7800GS AGP reviews...

[linkgoron]

http://hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx

You guy can give me more reviews and I'll add them.
Anyway, they're actually using the GS at factory OCd clocks.
From a quick glance seems like it adds around 15%, but I may be wrong.
BTW, what do you guys think about the 7800GS AGP?

Added:
http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2006q1/geforce-7800gs/index.x?pg=1
Lots of cards in that one.

 

[Zbox]

Let me second the fact that the AT 7800GS AGP review is a piece of garbage.

 

[AzNPinkTuv]

AT's is a piece of crap this time.. first one in a long time imo

 

[CKXP]

IMO AT did a good review, it compared apples to apples, stock vs. stock. factory OC is a gimmick for manufactures to sell...the 7800gs' with factory OC reviews will come later

 

[Zbox]

this isn't stock, it's underclocking something below its off the shelf speeds

 

[otispunkmeyer]

yeah AT's isnt really good enough, tested cards at the reference speeds, only tested in 16x12, used 4xAA at that level which id imagine this card would have a hard time at in new games.

bit too concise, not thorough enough for my liking, even Bit-tech.nets was better and they dont measure out right performance, more what settings are playable, and which ones arent. bit-tech show the 7800GS in a better light than the AT review.

AT review shows the 7800 losing or necking or hardly beating the X850. testement to how good the x850 was, but bit-tech's finding show you can play at much higher IQ settings than on the 850.


either way the 7800GS doesnt affect me, but i cant say im stoked at its performance or price. HSI chip must add a fair bit to the cards price

 

[bamacre]

IMO, this is a waste. If the 7800 GS can't beat an X850 XT (both at stock), there's no reason in buying it. Who cares about SM 3.0?

 

[CKXP]

Originally posted by: Zbox
this isn't stock, it's underclocking something below its off the shelf speeds

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 NVIDIA is endorsing.

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.

AT simply ran these cards @ default speeds for their review.

 

[TheSlamma]

This card is at BEST worth $199.

Time to leave AGP, it's dead.. bury it with ISA, VLB and PCI vid cards.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: bamacre
IMO, this is a waste. If the 7800 GS can't beat an X850 XT (both at stock), there's no reason in buying it. Who cares about SM 3.0?

Prices would drop, because the demand for the card wont be that big as many are going over to PCI-e.
The card has alot better feature set than the X850XT. Its cooler. It has a lower power requirment.

As of now... a statment like "Who cares about SM 3.0?" is pretty ignorant. Not only IQ differences are getting big, e.g AOE3, but they cant even do HDR. They are other disadvantages.. but i wont go into it.

 

[SolMiester]

Originally posted by: bamacre
IMO, this is a waste. If the 7800 GS can't beat an X850 XT (both at stock), there's no reason in buying it. Who cares about SM 3.0?

This is a PE version of the X850 FGS!, read the review, the 7800GS was downclocked to Nvidia min speeds for the product. The cards will be on par with each other, but the PE sells for $100 more.
At any rate, this is the best us AGP users have until upgrade, however with limited 12x10 res I am not complaining.

 

[Zebo]

Not a bad card - beats 6800 Ultra but it should only cost $199 for those dumb enough to buy one.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Not a bad card - beats 6800 Ultra but it should only cost $199 for those dumb enough to buy one.

Would that mean the one's that bought a 6800GS AGP were dumb too with a $200 price point?

 

[puffpio]

I can't wait for someone to softmod the 7800GS to open up all the stuff that got taken out....

 

[NoStateofMind]

Originally posted by: puffpio
I can't wait for someone to softmod the 7800GS to open up all the stuff that got taken out....

I am not so optimistic about that. As someone has stated in another thread, they probly cut the pipes like they did from the GTX to the GT. I don't think that is too far of a stretch.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: Zebo
Not a bad card - beats 6800 Ultra but it should only cost $199 for those dumb enough to buy one.

Would that mean the one's that bought a 6800GS AGP were dumb too with a $200 price point?

