Finally a good 7800GS review and inc's a 6800Ultra (yes I know there has been others)

[Humey]

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/02/13/nvidias_geforce_7800gs_becomes_a_better_buy/index.html

" The EVGA "Superclocked" model is able to beat all of the other cards in our tests. This means that the card can outperform the ATI Radeon X850XT PE even while performing additional tasks that the Shader Model 2.0b card cannot handle, such as HDR. The BFG is not far behind. It beats the ATI Radeon X800XT, but falls shy of the X850XT PE's frame speeds by a hair. But then again it is doing more work than the ATI card ".

" The GeForce 7800GS is a solid card for anyone looking for Shader Model 3.0 support on the AGP platform. It clearly is head and shoulders above the GeForce 6800 Ultra, which also provides SM 3.0 functionality. Going head to head against the ATI Radeon X800XT and X850XT Platinum Edition, it is the AGP king ".

" As for the crown on the 7800GS king, the EVGA "Superclocked" version has the extra clock cycles to put it ahead of the BFG "Overclocked" version. There is rumor of another version clocked even higher than the "Superclocked" version from the guys at EVGA. From what we can tell, we wouldn't be surprised to see additional cards with higher clock speeds from other vendors as well ".

Going by that its possible the fastest agp card avail and even besting ati running p.s 3.0 against p.s 2.0

P.S, I especially like Nvidias nice opengl support in Doom3

 

[yesiamAndeh]

" The GeForce 7800GS is a solid card for anyone looking for Shader Model 3.0 support on the AGP platform. It clearly is head and shoulders above the GeForce 6800 Ultra, which also provides SM 3.0 functionality. Going head to head against the ATI Radeon X800XT and X850XT Platinum Edition, it is the AGP king ".

This is what I like to hear

 

[shrek2]

Well overclockers dont sell evga because they think bfg is better. I disagree.

 

[smids]

Pointless.

For the cost of these cards, you can buy a PCI-E mobo and get a 7800GT.

Someone tell me I'm wrong....

 

[yesiamAndeh]

you're wrong, because you wouldn't JUST have to buy a PCI-E mobo,
you would then have to buy a new CPU since all PCI-E boards are 64bit iirc
then theres the possibility of having to buy a new PSU.
I have a friend who was in this exact situation, having a Gigabyte GA7N400 Pro2 board and a 3000+ Athlon XP, he was stuck between getting a PCI-E board and then buying a gfx card, or just sticking with what he has and getting the awsome 7800GS. He then found out that he would need to buy a new CPU which would set him back another £130+ and on top of that, a new PSU (he has a 360W atm)

So no, the 7800GS is far from pointless, its aimed at people who dont have money tree's in their back yard

 

[smids]

you're wrong, because you wouldn't JUST have to buy a PCI-E mobo,
you would then have to buy a new CPU since all PCI-E boards are 64bit iirc
then theres the possibility of having to buy a new PSU.
I have a friend who was in this exact situation, having a Gigabyte GA7N400 Pro2 board and a 3000+ Athlon XP, he was stuck between getting a PCI-E board and then buying a gfx card, or just sticking with what he has and getting the awsome 7800GS. He then found out that he would need to buy a new CPU which would set him back another £130+ and on top of that, a new PSU (he has a 360W atm)

So no, the 7800GS is far from pointless, its aimed at people who dont have money tree's in their back yard

You can sell your current CPU, mobo and graphics. Honestly, it is pointless in my view. You don't need money trees and if you are spending £230 on this card, then you aren't exactly strapped for cash are you.

The cost of upgrade might be £50 more than the 7800GS but gets you a whole new faster system. No new PSU is required and if you have a 360W PSU, then you can't run the 7800GS stably anyway so will require one in any event.

 

[D.P.]

you're wrong, because you wouldn't JUST have to buy a PCI-E mobo,
you would then have to buy a new CPU since all PCI-E boards are 64bit iirc
then theres the possibility of having to buy a new PSU.
I have a friend who was in this exact situation, having a Gigabyte GA7N400 Pro2 board and a 3000+ Athlon XP, he was stuck between getting a PCI-E board and then buying a gfx card, or just sticking with what he has and getting the awsome 7800GS. He then found out that he would need to buy a new CPU which would set him back another £130+ and on top of that, a new PSU (he has a 360W atm)

So no, the 7800GS is far from pointless, its aimed at people who dont have money tree's in their back yard

Exactly, if was pointless Nvidia wouldn't release it!

It is the fastest most feature rich AGP card on the planet, I would hardly say its pointless!

 

[smids]

Exactly, if was pointless Nvidia wouldn't release it!

It is the fastest most feature rich AGP card on the planet, I would hardly say its pointless!

At that cost it is... You can't take a single minded approach on this. Take a holistic view on it. Have you read my suggestion of upgrade over this? It makes much more sense and will give you a much more powerful system. If you want a similar performning system, you can always get the 6800GS or X850XT on PCI-e for only £130 but it will leave you with a faster processor, better motherboard and similar performing graphics.

 

[D.P.]

