Hi guys
Thought I may as well start the inevitable thread
nVidia has, a few minutes ago, launched (and released) their latest flagship product: the GeForce 7800 GTX.
Initial previews seem to suggest solid, but not stellar, performance improvements (not like the jump from the 'FX' line to the 6 series range). Specifications suggest most GTXs have cores clocked in the 400Mhz+ range and 256MB DDR3 memory clocked at 1.2Ghz+ range. The cards feature 24 pipelines in comparison to the 6800GT/Ultra's 16, single slot cooling (very pretty), together with next generation versions of nVidia's CineFX and IntelliSample etc. technologies. The cheapest GTX I've found is £380. All cards are presently PCI-Express only and are all SLI-ready.
The GTX is now nVidia's flagship card. A GT and standard version of the 7800 line are planned but are not as yet available. Mainstream and budget versions will also follow at some point down the line. It is widely believed that when ATI launch their R520 (x900?) range next month, nVidia will shortly after announce a 7800 Ultra to outperform ATI's top offering (which is likely to be outperformed by an XT PE version of ATI's range, so it's all rather tit for tat).
Is it worth it? £380-£440 is a heck of a lot of money, particularly if you already have a 6800 or x800/850 card. The performance jump is noticable (one 7800 can in some tests equate to two 6800s), particularly at higher resolutions with antialiasing and antistrophic filtering ramped up high, but ultimately this is more evolution than revolution. There is no game which will require a 7800 either, unlike the 6800/x800 and Doom 3/Half-Life 2. That said if I won the lottery tonight I'd happily buy two and know I'd have the fastest cards on the planet bar none
Kind Regards
Jonty
P.S. Congratulations to nVidia for actually having the GPUs immediately available to buy, unlike the 6800 and x800/850 last time and other 'paper launches' before that.
Thought I may as well start the inevitable thread
nVidia has, a few minutes ago, launched (and released) their latest flagship product: the GeForce 7800 GTX.Initial previews seem to suggest solid, but not stellar, performance improvements (not like the jump from the 'FX' line to the 6 series range). Specifications suggest most GTXs have cores clocked in the 400Mhz+ range and 256MB DDR3 memory clocked at 1.2Ghz+ range. The cards feature 24 pipelines in comparison to the 6800GT/Ultra's 16, single slot cooling (very pretty), together with next generation versions of nVidia's CineFX and IntelliSample etc. technologies. The cheapest GTX I've found is £380. All cards are presently PCI-Express only and are all SLI-ready.
The GTX is now nVidia's flagship card. A GT and standard version of the 7800 line are planned but are not as yet available. Mainstream and budget versions will also follow at some point down the line. It is widely believed that when ATI launch their R520 (x900?) range next month, nVidia will shortly after announce a 7800 Ultra to outperform ATI's top offering (which is likely to be outperformed by an XT PE version of ATI's range, so it's all rather tit for tat).
Is it worth it? £380-£440 is a heck of a lot of money, particularly if you already have a 6800 or x800/850 card. The performance jump is noticable (one 7800 can in some tests equate to two 6800s), particularly at higher resolutions with antialiasing and antistrophic filtering ramped up high, but ultimately this is more evolution than revolution. There is no game which will require a 7800 either, unlike the 6800/x800 and Doom 3/Half-Life 2. That said if I won the lottery tonight I'd happily buy two and know I'd have the fastest cards on the planet bar none
Kind Regards
Jonty
P.S. Congratulations to nVidia for actually having the GPUs immediately available to buy, unlike the 6800 and x800/850 last time and other 'paper launches' before that.
