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This card was promoted by several hardware enthusiasts as "the last high-ended AGP card in existence". It has 16 pixel shader units instead of the 20 that the 7800 GT has, but still benefits from the optimizations of the other 7-series GPUs enjoy. Clock speeds are 375 MHz for the [[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] and 1200 MHz for the (GDDR3) memory. According to all benchmark tests, the performance of this card is above and beyond both the GeForce 6800 GT and GeForce 6800 Ultra. Different vendors may deviate from the stated specification. It serves to provide a great upgrade path for those with high-end AGP systems who don't want to switch to a new high-end PCI-Express system.<ref>http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2686</ref>
This card was promoted by several hardware enthusiasts as "the last high-ended AGP card in existence". It has 16 pixel shader units instead of the 20 that the 7800 GT has, but still benefits from the optimizations of the other 7-series GPUs enjoy. Clock speeds are 375 MHz for the [[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] and 1200 MHz for the (GDDR3) memory. According to all benchmark tests, the performance of this card is above and beyond both the GeForce 6800 GT and GeForce 6800 Ultra. Different vendors may deviate from the stated specification. It serves to provide a great upgrade path for those with high-end AGP systems who don't want to switch to a new high-end PCI-Express system.<ref>http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2686</ref>
[[Image:7800gs.jpg|thumb|right|280px|A BFG TECH 7600 GS AGP]]
[[Image:7800gs.jpg|thumb|right|280px|A BFG TECH 7800 GS AGP]]
There was a special "Golden Sample" release from Gainward that was called "7800 GS+" or officially "Bliss 7800 GS 512 MB GS+" that had default clock speeds of 450 MHz core and 1250 MHz memory. Unlike a standard 7800 GS, the 7800 GS+ actually used a 7900 GT GPU that had the full 24 pixel shaders instead of the regular 16 pixel shaders that are normally found on a 7800 GS video card.
There was a special "Golden Sample" release from Gainward that was called "7800 GS+" or officially "Bliss 7800 GS 512 MB GS+" that had default clock speeds of 450 MHz core and 1250 MHz memory. Unlike a standard 7800 GS, the 7800 GS+ actually used a 7900 GT GPU that had the full 24 pixel shaders instead of the regular 16 pixel shaders that are normally found on a 7800 GS video card.


Revision as of 15:08, 14 October 2007

The GeForce 7 Series is the seventh generation of NVIDIA's GeForce graphics cards.

Template:NvidiaGPU

GeForce 7100 series

The 7100 series was introduced August 30, 2006 and is based on GeForce 6200 Series architecture. This series supports only PCI Express interface. Only one model is available and it is called 7100 GS.[1]

Advanced Features Support:

The 7100 series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology (but without GCAA)
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology
TurboCache Technology
NVIDIA PureVideo Technology

However it is important to note that 7100 series does not supports technologies such as: high dynamic range rendering (HDR) and UltraShadow II.

NOTE: Some of the above mentioned supported features can be made accessible through using the ForceWare 91.47 driver or later releases.[2]

GeForce 7100 GS

Although the 7300LE (below) was originally intended to be the "lowest budget" GPU from the GeForce 7 lineup, the 7100 GS has now taken its place. As it is little more than a revamped version of the GeForce 6200TC, it is designed as a basic PCI-e solution for OEMs to use if the chipset does not have integrated video capabilities. It comes in a PCI Express Graphics Bus and 256MB DDR2 VRAM. It ranges from $30 to $70.

Performance Specs:

  • Graphics Bus: PCI Express
  • Memory Interface: 64-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 5.3 GB/Sec
  • Fill Rate: 1.4 Billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 263 million
  • Memory Type: DDR-II with TC

GeForce 7200 Series

The 7200 series was introduced May 8, 2007 and is based on (G72) architecture. It is designed to offer a low-cost upgrade from integrated graphics solutions. This series supports only PCI Express interface. Only one model is available, which is called 7200 GS.[3]

Advanced Features Support:

The 7200 series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology
TurboCache Technology
High dynamic range rendering Technology
UltraShadow II Technology
CineFX 4.0 Engine
NVIDIA PureVideo Technology

However it is important to note that 7200 series does not supports Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology.

