NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX
Discussion
I'm looking at building my pc as was wondering spending hte extra on a NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX was worth it or go for the 6800ultra. I am looking at SLi so i will need two. and is the SLi worth it or go single graphics card?
anyone have any thoughts on them? I don't have either so not sure what the difference would be on games
cheers
anyone have any thoughts on them? I don't have either so not sure what the difference would be on games
cheers
From a review infact they only seem to be 40% faster than the 6800. -
based on this, unless they are quoting you for 512mb cards (in which case the prices get very very silly) then your quotes seem all wrong - £340 more for a card that only costs £70 more retail? Or have I misread?
hexus.net review said:
All-in, a solid improvement to an excellent architecture. Nvidia balances ALU increases with ROP considerations to create a formidable pixel pusher that currently has no equal. 7800 GTX boards can be bought from today for a UK retail price of £369. That's only some £70 more than a 6800 Ultra - ie. spend 15 per cent moe for a 40 per cent increase in performance.
based on this, unless they are quoting you for 512mb cards (in which case the prices get very very silly) then your quotes seem all wrong - £340 more for a card that only costs £70 more retail? Or have I misread?
Other benefits of the 7800GTX are lower power requirements, less heat output and (I'm told) quieter fans than the 6800 series. Furthermore, if you go for SLI'd 7800 GTXs, you will need a *serious* processor, otherwise overall game performance will be CPU limited.
If you're on a budget, you may want to consider getting one 7800GTX now, and you could always whack in another identical one later along with a faster cpu if you need more performance. However, if like me you want to build an "ultimate rig" there's simply no substitute for dual 7800GTXs, to further inflate your new PC's e-penis
.
Another thing to remember is that not all manufacturers 7800s are created equal, despite superficially conforming to the reference design. Some cards, like the BFG's I went for, use higher quality components and therefore have their cores and memory pre-overclocked from the factory, so be sure to check ALL the figures in the spec before you buy. To demonstrate:
BFG 7800GTX = 460MHz core & 1300MHz memory
XFX 7800GTX = 450MHz core & 1250MHz memory
Gigabyte 7800GTX = 430MHz core & 1200MHz memory
HTH
[k]
If you're on a budget, you may want to consider getting one 7800GTX now, and you could always whack in another identical one later along with a faster cpu if you need more performance. However, if like me you want to build an "ultimate rig" there's simply no substitute for dual 7800GTXs, to further inflate your new PC's e-penis
. Another thing to remember is that not all manufacturers 7800s are created equal, despite superficially conforming to the reference design. Some cards, like the BFG's I went for, use higher quality components and therefore have their cores and memory pre-overclocked from the factory, so be sure to check ALL the figures in the spec before you buy. To demonstrate:
BFG 7800GTX = 460MHz core & 1300MHz memory
XFX 7800GTX = 450MHz core & 1250MHz memory
Gigabyte 7800GTX = 430MHz core & 1200MHz memory
HTH
[k]
I think you are looking at the wrong type of processor there. The dual-core Athlon64's are not optimised for gaming purposes, which is what I think you are after. Benchmarks show that the single-core FX range are preferable in these circumstances. By way of example, here are some figures taken from the HardOCP review, using otherwise identical test PC's.
Doom3 - Frames Per Second
FX57 = 156
Athlon64 4000+ = 136
Athlon64 X2 4800 = 137
Athlon64 3200+ = 117
3dMark 2001SE - 3dMarks (synthetic benchmark points)
FX57 = 27935
Athlon64 4000+ = 25943
Athlon64 X2 4800+ = 25972
Athlon 3200+ = 22270
Due to the immense pixel-pushing power of SLI'd 7800's, it doesn't really matter which of the current range of cpu's you use - it will be the bottleneck. The only way to mitigate this is to buy the fastest processor you can and overclock the nuts off it. For gaming, that means nothing less than a chip from the FX range. The X2 is more suited to multi-tasking and multi-threadded applications, rather than games.
I would therefore suggest that an FX55 is the minimum you would want to run with SLI'd 7800GTX's.
If you do decide to get one, though, be aware that there are curently two different versions of the FX55 on the market - the earlier "ClawHammer" core, and the more recent "San Diego" core (also known as 'Revision E'). You will want to make sure you buy from a store which can guarantee which type of chip you will get. The "Revision E" Athlons incorporate a number of significant improvements and are therefore the ones to get.
[k]
>> Edited by [k]ar| on Friday 15th July 20:24
Doom3 - Frames Per Second
FX57 = 156
Athlon64 4000+ = 136
Athlon64 X2 4800 = 137
Athlon64 3200+ = 117
3dMark 2001SE - 3dMarks (synthetic benchmark points)
FX57 = 27935
Athlon64 4000+ = 25943
Athlon64 X2 4800+ = 25972
Athlon 3200+ = 22270
Due to the immense pixel-pushing power of SLI'd 7800's, it doesn't really matter which of the current range of cpu's you use - it will be the bottleneck. The only way to mitigate this is to buy the fastest processor you can and overclock the nuts off it. For gaming, that means nothing less than a chip from the FX range. The X2 is more suited to multi-tasking and multi-threadded applications, rather than games.
I would therefore suggest that an FX55 is the minimum you would want to run with SLI'd 7800GTX's.
If you do decide to get one, though, be aware that there are curently two different versions of the FX55 on the market - the earlier "ClawHammer" core, and the more recent "San Diego" core (also known as 'Revision E'). You will want to make sure you buy from a store which can guarantee which type of chip you will get. The "Revision E" Athlons incorporate a number of significant improvements and are therefore the ones to get.
[k]
>> Edited by [k]ar| on Friday 15th July 20:24
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