reference clock speeds discussed here. Typically, NVIDIA sets these reference clock speeds at a conservative level so that the cards are 100% stable. However, this doesn’t mean that add-in-board manufacturers have to adhere to NVIDIA’s reference numbers. As we have seen in the past with GeForce 7800 GT and GTX cards, certain manufacturers, such as BFGTech, will offer “Overclocked†models that have higher GPU and memory frequencies. In fact, the BFGTech GeForce 7800 GTX OC 512 MB video card will be factory clocked at a 580MHz GPU and 1.75GHz memory frequency. Therefore, we can definitely expect models that are clocked faster than NVIDIA’s reference models, which will allow for even more performance than we showed you here today!
WOW…Thats incredible…So by how much did it really outperform the X1800 XT? Was the X1800 upgraded with that new driver update which increased its performance by 15%? Im still an ATi fanboy
OMG it pummels the X1800XT, there is some good news in that ATI will need to reduce the prices significantly to compete with that monster. But seriously Brute force is back with a bang ala Geforce 2 days…
hehehehee…so much for ati’s “fastest card on the planet”.
anandtech - “We can talk about a product without having to worry if what we are playing with will ever exist or not, and consumers can avoid the confusion that vaporware and paper launches add to the market. What is significant is the 7800 GTX 512’s ability to outperform every other card out there in almost every test we ran. It seems that just as ATI comes out with a competitive part NVIDIA is right back out the gate with something to put themselves back on top.”
muhahahahahaaaaaaa…looks like ati will need to launch the R580 quite sooon…
The card is total brute but the gap lessens when AA and AF is on. X1800 still pulls ahead in FEAR and COD2. A small speed bump and optimisations should make the x1800XT competitive.
lol..