GeForce 7200 GS

The 7200 GS is used the same memory speed as the 7300 GS, and the core frequency is same as 7300 LE. It has two pixel pipelines. Nvidia stated that the 7200 GS performance is 50% higher than the latest integrated graphics.

Performance Specs:

  • Graphics Bus: PCI Express
  • Memory Interface: 64-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 6.4 GB/Sec
  • Fill Rate: 900 million pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 225 million
  • Memory Type: DDR-II with TC

GeForce 7300 series

NVIDIA designed the 7300 series to be entry level gaming video cards. Currently 4 models are available: the 7300 GT, the 7300 GS, the 7300 LE, and the 7300 SE.[4]

This series was released to replace the older Geforce 6200 series.

Advanced Features Support:

The 7300 series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology
TurboCache Technology
High dynamic range rendering Technology
UltraShadow II Technology
CineFX 4.0 Engine
NVIDIA PureVideo Technology

GeForce 7300 SE

It uses the same core frequency and memory speed as the 7300 LE, and has two vertex and pixel shaders. In many ways, this card is actually inferior to the 7100 GS, although it still retains the HDR support.

Performance Specs:

  • Graphics Bus: PCI Express
  • Memory Interface: 64-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 5.2 GB/Sec
  • Fill Rate: 900 million pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 225 million
  • Memory Type: DDR-II

GeForce 7300 LE

The 7300 LE (LE stands for light edition) is a scaled-down version of the 7300 GS. It has DDR2 memory, and a slightly lower core clock speed (450 MHz vs. 550 MHz) according to Anandtech[5] It is only available in the PCI Express interface. With good performance/price, the 7300 LE serves as a budget video card, though most consider it too inferior for the relatively small difference in price from the GS version.

Performance Specs:

  • Graphics Bus: PCI Express
  • Memory Interface: 64-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 6.4 GB/Sec
  • Fill Rate: 1.8 billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 338 million
  • Memory Type: DDR-II

GeForce 7300 GS

On January 18, 2006, NVIDIA officially announced the immediate release of the GeForce 7300 GS graphics card. Like most of the GeForce 7 series, the 7300 GS is currently only available with a PCI Express interface. The RAMDAC is still at 400 MHz like the original 7800 GT, but NVIDIA has scaled the memory interface down to 64-bit. The 7300 utilizes an nVidia technology called turbocache with which the card is able to effectively "share" RAM Memory to speed-up performance on low-end desktop machines.

The 7300 GS (G72) series was designed to replace the 6200 TC (NV44) series. With the same improved pipelines and pixel/vertex shading power inherited from its bigger brother, the 7800 series, albeit scaled down to fit budget market needs, the 7300 GS should have around double the performance of the 6200 TC. The 7300 GS also has the same Transparency AA feature and now supports FP16 Blending & Filtering, neither of which was in the 6200 TC.

Performance Specs:

  • Graphics Bus: PCI Express
  • Memory Interface: 64-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 6.5 GB/Sec
  • Fill Rate: 2.2 billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 413 million
  • Memory Type: DDR-II with TC

GeForce 7300 GT

The 7300 GT was quietly slipped out the door sometime April/May 2006. It is based on the G73 core, like the 7600's, although it is named as a 7300 part. It has 8 pixel pipelines, 4 vertex units, and uses 128-bit memory interface[6]. Technically, it is a more advanced part than the 6600 GT DDR2, although the clock speeds of 350MHz Core and 666/800MHz GDDR2 prevent it from competing directly. Later, faster models incorporated DDR3 memory clocked on 1.2 or 1.4 GHz[7]. Like the other 7600 and 7900-named models, it is manufactured using a 90nm process.

Performance Specs:

  • Graphics Bus: PCI Express
  • Memory Interface: 128-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 10.7 GB/Sec
  • Fill Rate: 2.8 billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 350 million
  • Memory Type: GDDR3 or DDR-II

Geforce 7500 LE

The Geforce 7500 LE is an 0EM card and is like the 7300GT and 7600s, based on the G73 Core. It has 256MB of Dedicated video memory however it also supports turbocache, giving it 512mb of video memory. It has DD2 type memory. The card also has 500MHZ core clock speed and 800mhz memory clock speed. Its performance was similar to that of the 7300GT however it outperformed a lot of 7300GTs due to its higher clock rates.

