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Gigabyte GV-NX78X256V-B Geforce 7800GTX Videocard Review
Gigabyte GV-NX78X256V-B Geforce 7800GTX Videocard Review - PCSTATS
The GV-NX78X256V-B is backed up by 256MB of GDDR3 memory and supports VIVO (Video In/Video Out) as well as component output, and is fully SLI compatible.
 90% Rating:   
Filed under: Video Cards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Gigabyte Aug 01 2005   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Video Cards > Gigabyte GV-NX78X256V-B

7800 GTX Image Quality Tests

Easily one of the biggest features of the GeForce 7800 GTX series of graphics cards is the new Transparency Antialiasing feature. If you are interested in the technology behind please check out PCSTATS' GeForce 7800 GTX videocard preview.


(Click on image to see full size screenshot)

Between regular AA and Transparency Multisampling AA is very little but compared to Transparency Supersampling AA is quite pronounced. Look specifically at the fence, AA and Transparency MSAA methods still produce quite a bit of jagged lines because the pixels are not at the edge of the polygon. With Transparency SSAA however, SuperSampling renders each entire frame at a higher resolution then blends the colour and shade of areas where there is a large amount of difference between pixels.


4x AA With MSAA

4x AA With SSAA

The fence section was blown up to 200% to show the difference between the AA modes and here we see that the fence and branches from the tree still have jagged lines despite AA being enabled. With Supersampling, the edges are much smoother and easier on the eyes.

SLI of the future

The GeForce 7800 GTX will be fully SLI compatible, as evidenced by the little slot on the top of the card. The potential of this unholy union should have game fanatics drooling. Apparently, future versions of nVidia's Forceware will also allow SLI with cards from different manufacturers (provided they use the same GPU).

Also in store for SLI enthusiasts with future Forceware versions is a new 16xAA mode. The video memory requirements for 16xAA are huge, so it's no surprise that nVidia has chosen to restrict it to SLI. Once we begin to see videocards shipping with 512MB of memory as a standard, 16xAA might move into the mainstream.

Purevideo

The nVidia PureVideo video capture/playback technology that debuted on the 6xxx line of GPUs is back on the 7800 with some enhancements and a new feature. The new feature is High-Definition Spatial-Temporal De-Interlacing, a mouthful which boils down to better high-definition video playback. The additional horsepower of the 7800 GPU is used to improve other facets of video playback and capture also, which should lead to the new graphics processor being a mean multimedia machine.

Power draw and PSU's

The 7800 GTX does not require any more power than the 6800 Ultra, at least according to nVidia. The minimum required power supply wattage for a 7800 GTX system is 350Watts, same as the the 6800 Ultra.

How is this possible? nVidia has used a combination of the lower power requirements of the 110nm process and a clock gating mechanism (clock gating involves turning off or slowing the clock signal to certain units of an integrated circuit when they are not being used), to achieve a notable milestone: Higher performance at slightly lower power levels.

This means that nVidia was able to make their reference 7800 GTX card without using an enormous cooler, so it will not dominate the empty slot next to it on your motherboard. The 7800 GPU might have a bright future with nVidia's mobile line of graphics products too. Next up, overclocking with a phase change cooler!

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Contents of Article: Gigabyte GV-NX78X256V-B
 Pg 1.  Gigabyte GV-NX78X256V-B Geforce 7800GTX Videocard Review
 Pg 2.  GeForce 7800 GTX Technology
 Pg 3.  CineFX4.0/Shader Model 3.0
 Pg 4.  — 7800 GTX Image Quality Tests
 Pg 5.  Pushing the Gigabyte videocard to its max
 Pg 6.  Benchmarks: 3DMark2001, 3DMark05
 Pg 7.  Benchmarks: CodeCreatures
 Pg 8.  Benchmarks: ShaderMark 2.1
 Pg 9.  Benchmarks: ShaderMark 2.1 (Continued)
 Pg 10.  Benchmarks: D3D RightMark, Gun Metal 2
 Pg 11.  Benchmarks: X2: The Threat
 Pg 12.  Benchmarks: UT2003
 Pg 13.  Benchmarks: Doom 3
 Pg 14.  Advanced Benchmarks: 3DMark2001, X2: The Threat, Doom 3
 Pg 15.  Benchmarks: SLI-AntiAliasing
 Pg 16.  The Future of Gaming is Very Bright

 
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