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Looking at the HDR benchmarks, we see a more close race between the GeForce 7800GTX and 7800GT. The GeForce 7800GTX does offer faster frame rates (around 20 % faster minimum frame rates), but you'd still don't want to use it above 1280 x 960. With minimal price difference between the GeForce 7800GTX and 7800GT, it makes more sense to spend more to get the GeForce 7800GTX.

Conclusion:

The GeForce 7800GTX is the fastest offering from NVIDIA right now and if you're looking for performance, there's no other choice than the GeForce 7800GTX. While many may be interested in the GeForce 7800GT, the minimal price difference can't be justified when you look at the performance difference between both cards (around 20%). The 7800GTX is definitely worth the price they are asking, However, even the GeForce 7800GTX has limitations, AA still comes with a big performance penalty. Thankfully, frame rates are still high enough for most games, although we can't say the same with newer games.

Those looking to replace their GeForce 6800GT will be wise to wait, since both vendors are already preparing their next chipset refresh. Hopefully, in addition to speed bumps, we will see much more efficient approaches to 3D performance problems and issues we're facing right now.

While the GeForce 7800GTX is significantly faster than the GeForce 6800GT in a majority of games, newer titles still prove too much for the card. Take a look at F.E.A.R, which is pretty much what can we expect from next generation games. The GeForce 7800GT has a minimum fps that's 10 fps faster than 6800GT. That's significant and indicate we shouldn't experience any major lag in gameplay. However, we still experience some lag during gameplay (at 1024 x 768 with 4x AA 16x AF) - meaning you can still get frame rates lower than 30 fps for more than just a second (not during loading or caused by texture / geometry fetches). That's not really acceptable for a card that's priced at US$ 400 to 600. A higher clocked GeForce 7800GTX does slightly better in this regard, but that's really just a remedy, not a solution. The same comment also applies to one of the GeForce 7 series most touted feature: transparency antialiasing. This feature can do wonders where image quality is a concern, but performance penalty can vary between minimal to horribly high. Dropping sample levels to 2x can help performance without sacrificing image quality by much, but again - which one do you prefer: 4x AA with no transparency antialiasing or 2x transparency SSAA? We think that wit the prices of these cards, you shouldn't have to choose. It's unlikely NVIDIA can provide a mix sample rate (for example 4x AA for normal textures and 2x SSAA for transparent textures), but' if they do, that's the sweet spot from a performance / quality standpoint.

What about performance without AA and AF? Well, in that's important to you, hell, even the GeForce 6800GT is enough for 1024 x 768. You only need the GeForce 7800GTX if you want to play at 1280 x 960 or higher (without AA and AF). One strong point the GeForce 7800GTX has is HDR. HDR rendering is also significantly faster, even with reference clocks. In short, we feel that the GeForce 7800 GTX (or all the cards in the 7 series for that matter) is really nothing more than a more refined (and of course faster) GeForce 6 series with support for transparency antialiasing. In addition to faster performance, the GeForce 7 series does offer significant image quality improvements over the GeForce 6 series (mostly due to transparency antialiasing) But this particular feature is still a somewhat mixed bag.

Out of the two cards we tested today, the GeForce 7800GTX is clearly the better buy. If you must buy a GeForce 7800GTX, get a higher clocked card - it will offer slightly higher frame rates. It may not be much, but it may be enough to provide fluid gameplay with these improvements enabled. But it looks like we have to wait for next generation cards to really have fluid frame rates with the best image quality.

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