GeForce 7600 Series

NVIDIA announced immediate availability of the GeForce 7600 series on March 9, 2006. Currently two Models are available and these are GeForce 7600 GT and 7600 GS. [8] This series is available with following interfaces: A) AGP and B) PCI-Express. Thus it covers wide range of market segments.

File:7600GT.jpg
A BFG 7600 GT

This series was released to replace the older Geforce 6600 series.

Advanced Features Support:

The 7600 series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology
Extreme HD Technology
High dynamic range rendering Technology
UltraShadow II Technology
CineFX 4.0 Engine
NVIDIA PureVideo Technology

GeForce 7600 GS

On March 22, 2006, NVIDIA announced the immediate availability of the GeForce 7600 GS GPU targeted at the low-mid end. This new GPU will officially assume the place of the GeForce 6600 GT which has been around for quite some time.

The AGP version was introduced in July 21, 2006. According to NVIDIA, this card is identical to the PCI-e version other than the interface. In addition, the AGP version uses NVIDIA's AGP-PCIe bridge chip.

Performance Specs:

  • Core Clock Speed: 400 MHz core frequency
  • Memory Interface: 128-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 12.8 GB/Sec
  • Fill Rate: 3.2 billion pixel/sec and 4.8 billion texels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 500 million
  • SLI support (Only for the PCIe version)
  • Cooling Solution: Passively cooled (NVIDIA reference)
  • Memory Type: GDDR3 or DDR-2

Preliminary testing showed that the GeForce 7600 GS outperforms a GeForce 6600 GT and ATI's counterpart, the ATI Radeon X1600 Pro.[9]

GeForce 7600 GT

This is the high-mid range product in the 7 Series family.

Performance Specs:

  • Core Clock Speed: 560 MHz
  • Memory Interface: 128-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 22.4 GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Fill Rate:4.48 Billion pixel/sec and 6.72 Billion texel/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 700 Million
  • SLI Support (for PCI-E Model)
  • Shader Power: 12 pixels per cycle
  • Memory Type: GDDR3 or DDR2

The 7600 contains all the features of the GeForce 7 family, and is priced rather low for the mainstream market. It was made to provide a Geforce 7 series card to the mass market. By using the same PCB and GPU socket as the 6600, manufacturing costs should be lower due to available parts left over; and the fact that it is built on a smaller wafer. When benchmarks revealed that the 7600 GT seriously outperformed its original market opponent, the ATI Radeon X1600 XT, ATI reduced prices of its Radeon X850XT PE (the fastest video card of its previous-generation product line) and introduced the X1800 GTO, which was slightly more expensive than the 7600 GT, but marginally faster thanks to its 256-bit memory bus, higher peak pixel fill rate and more raw shading power. However, the memory speeds in the 7600 GT are underclocked, leaving quite a lot of headroom for overclocking. Card manufacturer Leadtek introduced an AGP version of the card in August 2006. [10]

GeForce 7800 Series

The 7800 series was designed to deliver exceptional performance and was targeted towards high-end market segment. This series have been discontinued and replaced with the 7900 series in early 2006.

A total of 4 models were available: GeForce 7800 GTX 512, GeForce 7800 GTX, GeForce 7800 GT, and GeForce 7800 GS. [11]

NOTE: 7800 GTX 512 GPU can be found in the new DELL Gaming Machines.

Advanced Features Support:

The 7800 series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology
High dynamic range rendering Technology
UltraShadow II Technology
CineFX 4.0 Engine
NVIDIA PureVideo Technology

GeForce 7800 GT

The GeForce 7800 GT is the second GPU in the series, launched on August 11 2005 with immediate retail availability. It has 20 pixel pipelines, 7 vertex shaders, 16 ROPs and a 400 MHz core clock, 500 MHz memory clock (1 GHz effective) using GDDR3 memory.

