eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT GeForce 7800 GT, (256 MB) PCI Express Video Card

Introduction
The 7800GT line of video cards is the successor to the largely popular, but aging, 6800GT line of NVIDIA cards. It comes in at approximately the same price point as the 6800GT was when it was first launched. The 7800GT is targeted not only at high-end gamers, but also the video and image editing users who want plenty of horsepower and a wide variety of input / output connections.

Basic Information on the eVGA 7800GT
This video card is only offered in PCI-E interface, so if you are stuck with a motherboard that only has an AGP video slot, you are out of luck. PCI-E is the newer interface type that has a higher maximum bandwidth speed than AGP. If you are not using dual video cards in an SLI setup, it is important to note, that there is no current advantage PCI-E has over AGP since video cards have not yet saturated the maximum level of bandwidth available over the AGP interface. Testing done by various websites and magazines shows that the same video card chipset will perform almost identically on an AGP 8X interface vs. PCI-E interface. However, since video cards are becoming more and more powerful, PCI-E is clearly the future in terms of where the video card interface standard is moving.

The card has three connections – two DVI-I and one S-Video. The DVI connectors can be used to connect your CRT or LCD monitor, and the S-Video can be used to connect to your TV. If you have an older CRT monitor (like me), you will need to use the included DVI-to-VGA adaptor in order to connect your monitor to the card. Some newer televisions include a DVI connection, which can be connected directly to the card using a DVI cable. The card also includes a fairly large heatsink over the GPU, which does a good job of keeping the card cool but makes the card thicker than most regular video cards.

The card includes a limited lifetime warranty standard, and you can register online at www.evga.com, which makes registration easy. A lifetime warranty is a step up from the warranty offered by most manufacturers, which is a plus for the eVGA line of cards.

Included in the box

1) 7800GT card with 256MB GDDR3 memory
2) S-Video cable
3) DVI-to-VGA adapter
4) Video capture adapter for converting S-Video-to-RCA
5) CD with drivers and software
6) Call of Duty 2 (part of a promotional bundle)
7) Quick installation guide
8) Hard copy of the user manual

Installation
Installation of the card was a fairly simple process that only takes 5-10 minutes. It was installed into an Antec Lanboy case. The only extra step needed, outside of inserting it into the PCI-E slot, is connecting the 6 pin PCI-E power connector to your power supply. Of course, your power supply must also be able to supply adequate power to the card in addition to all of the other components in your PC. NVIDIA recommends a 450 watt or higher power supply unit. Another step I would recommend, after getting the card installed and the drivers from the CD installed, is to download the latest drivers from NVIDIA's website. The most up-to-date drivers will almost always provide better performance and stability, so this is an important installation step that you should not overlook.

One nice characteristic of the eVGA 7800GT is that the size of the card has not increased dramatically over the eVGA 6800GT line of cards. While it is bigger, the height and length of the 7800GT (4.7 inches x 8.98 inches, H x W) is comparable to the 6800GT (3.9 inches x 8.5 inches, H x W).

Use of the eVGA GeForce 7800GT and Benchmark Results
So far, I have gotten outstanding results with this video card. All of the games I have played (Quake 4, Doom 3, Call of Duty 2) have run exceptionally fast and smooth at their highest settings. The graphics for all of the games, as well as all of the other applications I use, all look great using this card. The only applications I've used are the standard Microsoft offerings (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, Internet Explorer) as well as Firefox, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Macromedia Fireworks. Now, to the heart of the review – how fast is the e-GeForce 7800GT in games?

Test System
- Athlon 64 4000+
- eVGA nForce 4 SLI motherboard
- 1GB OCZ DDR400 (2x512MB) Performance Series RAM
- Western Digital 74GB Raptors in RAID 0
- Windows XP Professional
- Driver version 81.98

All benchmark results were taken after running the demo two twice, and using only the results of the second run.

Quake 4:
- 1600x1200 with No AA / AF = 89 fps
- 1600x1200 with 4xAA, no AF = 50 fps

Doom3:
- 1280x1024 with High Quality, No AA / AF = 114 fps
- 1600x1200 with Ultra Quality, 4xAA and 8xAF = 51 fps

3DMark05:
- 1280x1024 with No AA / AF = 7137 3D marks
- 1600x1200 with 4xAA and 8xAF = 4321 3D marks

I checked the temperature periodically during the testing, and the highest it got was 64 degrees Celsius. And this is all done on the stock heat sink included on the card – no aftermarket cooler is needed at all!

The card also kept quiet during the testing. Noise level from the card is not noticeable above the noise from the power supply unit.

As you can see from the test results, this card is very speedy and nearly matches the results of the 7800GTX line of cards. It also provides a healthy jump in performance over the 6800GT line, with an average of 20 – 30% increase in frame rates. The increase in core / memory speeds over the NVIDIA reference design also gives a nice bump up in performance, and makes the eVGA worth a hard look when shopping for a new video card.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to test the video or HDTV capabilities of this card. I do not make use of the advanced imaging and video features of this card. As such, I can only attest to the outstanding performance that this card delivers in games and applications.

Specifications from the manufacturer site
Chipset GPU: GeForce 7800GT
Core clock: 445MHz
Memory Clock: 535MHz (1.07GHz effective)
Memory Size: 256MB
Memory Interface: 256-bit GDDR3
Pixel Pipelines: 20
Memory Type: GDDR3
Interface: PCI-Express x16
D-SUB: 1
DVI-I: 2
TV-Out: S-Video with HDTV support
Max Resolution: 2048x1536@75Hz
SLI Supported: Yes

Conclusion
Overall, the e-GeForce 7800GT packs a lot of punch for its relatively hefty pricetag. In direct competition to the ATI X1800XL, it seems that NVIDIA currently has the edge in price / performance ratio. As you can see from the benchmark results, this card really shines in newer games (such as Quake 4) and especially at higher resolutions. I have not found any significant drawbacks or anything to really complain about. It provides high-end graphics performance for every PC game that is on the market today, and should be able to handle future games that have more complex and detailed graphics. Add on the fact that it has a lifetime warranty and does not require an aftermarket cooler to be overclocked, and I think it is an excellent value over the NVIDIA 6800GT line and the ATI X1800XL.

My other video card reviews:
- PNY 6800GT 256MB Video Card