[Review] BFG GeForce 7800 GS OC 256MB - AGP

[Tantawi]

Hi all Neowinians,

Introduction:

I know I know, the AGP is somehow dead and unheard of today :) , and also the card isn't that new, but it's based on a different core than what was released in last February, so I thought I might give this mini review for anyone interested!

I bought this card for my aging AGP system replacing a 6600 GT, the 6600 GT is not a poor performer, but I had a chance to get the 7800 really cheap so what the hell! :) Now I can keep my AGP system for another year at least, and wont dump it in the trash when I get a new one :)

Package Contents:

- BFG GeForce 7800 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 AGP8x.

- DVI to D-SUB adapter.

- Power dongle, manual, drivers CD "No games".

Pics (Minus the CPU ;) ):

Card Specifications:

- GPU NIVIDIA? GeForce™ 7800 GS

- Bus Type: AGP

- Memory: 256MB GDDR3 256bit bus.

- Core Clock: 400MHz (vs. 375MHz standard)

- Memory Clock: 1250MHz (vs. 1200MHz standard)

- RAMDAC Dual 400MHz

- Microsoft? DirectX? 9.0 and lower, OpenGL 2.0 and lower for Microsoft? Windows?.

- Connectors: VGA, DVI-I, S-Video Out

- 600 million Vertices/Sec.

- 40.0GB/second memory bandwidMy relevant system specs. and some notes (Power, core, noise and temps...):

- Antec SmartPower 2.0 500Watt (Dual 12vrails).

- Intel Pentium 4 3.4E w/HT @ 3.7GHz.

- MSI Neo2-P Platinum edition (i865- BFG 7800 GS OC manually overclocked @ 480MHz core / 1.45GHz memory..

- 2GB Hynix PC3200 dual channel @ 436MHz.

- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATAII.

- ViewSonic VA912 19" LCD (DVI(1280x1024).

Note 1: On BFG site, it says that this card requires 400watts minimum PSU with at least 20A on the 12v rail, but guess what, my Antec PSU was making this annoying high pitched sound (irrelevant to the card, it's like this since I bought it) so I'm RMAing it, and I'm running my overclocked system with 7800GS just fine on my old HEC 300watts PSU, with 15A on the 12v rail for several days with extensive load without a problem. Good :)ws :)Note 2: Almost every 7800 GS I saw online (except the limited edition Gainward BLISS), is based on the G70 core (Same as 7800 GTX with fewer pipelines). This BFG is based on the newer G71 core (7900), but unfortunately, it has the same Pixel/Vertex pipelines as other 7800 GSs (16/6), and to this date nobody have successfully unlocked any extra pipelinNote 3: This card is NOISY! compared to my old 6600GT with Zalman VF700-Cu HSF on it this sounds like a motorcycle!! and unfortunatily to this date, there's no 3rd party coolers I can buy that fits this card&:(3; :( but thanks to the BIOS editor, I was able to reduce the 2D and 3D fan speeds to only 30% to eliminate the extreme noise, now this silent overclocked baby is idling at 43-44c and never goes beyond 55c under very extensive loads. ATITool reports no artifacts for 2 hours test on that speed and temp. (Room temp is anywhere between 12-20c in Egypt's wi:cool:cool:Pic with the card installed and running:

Benchmarking results:

On the above system with the overclocked card and CPU, using latest nZone beta ForceWare 93.81 on a fully patched Windows XP SP2.

- 3DMark06 (1280x1024 - All defaul3470

- 3DMark05 (1024x768 - All defaul6820

- 3DMark03 (1024x768 - All defaul14110

- PCMark05 (All defaul4720

- Counter-Strike Source video stress test (1280x1024 / 4x MSAA / 8x AF / all other settings is set to the highe113fps

Update:

Same system above with overc500/14500 to the card, using beta ForceWare 97.44 on a fully patched Windows XP SP2.

- 3DMark06 (1280x1024 - All defaul36088

- 3DMark05 (1024x768 - All defaul70122

- 3DMark03 (1024x768 - All defaul14630

- PCMark05 (All defaul47155

- Counter-Strike Source video stress test (1280x1024 / 4x MSAA / 8x AF / all other settings is set to the highe115fpss

Conclusion:>

Overall, I like this card, and it's a big improvements over the old 6600 GT I had, so do not hesitate to take the same path if you have this card or any older one and want to play the latest games with most quality settings turned on.

However users with 6800 GT/Ultra wont notice that big improvments, for sure games will play smoother and so, but think again: Does it really worth the price? 6800 GTs is somehow decent, and the logical next step up will be a complete system overhaul with a new CPU and PCI-E graphics caThanks for readingg, and sorry of you found the review laking any details or poorly written, it's my first time ever writing a re:)ew :) also excuse the pics quality, I took it with the camera of my SE K750 phone.

Edited January 23, 2007 by Tantawi

[*RedBull*]

I find this helpful, as I have a BFG 6800GT, and really like it. My PCIE ATI 200M on my notebook can handle some gaming, but the graphics aren't nearly as clear as the 6800GT. I was thinking of getting a 7800GS to upgrade my 6800GT. Mostly leaning on not, but for sure now. (Y)

[Tantawi]

You're welcome :)

I've added 3DMark03 score as well.

[Mando]

good review bud.

I made a similar upgrade path a few months ago from a Gainward Golden Sample 6800GT 256mbr to the Bliss 7800GS 512mbr (the one based on the 7800GT with 20 pipes) Within 2 weeks the bliss + was out lol.

i noticed a big jump in 3d performance :) and has kept my 4yr old AGP based P4 3ghz system last another 12-18months :)

[Tantawi]

Lucky you, Mando :D I'm in Egypt and couldn't find the Gainward anywhere (for sure since it's a UK only release I guess?)

I've updated the benchmarks numbers with newer ForceWare and slightly faster stable overclock.

[CoLdFuSi0n]

good review, i also have this card and have to say that its a preaty damn good card for being agp :)