The GeForce 7800 GT had been introduced as a more affordable alternative to the 7800 GTX. At the time it was considered the performance/cost champion of video cards.

There has been speculation by some gamers that CPU limits and the potential for unlocking/overclocking may imply that the 7800 GT has the potential to perform at the same level as the 7800 GTX.

Efforts to enable the unlocking of the last "quad" (NVIDIA's name for groups of four pipelines) and the remaining vertex shader have been unsuccessful because NVIDIA uses a new technology called laser locking, which severs the internal connections to the quad and renders it impossible for any software to unlock it.

GeForce 7800 GS AGP

On February 2, 2006, NVIDIA announced the 7800 GS as the first AGP video card in the GeForce 7 series lineup, an AGP version of the high-end Geforce 7 Series.[12]

This card was promoted by several hardware enthusiasts as "the last high-ended AGP card in existence". It has 16 pixel shader units instead of the 20 that the 7800 GT has, but still benefits from the optimizations of the other 7-series GPUs enjoy. Clock speeds are 375 MHz for the GPU and 1200 MHz for the (GDDR3) memory. According to all benchmark tests, the performance of this card is above and beyond both the GeForce 6800 GT and GeForce 6800 Ultra. Different vendors may deviate from the stated specification. It serves to provide a great upgrade path for those with high-end AGP systems who don't want to switch to a new high-end PCI-Express system.[13]

File:7800gs.jpg
A BFG TECH 7800 GS AGP

There was a special "Golden Sample" release from Gainward that was called "7800 GS+" or officially "Bliss 7800 GS 512 MB GS+" that had default clock speeds of 450 MHz core and 1250 MHz memory. Unlike a standard 7800 GS, the 7800 GS+ actually used a 7900 GT GPU that had the full 24 pixel shaders instead of the regular 16 pixel shaders that are normally found on a 7800 GS video card.

Gainward had previously released a "Bliss 7800 GS 512MB GS" card that was based on a 7800 GT but utilized the AGP bus. Its external appearance and name make it nearly indistinguishable from the 7900 GT-based Bliss 7800 GS 512MB GS+. Leadtek produced a similar card with 256MB memory.

In late 2006 Gainward released a third '7800 GS' card with 20 pixel shaders running at 500 MHz core and 1400 MHz memory called the "BLISS GS-GLH".[14] This card is also based on the 7900 GS core.

There are no after-market cooling systems for the 7800 GS, stock cooling in the GeForce 7800 GS AGP is adequate. The board layout is radically different from other GeForce 7 boards so no universal aftermarket coolers would fit without significant modification to their mounting mechanisms.

GeForce 7800 GTX

The GeForce 7800 GTX (codenamed G70, and previously NV47) is the first GPU in the series, launched on June 22 2005 with immediate retail availability. The GeForce 7800 GTX supported the highest specification DirectX 9 vertex and pixel shaders, at the time: Version 3.0. It is natively a PCI Express chip. SLI support has been retained and improved from the previous generation.

According to PC World, the 7800 GTX is "one of the most complex processors ever designed". The GPU has 302 million transistors (the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ CPU has 233.2 million transistors), along with 24 pixel and 8 vertex shaders.[15] This card includes new standard features, such as subsurface scattering, HDR lighting, and radiosity, to name a few. It was succeeded by the 7900 GTX on March 9, 2006.

Here is how the released versions of the "GeForce 7" series family compare to NVIDIA's previous flagship GPU, the GeForce 6800 Ultra, and ATI's Radeon X1800 XT:

