Core details

To increase efficiency, the GeForce 7800 GT is built on the exact same G70 graphics core as the GeForce 7800 GTX that launched earlier this year, NVIDIA merely takes the chips that aren’t quite up to snuff to go into GeForce 7800 GTX cards, and puts them in 7800 GT cards instead. This means that the GeForce 7800 GT is built on the exact same 0.11-micron manufacturing process as the 7800 GTX, and contains the same 302 million transistor count of its predecessor.

The only differences between the 7800 GT and 7800 GTX lie in the number of pipelines, and clock speeds.

BFG 7800 GT OC card

Back of the card

GeForce 7800 GTX and GT Specs
Card	Memory Interface	Memory Clock Speed (MHz)	Core Clock Speed	Pixel Shader Pipelines	Vertex Shading Units	Peak Texel Fill Rate	Peak Memory Bandwidth	Peak Power Consumption
GeForce 7800 GTX	256-bit GDDR3	600MHz	430MHz	24	8	9000 Mtexels/sec	32GB/sec	100W
GeForce 7800 GT	256-bit GDDR3	500MHz	400MHz	20	7	8000 Mtexels/sec	33.6GB/sec	85W

The GeForce 7800 GTX features 24 pixel pipelines, with eight vertex shading units. The pixel pipelines are arranged into groups of four (known as quads), with the 7800 GTX consisting of six pixel quads for a total of 24 pixel pipelines.

In contrast, the GeForce 7800 GT sports 20 pixel pipelines, NVIDIA merely turns off one of the pixel quads for the 7800 GT. In addition, one vertex shader is disabled as well, with the 7800 GT featuring seven vertex units.

NVIDIA used this exact same strategy for the vanilla GeForce 6800 a year ago, disabling one pixel quad and one vertex unit for the GeForce 6800.

Closer look at the heatsink/fan unit

Note the difference between the 7800 GTX and 7800 GT here

To separate the GeForce 7800 GTX further from the 7800 GT, NVIDIA reduced the core and memory clock frequencies on 7800 GT, with its core running at 400MHz (versus 430MHz in 7800 GTX) while the board’s memory is clocked at 500MHz (the GeForce 7800 GTX’s memory runs at 600MHz). Like the GeForce 7800 GTX, the 7800 GT ships with 256MB of memory and is available on PCI-E format only, although NVIDIA hasn’t officially closed the door on an AGP variant in the future.

As a result of these changes, NVIDIA ensures that the 7800 GT has enough horsepower to outgun any of 2004’s highest-end cards, including the RADEON X850 XT Platinum Edition and GeForce 6800 Ultra, while at the same time allowing the 7800 GTX to maintain its status as the flagship of the NVIDIA lineup.

But that’s not all, once again retail boards are available on launch day!

The retail cards

Rather than send out reference samples for the 7800 GT launch, NVIDIA invited their board partners to send out final retail cards for review. EVGA and BFG were the first to send GeForce 7800 GT cards over, both of which are based on the same NVIDIA reference design.

Closer look at the power circuitry

EVGA and BFG 7800 GT cards

Dual DVIs!

In traditional BFG fashion their GeForce 7800 GT OC, is overclocked out of the box, with BFG opting for a core clock speed of 425MHz, while the board’s memory runs at 525MHz. This is 25MHz over stock 7800 GT speeds on the core and memory.

EVGA clocks their 7800 GT card a little higher than BFG, at 445MHz core and 535MHz on the memory. In adddition, EVGA includes a copy of EA’s Battlefield 2 inside the packaging of their e-GeForce 7800 GT card.

NVIDIA has changed the card’s cooler slightly, opting for a smaller heatsink/fan unit, while the board design itself is slightly modified, with reduced power requirements NVIDIA’s reference specifications call for less power circuitry (although you’ll still need a 6-pin PCI-E connector). NVIDIA states that the 7800 GT’s power consumption peaks at 85W versus 100W for 7800 GTX, making it more ideal for SFF applications.

Finally, as you can see both 7800 GT cards provide dual DVI and VIVO support.