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.
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AmberClad - Monday, November 28, 2005 - link
Sorry if this was already mentioned in the article, but is there a reason that there were no pictures of the actual card? Were there distinguishing marks/logos on the card that would have revealed to Nvidia which company had leaked the card, or was it just due to legal issues?gulizi - Saturday, November 26, 2005 - link
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...">http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...amp;thre...vailr - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
This 7800GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82... is ($289.00, after $50.00 MIR).
NullSubroutine - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
thankfully the 12x10 4x 8x are on there. anyone know the availbility date since this was a sneak peak?yacoub - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
The only thing you didn't mention in your conclusion are the prices of the ATI cards, which would really help drive the point home that the 7800 GS or GT are the way to go.LoneWolf15 - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
That Anandtech has posted that cards in a test (I saw this last week too, but didn't mention it then) include the Radeon X800XL, and then didn't. I'm getting really tired of it. It seems like a simple thing, but a lot of people purchased the X800XL as a performance/value solution, and the comparison is worth it to us. I'd like to see Anandtech tes with it, but if you decide not to, REMOVE IT FROM THE LIST OF CARDS IN YOUR TESTING SO THAT NO-ONE IS LED ON. Don't you guys have ANY PROOFREADERS?(pauses, takes several deep breaths) Rant over. Carry on.
P.S. It appears that in looking closer, your tests include the X1800XL, which is not listed in the test specs. Perhaps the specs have a typo, but if so, it's rather an egregious one...maybe you could correct it?
yacoub - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
I'll second the notion that the X800XL would be nice to include since that was the hottest bang-for-the-buck card just a couple months ago.DerekWilson - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
Would you guys rather see an X800 GTO or an X800 XL in future reviews of this nature?Also, it was a typo. It should have read X1800XL. I'm sorry about the confusion.
As always, we very much appreciate our readers pointing out errors we need to correct. Thanks!
Matkun - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
There seems to be something wrong with the x1800 parts in the Black and White 2 Benchmarks, since they perform quite a bit below the x850 xt, even though they are faster in every way.Is it really proper to include scores that seem to be bugged?
DerekWilson - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link
If a hardware/software combination has a problem isn't it even more important that we report it? This is an accurate measure of the performance of the different parts with equivalent settings. We checked and rechecked our benchmarks this time and there's no doubt that R4xx hardware runs B&W2 better thant R5xx hardware with the latest ATI drivers.This is a problem and we hope ATI or Lionhead will take notice and fix the issue.