GeForce 6800 Ultra GeForce 7300 GS GeForce 7600 GT GeForce 7800 GTX GeForce 7900 GTX Geforce 7950 GX2 ATI Radeon X1800 XT ATI Radeon X1900 XTX
Transistor count 222 million 112 million 178 million 302 million 278 million 2 * 278 Million 321 million 384 million
Manufacturing process 130 nm 90 nm 90 nm 110 nm 90 nm 90nm 90 nm 90 nm
Die Area 288 mm² 77 mm² 125 mm² 333 mm² 196 mm² 2 * 196 mm² 288 mm² 352 mm²
Core clock speed 400 MHz 550 MHz 560 MHz 430 MHz 650 MHz 500 MHz 625 MHz 650 MHz
Number of Pixel Shader units 16 4 12 24 24 48 16 48
MADD ALUs per PS unit 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1
Number of ROPs 16 2 8 16 16 32 16 16
Number of TMUs 16 4 12 24 24 48 16 16
Number of vertex pipelines 6 3 5 8 8 16 8 8
Peak pixel fill rate (theoretical) 6.4 Gigapixel/s 1.1 Gigapixel/s 4.48 Gigapixel/s 6.88 Gigapixel/s 10.4 Gigapixel/s 16.0 Gigapixel/s 10.0 Gigapixel/s 10.4 Gigapixel/s
Peak texture fill-rate (theoretical) 6.4 Gigatexel/s 2.2 Gigatexel/s 6.72 Gigatexel/s 10.32 Gigatexel/s 15.6 Gigatexel/s 24.0 Gigatexel/s 10.0 Gigatexel/s 10.4 Gigatexel/s
On-board memory interface 256 (4*64-bit) 64 (1*64-bit) 128 (2*64-bit) 256 (4*64-bit) 256 (4*64-bit) 2 * 256(4*64-bit) 256 (8*32-bit) 256 (8*32-bit)
Memory clock speed 1.1 GHz GDDR3 810 MHz GDDR2 1.4 GHz GDDR3 1.2 GHz GDDR3 1.6 GHz GDDR3 1.2 GHz GDDR3 1.5 GHz GDDR3 1.55 GHz GDDR3
Peak memory bandwidth 35.2 GB/s 6.5 GB/s 22.4 GB/s 40.0 GB/s 51.2 GB/s 76.8 GB/s 48.0 GB/s 49.6 GB/s
Power Consumption Idle [16] ? Watts 8.7 Watts 14.6 Watts ? Watts ? Watts ? Watts 30.2 Watts 29.5 Watts
Power Consumption Peak 2D ? Watts 10.3 Watts 22.5 Watts ? Watts ? Watts ? Watts 52.1 Watts 50.1 Watts
Power Consumption Peak 3D ? Watts 16.1 Watts 35.8 Watts ? Watts ? Watts ? Watts 103.1 Watts 120.7 Watts

GeForce 7800 GTX 512

The 512 MB version of the GeForce 7800 GTX was released on November 14 2005. The card features more than simply an increased frame buffer from 256 MB to 512 MB. The card features a much improved core clock speed of 550 MHz vs. 430 MHz (27.9% increase) and fast 1.1 ns GDDR3 memory clocked at 1.7 GHz vs. 1.2 GHz (41.7% increase), when compared to the original version. Like ATI's X1800 XT, the addition of another 256 MB of memory, and to a lesser extent, the increased clock speeds, have raised the heat and power output significantly. To combat this, the GeForce 7800 GTX 512 sports a much larger yet quieter dual slot cooling solution when compared to the original 256 MB version[17].

Performance Specs:

  • Core Clock Speed: 550 MHz
  • Memory Interface: 256-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 54.4 GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Fill Rate: 13.2 Billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 1100 Million
  • Shader Power: 24 pixels per clock
  • Memory Type: GDDR3

GeForce 7900 Series

NVIDIA officially announced availability of the GeForce 7900 series on March 9, 2006.[18]

NVIDIA's 7900 series is a product refresh and not a new generation of NVIDIA's GPU, running at 650 MHz. Officially this series is meant to support only PCI Express Interface but some companies are also releasing AGP versions.

A total of 5 models have been developed and are available: 7900 GX2, 7900 GTX, 7900 GT, 7900 GTO and 7900 GS.

