I have decided after looking over the threads for a while (at least since the 7800GS came onto the market) that there have been a lot of repeated questions, along with a lot of people wishing to know if it is worth it or not. So I am going to do this write up and would like for other owners to help contribute if I have left something out, given wrong information, and I would like it if the people that own the 7800GS would please post your system setup and your benchmark results.
Now a little information about the Video Card.
The 7800GS is undoubtedly the best video card for AGP Users. Tomshardware has done research and stated that there is little to no difference in performance between AGP and 16x PCI-e IF the video cards being tested are the same such as a 6600GT AGP vs. a 6600GT PCI-e.
PRICE: (according to newegg at time of thread start)
The price will vary between $269.99 for a EVGA 7800GS with a Core Speed of 375MHz and a Memory speed (Effective) 12000MHz (AKA 375/1200) and goes up to $299.99 for a XFX 7800GS with a Core Speed of 440MHz and a Memory Speed (Effective) 1300MHz (AKA 440/1300).
Physical size:
This card is defiantly a big card. It is 2.5 inches longer then my old 5700LE. I personally would not recommend this card for people using crowded mid tower cases. I personally use the Thermaltake Armor Case (not the JR.) and there is more then enough room in it to provide excellent cooling and allow for good cable management.
Cooling:
The stock cooler seems to be working very good for me and is extremely quite. I can’t even hear it over my CPU fan (Thermaltake Volcano 12) At Idle my 7800GS runs at about 35C and under load it tops out at 48C. There was a reported problem with Gen 1 and Gen 2 (pre April 2006) EVGA and XFX 7800GS’s where a bit of plastic wrapping from the manufacture was accidentally left on and made the fan really rather noisy. To fix this all you would have to do is take off the over of the heat sink and peal off the plastic. Take about 15 minutes and won’t void the warranty.
Pixel Pipelines:
All 7800GS's are equipped with a 16 Pixel Pipeline
(NOTE) there are two 7800GS's that come with a 20 and 24 Pixel Pipeline
both come from a European company known as Gainward, and if you are here in the states there will be a large shipping charge and wait for one of these monsters to get here.
(About unlocking the Pipelines) At the time of this article being written there has been no conformations of anyone using any of the following manufacturers 7800GS's that have been able to unlock the extra 4 or 8 pixel Pipelines.
The Manufactures that so far are unable to unlock the extra 4 and/or 8 Pipelines are:
EVGA
XFX
BFG
PNY
MSI
Open GL:
All 7800GS's come with support for Open GL 2.0
Memory Interface:
All 7800GS's come with a 256-Bit Memory Interface.
Overclocking ability:
Although I have yet to really push my 7800GS to an extreme amount I have been able to put my card from 440/1300 to 460/1350 without any issues using Powerstrip, and only suffered from a 2 degree Celsius increase in idle temp but under load there are only a 1 degree increase. If you do over clock your 7800GS and/or your CPU please post the results and what program you used to overclock your GPU.
Benchmark Results:
So now what I would like is for all 7800GS owners to list their system specs in the following format, followed by their 3DMark03, 3DMark05, 3DMark06, and Aquamark3 Benchmark results along with own opinions of their card's performance, and if possible please also give some in game reviews such as what games you play and at what settings you can play them at. If possible for games such as FEAR and HL:2 if you could post the results of the games own in game benchmark with the following settings. This what we can help show people that are looking at possibly getting the card what to expect and also to help diagnose possible problem that current owners might be experiencing.
FEAR’s benchmark is right in the Performance settings it will say “Test Settings”
HL:2’s benchmark is in Counterstrike Source. You will see it say “Video Stress Test”
How to show your system settings:
(Example)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 3000+, Barton, 333FSB 2.167GHz
Motherboard: Shuttle AN35N Ultra V1.1 Socket A
Ram: 1 GB (2x512) Dual Channel Kit OCZ Value Series
GPU: XFX 7800GS, 440/1300 (Core/Memory) Forceware v91.31
HDD: 200GB ATA100 Western Digital 8MB cache, 7200RPM
PSU: 450 Watt NSPIRE 25A 12V
Settings for the benchmark results:
3DMark03 - Default Settings
3DMark05 - Default Settings
3DMark06 - Default Settings
Aquamark3 - Default Settings
F.E.A.R. - All Settings maxed out. 2x AA, 4x AF, No Soft Shadows, No VSYNC, 1024x768 Resolution. (Please list you minimum, average, and highest FPS)
HL:2 – All settings maxed out. 2x AA, 4x AF, No VSYNC, 1280x1024 Resolution. ( Please List your Average Frame rate during the test
Result Format:
3DMark03:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
3DMark05:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
3DMark06:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
Aquamark3:
Score: enter number here
GFX: enter number here
CPU: enter number here
F.E.A.R.:
Minimum FPS: Enter Number here
Average FPS: Enter Number here
Maximum FPS: Enter Number Here
% Below 25FPS: Enter Number Here
HL:2
Average FPS: Enter Number here
If you feel I have made a mistake or have wrong information please list it and I will gladly change it.
Best Score Holders
3DMark03: Voska
3DMarks: 13,393
CPU Score: 1,007
3DMark05: GeneticWeapon
3DMarks: 7,311
CPU Score: 4,629
3DMark06: wallis
3DMarks: 4,189
CPU Score: 914
Aquamark3: Voska
Score: 73,727
GFX: 11,658
CPU: 10,029
F.E.A.R.: wallis
Minimum FPS: 30 FPS
Average FPS: 61 FPS
Maximum FPS: 148 FPS
% Below 25FPS: 0%
% Between 25 and 40 FPS: 28%
% Above 40: 72%
HL:2: Voska
Average FPS: 84.36 FPS
Now a little information about the Video Card.