I was'nt clear - I mean $330 is dumb - one can get a board and higher performing PCIe card for that price.

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: Zebo
Not a bad card - beats 6800 Ultra but it should only cost $199 for those dumb enough to buy one.

Would that mean the one's that bought a 6800GS AGP were dumb too with a $200 price point?

I was'nt clear - I mean $330 is dumb - one can get a board and higher performing PCIe card for that price.

I was under the impression that this would be a $199 card as well, that would make perfect sense, but as things stand ATM it's borderline worthless.

 

[RossCorp]

yep, really glad i didn't wait and bought the 6800gs. It's pretty close performance wise, and i saved a buttload of cash Have to wait and see about the unlockables i guess, but i have my doubts as well....

 

[imported_Com80787]

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: Zebo
Not a bad card - beats 6800 Ultra but it should only cost $199 for those dumb enough to buy one.

Would that mean the one's that bought a 6800GS AGP were dumb too with a $200 price point?

I was'nt clear - I mean $330 is dumb - one can get a board and higher performing PCIe card for that price.

Yes, but very likely you'll be able to find it for slightly under $300 online in a week or so. To beat the price you'd have to get a board (a *decent* mobo is going to run no less than $70) and a card that performs about the same. Probably a 7800GT for around $290. Already that puts you over the cost for a 7800GS.

Take my situation for example. I am still running a Radeon 9700 on a socket 754 Athlon 64. If I were to move to a solution that would give me roughly the same performance and features (PCIe with 7800GT) what would be the point? I'll spend $70+ more for a new mobo. A socket 754 one with PCIe. Same CPU of course. (I'm not willing to upgrade the CPU until at least the next generation or two is released as it would be a waste)

So I spend $70 more for a PCIe board vs an AGP with about the same performance. I don't think so. It doesn't even provide a viable upgrade path as by the time I upgrade the CPU (to a different socket of course which means the $70+ I spent for the 754 PCIe mobo is out the window) my 7800GS will be hurting in games anyway and by that point there will no longer be any AGP video upgrade choices.

In my situation a 7800GS is a MUCH better value to replace my 9700. I'm sure others are in similar situations.

 

[CKXP]

Originally posted by: Com80787

Originally posted by: Zebo

Originally posted by: PC Surgeon

Originally posted by: Zebo
Not a bad card - beats 6800 Ultra but it should only cost $199 for those dumb enough to buy one.

Would that mean the one's that bought a 6800GS AGP were dumb too with a $200 price point?

I was'nt clear - I mean $330 is dumb - one can get a board and higher performing PCIe card for that price.

Yes, but very likely you'll be able to find it for slightly under $300 online in a week or so. To beat the price you'd have to get a board (a *decent* mobo is going to run no less than $70) and a card that performs about the same. Probably a 7800GT for around $290. Already that puts you over the cost for a 7800GS.

Take my situation for example. I am still running a Radeon 9700 on a socket 754 Athlon 64. If I were to move to a solution that would give me roughly the same performance and features (PCIe with 7800GT) what would be the point? I'll spend $70+ more for a new mobo. A socket 754 one with PCIe. Same CPU of course. (I'm not willing to upgrade the CPU until at least the next generation or two is released as it would be a waste)

So I spend $70 more for a PCIe board vs an AGP with about the same performance. I don't think so. It doesn't even provide a viable upgrade path as by the time I upgrade the CPU (to a different socket of course which means the $70+ I spent for the 754 PCIe mobo is out the window) my 7800GS will be hurting in games anyway and by that point there will no longer be any AGP video upgrade choices.

In my situation a 7800GS is a MUCH better value to replace my 9700. I'm sure others are in similar situations.

similair situation here, i had a 6800gt AGP, 3200 S754 newcastle, and DFI nf3 250gb. my 6800gt died on me, so i RMA'd it. while going that process i decided to go PCIe, bought a Epox 8NPA SLI socket 754 for $90, and bought a XFX 6800gs for $195. of course not a upgrade but a side grade, but the option for a better GPU upgrade path is there, where as before my options were limited to none.