Advanced Features Support:

The 7900 series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology
Extreme HD Technology
High dynamic range rendering Technology
UltraShadow II Technology
CineFX 4.0 Engine
NVIDIA PureVideo Technology

GeForce 7900 GS

Introduced during the fall of 2006, At a MSRP of USD $199 [19], the 7900 GS filled the gap between the mid-end GeForce 7600 GT and the high-end GeForce 7900 GT. The card was unofficially launched August 23 by woot! as a white box OEM. However, the product's company, MSI, made claims that these cards were stolen from MSI during transportation and sold to woot!.[20] The referenced MSI customer notice has been changed to remove explicit references to woot!. As of March 2007, NVIDIA had discontinued production of a number of GeForce 6 and 7 series products, including the 7900 GS.

The GeForce 7900 GS has 20 pixel processors, 7 vertex processors, 256-bit memory bus, and comes clocked at approximately 450 MHz/1320 MHz for core/memory, which should provide slightly lower performance than the 7900 GT. The GeForce 7900 GS is powered by the latest graphics chip code-named G71, thus, shares the same advantages as the G71 did over its immediate predecessor G70: dual-link DVI outputs, reduced power consumption, higher performance[21].

Performance Specs:

  • Core Clock Speed: 450 MHz
  • Memory Interface: 256-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 42.2 GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Fill Rate: 9 Billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 822.5 Million
  • Shader Power: 20 pixels per clock
  • SLI Support (PCI-E model only)
  • Memory Type: GDDR3

NOTE: XFX has developed AGP versions of this card as well. [22]

GeForce 7900 GT

This video card was released on 9 March 2006. Like the 7900 GTX, it is a revised version of the G70 GPU (G71) that is produced at 90 nm. It too offers all the features of the 7800 series as well as an attractive performance-to-price ratio.

Featuring 24 pixel shader units, it is actually faster than the 256 MB version of the GeForce 7800 GTX, yet has an MSRP of US$299 (for the base clockrate). The overclocked versions are priced up to US$349. [citation needed]

Performance Specs:

  • Memory Interface: 256-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 42.2 GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Fill Rate: 10.8 Billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 940 Million
  • Shader Power: 24 pixels per clock
  • Memory Type: GDDR3

GeForce 7900 GTX

The GeForce 7900 GTX is the latest revision of the G70 Core, this 90 nm produced G70 (named G71) features all the same features as its older brother the 7800 GTX but is built upon the smaller manufacturing process.

Featuring a clock speed of 650 MHz, opposed to the 550 MHz speed of the 512 GTX, this card offers up to an 8 - 15% performance increase. It features a new 24 pixel shader design superscalar GPU model, much like the 512 MB 7800 GTX, but offers faster performance due to "improved pipeline design". "We changed the ROP performance as well as reconfigured some of the pipelines to make sure the card was more optimized over G70," NVIDIA said.[23]

Due to shortages of memory modules for the 512 MB GTX, NVIDIA decided to use the more readily available 1600 MHz memory. This also allows the card to be priced very competitively, giving ATI Technologies a harder time. In turn, ATI made a massive price slash in its current lineup. It was released on March 9, 2006.

Performance Specs:

  • Core Clock Speed: 650 MHz
  • Memory Interface: 256-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Fill Rate: 15.6 Billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 1.4 Billion
  • Shader Power: 24 pixels per clock
  • Memory Type: GDDR3

GeForce 7900 GTO

The 7900 GTO is a close cousin of the 7900 GTX. [24] The GTO first arrived at a handful of retailers around October 1, 2006. At the time of launch, GTO boards sold for around USD $250, compared to the 7900 GTX boards that cost in excess of $400 at the time. The GTO was essentially identical to the GTX, with the exception that it lacked HDCP and VIVO support, had underclocked memory running at 1320 MHz, and used tighter memory timings. Other than that, the two boards were identical: same PCB, same cooler, same GPU. The GTO used extremely fast 1.1ns Samsung BJ11 GDDR3 memory running at 1.8V, as opposed to the 2.1V it is rated at. Clock speeds on the two cards are identical, at 650 MHz. At stock memory speeds, most comparisons found the GTO to lag behind the GTX by roughly a 5-10% margin.

The majority of owners find that their GTO will overclock to 1600 MHz memory speeds, despite the under-volted RAM. Many flash to a GTX BIOS to officially make it a GTX. GTO owners having trouble reaching GTX speeds with BIOS version 5.71.22.39.13 or newer are advised to simply flash to an older BIOS version such as 5.71.22.39.08, this seems to solve overclocking problems for most users.