The 7800GS is undoubtedly the best video card for AGP Users. Tomshardware has done research and stated that there is little to no difference in performance between AGP and 16x PCI-e IF the video cards being tested are the same such as a 6600GT AGP vs. a 6600GT PCI-e.
PRICE: (according to newegg at time of thread start)
The price will vary between $269.99 for a EVGA 7800GS with a Core Speed of 375MHz and a Memory speed (Effective) 12000MHz (AKA 375/1200) and goes up to $299.99 for a XFX 7800GS with a Core Speed of 440MHz and a Memory Speed (Effective) 1300MHz (AKA 440/1300).
Physical size:
This card is defiantly a big card. It is 2.5 inches longer then my old 5700LE. I personally would not recommend this card for people using crowded mid tower cases. I personally use the Thermaltake Armor Case (not the JR.) and there is more then enough room in it to provide excellent cooling and allow for good cable management.
Cooling:
The stock cooler seems to be working very good for me and is extremely quite. I can’t even hear it over my CPU fan (Thermaltake Volcano 12) At Idle my 7800GS runs at about 35C and under load it tops out at 48C. There was a reported problem with Gen 1 and Gen 2 (pre April 2006) EVGA and XFX 7800GS’s where a bit of plastic wrapping from the manufacture was accidentally left on and made the fan really rather noisy. To fix this all you would have to do is take off the over of the heat sink and peal off the plastic. Take about 15 minutes and won’t void the warranty.
Pixel Pipelines:
All 7800GS's are equipped with a 16 Pixel Pipeline
(NOTE) there are two 7800GS's that come with a 20 and 24 Pixel Pipeline
both come from a European company known as Gainward, and if you are here in the states there will be a large shipping charge and wait for one of these monsters to get here.
(About unlocking the Pipelines) At the time of this article being written there has been no conformations of anyone using any of the following manufacturers 7800GS's that have been able to unlock the extra 4 or 8 pixel Pipelines.
The Manufactures that so far are unable to unlock the extra 4 and/or 8 Pipelines are:
EVGA
XFX
BFG
PNY
MSI
Open GL:
All 7800GS's come with support for Open GL 2.0
Memory Interface:
All 7800GS's come with a 256-Bit Memory Interface.
Overclocking ability:
Although I have yet to really push my 7800GS to an extreme amount I have been able to put my card from 440/1300 to 460/1350 without any issues using Powerstrip, and only suffered from a 2 degree Celsius increase in idle temp but under load there are only a 1 degree increase. If you do over clock your 7800GS and/or your CPU please post the results and what program you used to overclock your GPU.
Benchmark Results:
So now what I would like is for all 7800GS owners to list their system specs in the following format, followed by their 3DMark03, 3DMark05, 3DMark06, and Aquamark3 Benchmark results along with own opinions of their card's performance, and if possible please also give some in game reviews such as what games you play and at what settings you can play them at. If possible for games such as FEAR and HL:2 if you could post the results of the games own in game benchmark with the following settings. This what we can help show people that are looking at possibly getting the card what to expect and also to help diagnose possible problem that current owners might be experiencing.
FEAR’s benchmark is right in the Performance settings it will say “Test Settings”
HL:2’s benchmark is in Counterstrike Source. You will see it say “Video Stress Test”
How to show your system settings:
(Example)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 3000+, Barton, 333FSB 2.167GHz
Motherboard: Shuttle AN35N Ultra V1.1 Socket A
Ram: 1 GB (2x512) Dual Channel Kit OCZ Value Series
GPU: XFX 7800GS, 440/1300 (Core/Memory) Forceware v91.31
HDD: 200GB ATA100 Western Digital 8MB cache, 7200RPM
PSU: 450 Watt NSPIRE 25A 12V
Settings for the benchmark results:
3DMark03 - Default Settings
3DMark05 - Default Settings
3DMark06 - Default Settings
Aquamark3 - Default Settings
F.E.A.R. - All Settings maxed out. 2x AA, 4x AF, No Soft Shadows, No VSYNC, 1024x768 Resolution. (Please list you minimum, average, and highest FPS)
HL:2 – All settings maxed out. 2x AA, 4x AF, No VSYNC, 1280x1024 Resolution. ( Please List your Average Frame rate during the test
Result Format:
3DMark03:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
3DMark05:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
3DMark06:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
Aquamark3:
Score: enter number here
GFX: enter number here
CPU: enter number here
F.E.A.R.:
Minimum FPS: Enter Number here
Average FPS: Enter Number here
Maximum FPS: Enter Number Here
% Below 25FPS: Enter Number Here
HL:2
Average FPS: Enter Number here
If you feel I have made a mistake or have wrong information please list it and I will gladly change it.
Best Score Holders
3DMark03: Voska
3DMarks: 13,393
CPU Score: 1,007
3DMark05: GeneticWeapon
3DMarks: 7,311
CPU Score: 4,629
3DMark06: wallis
3DMarks: 4,189
CPU Score: 914
Aquamark3: Voska
Score: 73,727
GFX: 11,658
CPU: 10,029
F.E.A.R.: wallis
Minimum FPS: 30 FPS
Average FPS: 61 FPS
Maximum FPS: 148 FPS
% Below 25FPS: 0%
% Between 25 and 40 FPS: 28%
% Above 40: 72%
HL:2: Voska
Average FPS: 84.36 FPS
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