 

[RussianSensation]

Here is a perfect example why sometimes waiting for the next best thing gets you nowhere. For 1 month, X850XT was available for $200 at Microcenter. Selling 16 pipe 375mhz 7800 series card to AGP users for $349 MSRP is an insult. Also, it DOES make sense for A64 S754 users to simply get $70 mobo and 7800GT because the performance isn't even close. 7800GS is nowhere near 7800GTs speeds. It has 8 ROPs vs. 16. A 16 pipeline card for $349 US is unaccepable in 2006.

For anyone who is interested here is an BFG OC review:

Loses in HL2
Tie HL2: Lost Coast
Wins BF2
Wins Quake 4
Wins IL2
Loses in FEAR
Loses in COD2
Wins SS2

Basically the future doesnt hold well for a card that loses to X850XT in Far Cry, FEAR and COD2.

Also here is why spending more money on cpu and less on GPU makes no sense for gaming:

A3000+ and 7800GS beats A64 4000+ and 6800GT in every bench

 

[imported_Com80787]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Here is a perfect example why sometimes waiting for the next best things gets you nowhere. For 1 month, X850XT was available for $200 at Microcenter. Selling 16 pipe 375mhz 7800 series card to AGP users for $349 MSRP is an insult.

Not necessarily. The 7800GS beats an X850XT PE when not underclocked. It also supports SM 3.0. Furthermore if best buy is selling it for 350 I suspect new egg and other online stores will sell it for no more than $300. You would be hard pressed to find an X850XT PE for that price.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: Com80787

Not necessarily. The 7800GS beats an X850XT PE when not underclocked.

In what open GL games, by 5-10 frames? Wow for $150 more than what you could get X850XT for a whole month that's quite a deal....not to mention it loses in every shader intensive game. And wrt SM3.0, it wont be able to play any new modern games in 2006 at respectable frames. Look at Splinter Cell. I'd gladly take 20 more frames in SM2.0 mode. The point is AGP users will get better performance when you crank 7800GS but at what cost? Certainly it was not worth the wait over X850XT. Look at firingsquad benches -- they show clock for clock it barely beats 6800Ultra. Which means a 10-15% slower card comes in the form at EVGA 6800GS on PCIe with 16 pipes and 495 mhz core clock for $200.

 

[coldpower27]

You also have to remember that this is MSRP, stop comparing it to the 6800 GS PCI-Express version, it only has to beat the 6800 GS AGP edition which is only a 12 Pipeline Card at 350MHZ, 375MHZ and 16 Pipes with G7x technology will beat it for sure.

The 6800 GS is MSRP 249US, 349US is about right for what this card offers but is a bad value when you compare it to street prices of the 6800 GS and X850 XT AGP, assuming you can find it at ~200US or so now.

We get the message though, Nvidia wants us on PCI-Express.

 

[imported_Com80787]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: Com80787

Not necessarily. The 7800GS beats an X850XT PE when not underclocked.

In what open GL games, by 5-10 frames? Wow for $150 more than what you could get X850XT for a whole month that's quite a deal....not to mention it loses in every shader intensive game. And wrt SM3.0, it wont be able to play any new modern games in 2006 at respectable frames. Look at Splinter Cell. I'd gladly take 20 more frames in SM2.0 mode. The point is AGP users will get better performance when you crank 7800GS but at what cost? Certainly it was not worth the wait over X850XT. Look at firingsquad benches -- they show clock for clock it barely beats 6800Ultra. Which means a 10-15% slower card comes in the form at EVGA 6800GS on PCIe with 16 pipes and 495 mhz core clock for $200.

So the 6800GS PCIe is a better deal? When you factor in the cost of a mobo (and not some cheapo ECS one) you're paying around $15-20 for a 20% performance increase. Not too bad.

Of course if you have a PCIe board stay far away from the 7800GS. But if you are still on an AGP board and intend to keep the vid card for 18 or so months the 7800GS is a better value if obtained for no more than $300.