The GTO was an extremely popular card among enthusiasts as it offered near GTX performance at a considerably lower price. It was a limited production card aimed at cleaning out G70 inventories before the release of the G80, and only spent about a month in retail channels before selling out.

GeForce 7900 GX2

The GeForce 7900 GX2 is two videocards stacked to fit as a dual slot solution. [25] This is not like products such as the ASUS Dual GeForce 7800 GT or nVidia's own 7950 GX2, where two GPUs are on the same card. This enables quad-SLI on two PCI Express x16 slots. Other OEM companies have access to the GX2 and it is now available from numerous vendors.

The card features a 500 MHz GPU and 1200 MHz effective RAM speed. Although the power of the GX2 is less than the 7900 GTX, each card is more powerful than the 7900 GT.

Many issues in this implementation of a dual-GPU unit convinced NVIDIA to restrict its sale to OEM companies. The card is extremely long, with only the largest e-ATX cases being able to hold it. Two of the cards operating in quad-SLI also required extremely well designed airflow to function, and demanded a 1000 watt power supply unit.

GeForce 7950 Series

GeForce 7950 Series is the latest addition in the already big GeForce 7 series. Officially this series is meant to only support PCI Express Interface but some companies are releasing AGP versions as well.

Currently two models are available: 7950 GT and 7950 GX2 [26]

Advanced Features Support:

The 7950 series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology
Extreme HD Technology
High dynamic range rendering Technology
UltraShadow II Technology
CineFX 4.0 Engine
NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology

GeForce 7950 GT

On 14 September 2006 NVIDIA released the 7950GT. Announced with a 550 MHz core clock, 700 MHz (1400 MHz effective) memory clock, 24 pixel shader units, standard configurations come equipped with both 512 MB GDDR3 memory and HDCP support. At an introductory price of US$300, the GeForce 7950 GT replaces the older GeForce 7900 GT and improves performance: the GeForce 7950 GT has a fillrate of 13,200 Megatexels/s and a memory bandwidth of 44.8 GB/s (versus 10800 Megatexels/s and 940 Megavertices/s for the 7900 GT).

Performance Specs:

  • Memory Interface: 256-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 44.8 GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Fill Rate: 13.2 Billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 1.1 Billion
  • Shader Power: 24 pixels per clock
  • SLI Support (PCI-E model only)
  • Memory Type: GDDR3

NOTE: XFX has developed and released AGP versions of this card. [27]

GeForce 7950 GX2

This is essentially a dual-GPU video card that takes up only a single PCIe x16 slot, allowing for 4 GPUs to run with only two PCIe x16 slots, in standard SLI motherboards. Unlike the 7900 GX2 before it, this version is available to consumers directly.[28]

The 7950 GX2 was released to retail on June 5, 2006, and shares similar specs to the GeForce 7900 GX2, with 500 MHz GPU clock, and 1200 MHz effective RAM speed. 512 MB of memory per GPU, for a total of 1 GB, however total performance is more in line with 512 MB since each GPU can only access its own memory and not the memory of the other one. It does not offer any advantages over single-GPU cards with 512 MB, memory wise.

This card is designed for the DIY market; it addresses many problems which the previous 7900 GX2 had suffered from, such as noise, size, power consumption, and price. The 7950 GX2 requires only a single PCIe power connector, in contrast to the twin-connectors of its predecessor; technically, this is understandable, as there is no need for a ring bus configuration - frames need only be passed on to the primary GPU. It is much shorter, fitting easily in the same space as a 7900 GTX. Lesser board layout and the removal of cooling vents on the bracket have greatly declined cooling, allowing the fans to run at a lower speed, thereby lowering noise. As of September 2006, the board can be found for $299, half the cost of a 7900 GX2.

