Nvidia have released an AGP version of their flapship GPU, the GeForce 7800. As its name implies the GeForce 7800 GS AGP is based on the exact same architecture as the GeForce 7800 GTX that was first launched in June 2005. This means that you’ve not only got NVIDIA’s CineFX 4.0 architecture with its more robust pixel and vertex shading units and support for transparency anti-aliasing, but also NVIDIA’s PureVideo technology. GeForce 6800, 6800 GT, and 6800 Ultra cards based on NVIDIA’s NV40 GPU didn’t provide support for PureVideo.

Considering all this, as well as the GeForce 7800 GS’ support for NVIDIA’s transparency AA, quieter noise levels, and PureVideo, the 7800 GS is certainly a nice improvement over NVIDIA’s high-end GeForce 6800 offerings. Is it a GeForce 6800 GT killer for AGP users? Certainly not. If you already own a high-end AGP card, say for instance a GeForce 6800 GT/Radeon X800 Pro or better, then you’ll probably be a little disappointed by the performance of the stock GeForce 7800 GS AGP. You’d likely be better served spending your money on a new PCI Express motherboard and graphics card, as the GeForce 7800 GS in stock form just isn’t a huge improvement over the card that you already own. For $350, the current list price of the GeForce 7800 GS AGP, you can buy a GeForce 6800 GS PCI-E and a new motherboard, or better yet, pony up $400 and go for a GeForce 7800 GT and an nForce4 Ultra motherboard. For AGP owners that don’t want to upgrade just yet, or want to wait until AMD’s Socket AM2 transition is well underway, the GeForce 7800 GS AGP would be a nice interim card to game on until you’re ready to take the PCI Express plunge.



As you can see, NVIDIA disables two pixel shading quads in the GeForce 7800 GS AGP, resulting in a 16-pixel architecture for the GeForce 7800 GS. On the GeForce 7800 GT, only one quad was disabled. The changes don’t stop there however, as NVIDIA also turns off two vertex shading units (for a grand total of six in the GeForce 7800 GS AGP) and slashes the number of functional rasterizers (ROPs) in half, to a total of 8.

In addition to trimming the number of functional units, NVIDIA also reduces the clock speeds on the GeForce 7800 GS AGP, as the graphics core runs at 375MHz, that’s 25MHz slower than the GeForce 7800 GT and GeForce 6800 Ultra, and 25MHz faster than the GeForce 6800 GT. Paired alongside the graphics core is 256MB of GDDR3 memory running at 600MHz (1.2GHz effective), this is the same speed as the GeForce 7800 GTX, and 50MHz faster than the GeForce 6800 Ultra. This should allow it to perform well at high resolutions, particularly once AA/AF is applied.

BFG’s GeForce 7800 GS AGP is built largely on NVIDIA’s reference design, but incorporates just enough improvements to make it stand out in comparison to more conventional GeForce 7800 GS AGP cards. For starters you’ve got BFG’s higher than stock clock speeds out-of-the-box. This is all “free” performance, as BFG sells their board for the same $349.99 MSRP as every other GeForce 7800 GS card manufacturer on the market. But more importantly, you’ve got BFG’s lifetime warranty and 24/7 tech support. It’s this feature in particular that has earned BFG a reputation for being the enthusiasts choice when it comes to graphics cards.