Introduction

It’s been nearly two months since NVIDIA first launched their latest GPU, GeForce 7800 GTX. In that time, the 7800 GTX has gone on to earn unanimous acclaim from both the media and end users alike and with good reason: the GeForce 7800 GTX is the undisputed fastest graphics card on the market right now.

NVIDIA has incorporated multiple core improvements designed to enhance the GPU’s performance with today’s latest DX9 games. According to NVIDIA, the enhancements they’ve integrated into GeForce 7800 GTX increase pipeline efficiency by 50% on a clock-for-clock basis. The list of changes includes vertex shader units that have been enhanced to speed up geometry processing, as well as tweaks in the pixel and vertex units that have made both units better at handling MADD math operations, which are frequently used in lighting and normal map calculations (among others).

From top to bottom: 7800 GTX, 7800 GT, 6800 GT

The 7800 GTX and 7800 GT

On top of this, NVIDIA has also increased the number of pixel and vertex shaders for GeForce 7800 GTX, as well as slightly cranking up the clocks. For GeForce 7800 GTX, NVIDIA has incorporated 24 pixel pipelines, eight more than the 16 pixel pipes found in GeForce 6800 Ultra. On the vertex processing side, NVIDIA has increased the number of vertex shaders by two units, with the GeForce 7800 GTX consisting of eight vertex shaders versus six in GeForce 6800 Ultra. NVIDIA’s reference specifications for the 7800 GTX call for a 430MHz graphics core and 600MHz on the memory (an improvement of 30MHz on the GPU and 50MHz on memory), although multiple board partners have chosen to overclock their 7800 GTX boards from the factory for added performance.

NVIDIA has made other changes as well, including improved texture fetching and NVIDIA’s beautiful new transparency AA mode (which include multisampling and supersampling support), but we’re not here today to talk about the GeForce 7800 GTX. As the title of this article suggests, NVIDIA’s got a brand new GPU they’re launching today that’s designed to steal the show: GeForce 7800 GT.

Introducing the GeForce 7800 GT

The 7800 GT fills out the GeForce 7 lineup just a little bit more, bringing the technology first introduced in the GeForce 7800 GTX down to a lower price point – while the GeForce 7800 GTX officially carries an MSRP of $600, the 7800 GT is priced at $450; $150 less.

7800 GTX is longer than 7800 GT

See the different coolers too?

The GeForce 7800 GT includes all the core features found in GeForce 7800 GTX, but with slightly reduced clock speeds and fewer pixel and vertex pipelines. Lets go over the exact changes NVIDIA has made for the 7800 GT.