According to some review sites (such as Toms Hardware - see above), a single 7950GX2 draws less power than a single ATI Radeon X1900 XT - some consider this an amazing feat considering the GX2 employs a pair of GPUs, when the Radeon uses only one. Other review sites say that a GX2 is quieter than the aforementioned Radeon[29], despite the GX2 boasting a pair of identical GPU coolers - however 'loudness' is highly subjective without the proper tools and testing conditions. If true, this would make a pair of GX2 cards cooler, quieter, and less power hungry than a pair of X1900 XT cards in CrossFire. However, there is no appreciable performance gain from pairing two 7950 GX2 cards in most applications, while dual X1900 XT configurations see large performance boosts in CrossFire mode.

Performance Specs:

  • Memory Interface: 512-bit
  • Memory Bandwidth: 76.8 GB/s memory bandwidth
  • Fill Rate: 24 Billion pixels/sec
  • Vertices/Sec: 2 Billion
  • Shader Power: 48 pixels per clock
  • Memory Type: GDDR3

On August 9, 2006, NVIDIA released initial 91.45 drivers for Windows 2000 and XP that support Quad SLI. [30] The Quad SLI support was soon merged in with the normal WHQL driver package, when version 91.47 was released on October 16, 2006. [31]

GeForce 7 Go Series

NVIDIA has not just targeted the Desktop market but also has targeted the Notebook market with GeForce 7 series. [32]

Advanced Features Support:

The GeForce 7 Go series supports following advanced features:

Intellisample 4.0 Technology
Scalable Link Interface (SLI) Technology
Extreme HD Technology
PowerMizer Mobile Technology
MXM Graphics Module Technology
High dynamic range rendering Technology
UltraShadow II Technology
CineFX 4.0 Engine
NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology

The GeForce 7 Go GPU family line-up:

The GeForce 7 Go GPU family line-up consists of following models:

GeForce Go 7950
GeForce Go 7900
GeForce Go 7800
GeForce Go 7700
GeForce Go 7600
GeForce Go 7400
GeForce Go 7300
GeForce Go 7200

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_7100.html
  2. ^ http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/hwdb.php?tid=664822&tp=galaxy-gf7100gs&rid=664828
  3. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_7200.html
  4. ^ http://NVIDIA.com/page/geforce_7300.html
  5. ^ http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=2718&p=2
  6. ^ "NVIDIA GeForce 7300 family specs". NVIDIA. 2007.
  7. ^ "Gainward BLISS 7300GT GoesLikeHell". Gainward. 2006.
  8. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_7600.html
  9. ^ http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=1&id=1856
  10. ^ http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&id=2031
  11. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_7800.html
  12. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_29168.html
  13. ^ http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2686
  14. ^ http://www.gainward.net/products/product.php?products_id=85
  15. ^ "GeForce 7800 GTX Sets Gaming Speed Records". PC World. June 22, 2005.
  16. ^ "VIDEO CARD POWER REQUIREMENT REVIEW : X1900XTX 7900GTX 7900GT 7600GT X1600XT X1300 7600GS ." xtreview. 31 July 2006.
  17. ^ "NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX 512: More Than Just More Memory". AnandTech. 14 November 2005.
  18. ^ http://www.NVIDIA.com/page/geforce_7900.html
  19. ^ "Nvidia Plans to Sell GeForce 7900 GS in Retail". Xbit Laboratories. 12 August 2006.
  20. ^ "Important MSI Customer Notice about stolen 7900GS video cards". MSI. 20 August 2006.
  21. ^ "Dell Touts GeForce 7900 GS Graphics Card". Xbit Laboratories. 15 May 2006.
  22. ^ http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%26trade%3B+7900&productConfigurationId=1006184
  23. ^ http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/03/09/ati_and_NVIDIAs_same_day_mega_launch_mayhem/page3.html
  24. ^ http://www.behardware.com/news/8340/specifications-of-the-geforce-7900-gto.html
  25. ^ http://www.beyond3d.com/resources/board/320
  26. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_7950.html
  27. ^ http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurations.jspa?seriesId=185563&productId=638284
  28. ^ "GeForce 7950 GX2 - SLI on a Single Card". Toms Hardware. June 5, 2006.
  29. ^ "NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2". bit-tech. 6 June 2006.
  30. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_91.45.html
  31. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_91.47.html
  32. ^ http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforcego7.html

External links

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