Conclusion

Clearly when it comes to performance, NVIDIA’s GeForce 7800 GTX is in a class of its own, establishing new levels of performance for the high-end sector. Performance varies from application to application, for instance the flight sims we tested with are clearly more CPU-bound than the other games, resulting in a slimmer performance advantage for the GeForce 7800 GTX cards.

The shader-heavy applications in our testing suite really took advantage of the GeForce 7800 GTX. You saw this in the case of Far Cry, particularly once HDR is enabled. A single GeForce 7800 GTX card running Far Cry with HDR was able to outperform two GeForce 6800 Ultra cards running in SLI mode! The other two applications where GeForce 7800 GTX put up a particularly strong showing were Battlefield 2, where the 7800 GTX outperformed the 6800 Ultra SLI configuration in all but one test (2048x1536 with 4xAA/16xAF), while the 7800 GTX was largely able to keep up with the SLI config in Half-Life 2, matching it in performance at 2048x1536.

With more shader heavy games right around the corner, it’s pretty clear which architecture is better built for the long haul, the improvements NVIDIA has implemented into CineFX 4.0 definitely played huge dividends for the 7800 GTX, despite the so-called “modest” boost in clocks. Even more incredible is that NVIDIA is able to deliver all this performance in a single-slot package with lower power draw and better thermals than their previous high-end product, GeForce 6800 Ultra.

Besides the performance and power story, NVIDIA also delivers superior image quality thanks to their new transparency adaptive supersampling mode. By taking additional texel samples and antialiasing passes NVIDIA is able to remove the jaggies often found on thin-lined objects such as chain link fences and foliage. Just take a look at the Half-Life 2 screenshots from page 7 for an example.

GeForce 7800 GTX would best be summed up as an evolutionary product with revolutionary performance, much like the GeForce 4 a few years ago. When you add on the enhanced image quality delivered by transparency AA, the package is even sweeter. With each card selling for $600, we probably wouldn’t recommend dropping the money on a 7800 GTX SLI setup though until faster processors arrive from AMD and Intel. Clearly we were CPU-bound in multiple cases with the SLI config at practically all resolutions. Those of you with high-end LCDs who do decide to go the SLI route, may want to start shopping for a nice CRT capable of 2048x1536.

As it stands now with today’s latest applications, the GeForce 7800 GTX is definitely up for the challenge. Even with 4xAA and 16xAF thrown on for good measure!