And less money in your wallet!

Some people can't afford the additional cost of a new motherboard, a new CPu, possibly a new PSU.

 

[smids]

And less money in your wallet!

Some people can't afford the additional cost of a new motherboard, a new CPu, possibly a new PSU.

If you read my post, you will see that the cost of upgrade could be porentially £50 on top of whatever is needed anyway - not much, considering the fact that the computer will be faster and ready for th future. Better than buying AGP which will depreciate in value very quickly and become unsaleable at the time of next upgrade.

 

[pieman109]

I tend to agree with smids on this. You're gonna upgrade eventually to PCI-e, so you may as well do it at this point, rather than later. Considering the cost of around £230-£250 ish, I'd say its too costly at this price. If it was say, £150, then its worth it, at that price, I'd say no. Eventually, agp will disappear altogether, and no-one will want it, so the expensive agp cards will drop in value I reckon. This'll take a while mind, but it will happen, so anyone hanging on to an expensive agp card will loose a large chunk of resale value. More ppl will have upgraded to PCI-e in the next 12-18 months I reckon. if it were me, I'd bite the bullet and upgrade to PCI-e. This is only my opinion btw.

 

[Psypher5]

Totally behind you smids, good points.

 

[smids]

Totally behind you smids, good points.

The cavalry arrives . Thanks guys!

I try to never give out bad advice and I truly believe my convictions with what I have said.

Yes, the GS is a good card but at that price, totally not worth it IMO.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

I'd agree with Smids too, you are saying it would cost less overall to get the £250 GS, but a 360W PSU WOULD NOT be able to stably run the 7800gs as far as I know, so hes going to have to spend 40-80 on a new, decent PSU anyway. That mounts up to over £300! For that you could get a 3000+, new motherboard, and an x800GTO, or spend a bit more and get a faster CPU and card (ie extra £30 for 3500+ cpu, extra £20 for x850xt which should clock to xtpe speeds nicely). A little bit more expense, but the system would last longer, and if he decides to get Vista in autumn, he wouldn't need to upgrade his hardware then.

 

[ACESHIGH]

I agree with smids too.

Besides all the overclocked versions of the 7800GS are even more expensive than the standard ones (which are allready overpriced).

 

[Seirrah]

While I agree to an extent, I don't think that it's too clear cut.

People could upgrade to the latest hardware now, and that would cost a fair bit if they wanted the top kit (I mean going from a AGP to a PCIe system [gfx, CPU and mobo...RAM ?]).

However with the prospect of dx10 cards and socket 940 CPUs etc is this a wise move ?
Surely then a wise move could be, and is not always the case, to upgrade the gfx card in order to get a performance kick.
Someone could sell their current graphics card on an auction site and subsidise a purchase of a 7800GS (and then overclock). So maybe it'd cost around £120 net (depending on their curent card) for the upgrade say.

This would work well until they decide do a full worthwhile upgrade.

I'm not saying that this is the right way to do it, but to say that the 7800GS is a completely pointless purchase is surely not true for everyone.

 

[smids]

I was tired, it was early, and I hadn't had my breakfast . Ok, I was harsh on the pointless bit but when you see the performance compared to a 6800GT or ultra, can you see too much point in it?

AM2 will be high-end immediately and let's be honest, it will take a good while to filter through. Not everyone will jump on AM2 given that it would require a complete system overhaul including RAM this time and PSU for definite. Added to that the premium in the first 2 months or so...

 

[Firegod]

Trying not to go to much OTT but I think what people have been saying about upgrading, all are valid points! I think any person would have to weigh up the cost for themselves. Such as buy the fastest AGP card to go with their current system or sell up and move to PCI-E. Basically see which works out the cheapest and offers more potential for future use, and so on.

But it's nice to see this card doing well! Good stuff!

 

[Seirrah]

I was tired, it was early, and I hadn't had my breakfast . Ok, I was harsh on the pointless bit but when you see the performance compared to a 6800GT or ultra, can you see too much point in it?

2 Weetabix ?

For some people it is worth it even if they have a 6800GT.
Check out the fps for the 7800GS overclocked compared to the 6800GT.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_e-geforce_7800_gs_co_superclock_review/page8.asp

...at 1600x1200 that is a 65% frame-rate increase...which someone with a 6800GT could probably get for about £90 or so.

Sure I'm being selective in my choice of game and resolution, but I am just highlighting that for some people it could be worth the upgrade.




ps. I have to make it clear that I do not play BF2 !! ..had to get that off my chest!

*cough* www.redorchestragame.com

 

[LoadsaMoney]

I tend to agree with smids on this. You're gonna upgrade eventually to PCI-e, so you may as well do it at this point, rather than later.

Agreed, do you think your going to be able to get rid of an AGP card further down the line when you eventually want to go PCI-E, nope, as everyone will be on PCI-E so your card will be even more worthless then as AGP is already dead, so all it will be fit for is the bin as no one will want it, so why not just go outside and throw £230 up in the air, or stick it on the fire and burn it, or do the sensible thing and use it to go PCI-E now.