The NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS: A Closer Look
by Josh Venning on September 19, 2006 5:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
The Cards
We've recently looked at the NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS and its architecture. To recap, the 7900 GS has identical clock speeds to the 7900 GT, but with one less vertex pipeline and four fewer pixel pipelines. NVIDIA intends for it to be a direct competitor to ATI's X1900 GT, but at reference speeds the 7900 GS doesn't quite perform as high as the X1900 GT. Overclocking may improve the situation somewhat as we'll see in the next section.
Here is a breakdown of the 7900 GS cards we have for this review along with their clock speeds and prices:
As sometimes happens, we weren't able to get prices for all of these cards at the time of this writing. The Albatron 7900 GS and the Leadtek PX7900 GS TDH Extreme are not yet available, but we've included the target street prices (marked by an asterisk) for these cards. The 7900 GS was predicted to retail at around $200, and just a few weeks after its release prices reflect this. We can't predict what the market will do, but hopefully prices for the 7900 GS will drop some in the coming months.
It's interesting that the 7900 GS card in this roundup that has the highest factory overclock is also (currently) the least expensive, and right away makes the BFG model stand out. We'll look at performance in a moment, but first let's take a closer look at the individual cards.
We've recently looked at the NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS and its architecture. To recap, the 7900 GS has identical clock speeds to the 7900 GT, but with one less vertex pipeline and four fewer pixel pipelines. NVIDIA intends for it to be a direct competitor to ATI's X1900 GT, but at reference speeds the 7900 GS doesn't quite perform as high as the X1900 GT. Overclocking may improve the situation somewhat as we'll see in the next section.
Here is a breakdown of the 7900 GS cards we have for this review along with their clock speeds and prices:
| GeForce 7900 GS Clock Speeds and Pricing | ||
| Manufacturer and Card | Factory Clock | Price |
| Albatron GeForce 7900 GS | 450/660 | *$200-$250 |
| XFX GeForce 7900 GS RoHS Extreme | 480/700 | $211 |
| EVGA e-GeForce 7900 GS | 500/690 | $216 |
| Leadtek Winfast PX7900 GS TDH Extreme | 520/700 | *$220 |
| BFG GeForce 7900 GS OC | 540/660 | $200 |
As sometimes happens, we weren't able to get prices for all of these cards at the time of this writing. The Albatron 7900 GS and the Leadtek PX7900 GS TDH Extreme are not yet available, but we've included the target street prices (marked by an asterisk) for these cards. The 7900 GS was predicted to retail at around $200, and just a few weeks after its release prices reflect this. We can't predict what the market will do, but hopefully prices for the 7900 GS will drop some in the coming months.
It's interesting that the 7900 GS card in this roundup that has the highest factory overclock is also (currently) the least expensive, and right away makes the BFG model stand out. We'll look at performance in a moment, but first let's take a closer look at the individual cards.
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yyrkoon - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
I'd like to see how these cards compare to a 7600GT, as I currently own a eVGA 7600GT KO, and will be upgrading my current system to a conroe, and MAY consider another GFX card, especialy one this in-expencive, or maybe I'll just go the 7600GT SLI route . . .Spacecomber - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
Josh probably would have done well to provide some more specific reference to the previous two Anandtech articles on the the 7900GS that Derek did, including some links to those articles, since that is where you'll find more information on how these cards compare to a wider array of video cards, including the 7600GT. However, while they tested the new 7900GS in a SLI configuration in one of those prior articles, I don't think they inclduded results from a 7600GT SLI for comparison.I'm not sure what article might have that in it for reference.
Sc4freak - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
In the Oblivion test, why are do the X1800GTO and 7800GT both score 0 in the bar graph, despite their non-zero results in the line graph directly above it?Josh Venning - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
Thanks for pointing this out. It's been fixed.Woodchuck2000 - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
...of one of these working in SLI with a 7800GT?I'm assuming that the answer is roughly 0, but with such similar specifications, is there any hope? I've got a single 7800GT in an SLI board and can't find a second at the moment.
Re fan power consumption, you're unlikely to be looking at more than 1 watt difference across the board.
VooDooAddict - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
Find someone with a 7800GT and offer them one of the 7900GS Overclocked versions in exchange.DerekWilson - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
At this point, NVIDIA will not support SLI between prodcuts with different names -- even if they have the same pipeline configuration.We have mentioned that this would be quite a good incentive for people to get behind SLI, but it seems like they are worried about implying that it could work in cases where it can't.
Our suggestion is to make sli between parts that could work together an unsupported option. We haven't been able to figure out how to hack the driver to allow it, and we don't think NVIDIA will allow it.
Martrox - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
Don't you think that testing these cards without any FSAA is being kind of lazy? Anyone knowledgable enough to actually read this review most likely will be using FSAA, so that kind of makes this a waste....Also, did you at least turn the drivers up to high quality?
imaheadcase - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
Mmm, most people don't use FSAA. Majority of users can't tell a diffrence with it on or off.VooDooAddict - Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - link
I'd have to agree. Most people with 1280x1024 LCDs that I've met prefer to leave FSAA off (if they even mess with the setting) to get the best possible frame rates. While the max framerate might not dip below 60 ... it's the minimum framerate spike that will effect competition.I used to enjoy turning on FSAA for Everquest, but for anything more FPS competition oriented I don't know anyone who uses FSAA unless they have SLI. (Which would be why they got SLI ... to run FSAA without noticable impact to framerates.)