Fastest Geforce 7800 GT 512MB tips up

GAINWARD is back with the vengeance. And now we won't be able to make fun of its ultra-long names anymore as it brings in a new naming convention along with its new designs.

And, since Nvidia could not deliver enough 7800 GTX 512s these guys have made an alternative.

The company has produced Geforce 7800 GT and Geforce 6800 GS cards both powered with 512MB of memory. The best of all is that they won't cost you that much. All new cards will be branded 'Bliss' and this is the word that is part of its new image.

We had a chance to test a 7800GT Golden Sample Goes like Hell and this is the first Geforce 7800 GT based card with 512MB on-board memory. Despite double the amount of memory it is clocked a little bit faster than the competition too. The company decided to clock this card at 450MHz core and 1300MHz memory. Just for a comparison the Gainward 7800 GT with 256MB is clocked to 440/1100MHz only.

As you might expect this Bliss 7800 GT 512MB card should end up faster and indeed it did. The card should go in retail for €370, excluding VAT, but there are some indications that etailers might be selling this card at sub €400 price range with VAT included. Gainward's 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX clocked at 440MHz core and 1100MHz memory costs €299 including VAT in etail stores.

Benchmarketing:
We compared :
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz
Gainward BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz

Our test machine includes:
AMD Athlon FX 57
Asus A8N32 Deluxe Nforce 4 SLI X16 motherboard
2x1024 MB Corsair XMS-3500LL PRO memory
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB SATA NCQ hard drive
Akasa EVO 120 cooler very quiet cooler
Akasa Power plus 650 W AK-P650FF-V2 Power Supply Unit

We have to note that the Akasa PSU will give you all the power you need, but although it won't be as quiet, it is a great performer for SLI or Crossfire systems. Akasa Evo 120 cooler is also something that will keep your computer very quiet and we can easily recommend getting one of these nice and innovative heat pipe coolers.

We compared two Gainward cards with its price-equivalent Radeon X1800XL and this is what we found out.

Doom 3	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	104.4	97.8	85.0	61.6
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	106.1	103.3	93.2	69.8
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	95.2	76.0	67.4	36.7
Doom 3 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	90.0	67.1	50.0	32.0
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	98.5	78.3	59.3	38.7
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	76.6	56.2	41.3	24.0
Far Cry	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100 MHz	84.10	83.02	84.55	66.62
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	84.36	81.69	79.84	74.05
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	81.44	77.71	79.10	52.45
Far Cry High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	84.79	74.67	53.97	32.76
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	83.93	81.00	61.84	40.81
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	80.76	70.73	53.63	14.76
Quake 4	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	141.3	125.9	115.4	84.5
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	142.5	134.8	121.8	90.9
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	133.5	115.6	92.2	61.1
Quake 4 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	129.0	105.6	82.2	56.0
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	132.6	114.3	91.4	63.2
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	115.9	96.4	74.7	50.0
FEAR	1024x768	1280x960	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	89	67	48	32
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	97	72	53	34
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	76	58	42	26
FEAR High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 16X	1024x768	1280x960	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	51	36	25	16
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	58	40	28	18
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	59	43	27	NO
Battlefield 2	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	101.96	88.99	75.66	55.72
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	99.45	98.26	84.21	62.60
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	94.21	81.29	64.44	44.65
Battlefield 2 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	84.37	62.96	46.40	29.57
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	93.04	73.53	57.72	40.80
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	89.58	71.54	57.24	39.22
Composite Figures 3Dmark 03	3DMark 03	Game2	Game3	Nature
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	15954	125.9	104.0	91.4
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	16963	136.1	111.5	96.4
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	13809	109.8	81.4	86.7
Composite Figures 3Dmark 03	Single Texturinng	Multi Textur.	Vertex Shader	Pixel Shader 2.0
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	3939.0	8410.4	43.3	331.5
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	4660.2	8889.2	44.6	353.1
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	2783.1	7373.6	49.8	126.2
Composite Figures 3Dmark 05	3DMark 05	Game1	Game2	Game3
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	7357	32.2	21.9	36.1
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	7884	34.8	23.1	38.9
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	7138	30.4	21.6	35.5
Composite Figures 3Dmark 05	Single Texturinng	Multi Textur.	Pixel Shader	VS /VS complex
Gainward 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz	4608.0	8560.4	254.1	63.7/45.4
BLISS7800GT Geforce 7800GS 512 450/1300MHz	5332.2	9033.2	276.0	67.4/47.1
ATI X1800XL 500 / 1000 MHz	3345.4	8048.4	183.0	66.4/46.8

In Doom 3, both Gainward cards are faster than the X1800XL. The Gainward cards are close to one another, but the Bliss with 512MB memory and a faster clock ends up being a little bit faster than the 256MB card. Same goes for Doom 3 with FSAA 4X and Aniso, as the 512MB card is slightly faster, while X1800XL falls behind the two.

Things are tight in Far Cry as all of the cards are close in the first three resolutions. The 512MB card is top in super-high 2048 resolution, while the 256MB version can win by a few frames at 1600x1200. Once you turn the FSAA and Aniso on, the 512MB card shows the difference and ends up being a tad faster on 1600x1200 and at 2048x1536. ATI's X1800XL still falls behind the two.

Agani, the Bliss 7800 GT 512MB is faster than its 256MB brother in Quake 4. It wins at all resolutions, but not by much. ATI is still significantly slower in this scenario. FSAA and Aniso in Quake 4 makes the difference even bigger and, for the first time, the 512MB card is more than 10 FPS faster than its 256MB big brother. ATI's X1800XL does not stand a chance against those two 7800 GT based cards.

FEAR obviously likes the higher clock on the 512MB Gainward Bliss 7800 GT card. It wins in all tests by a few frames. ATI's X1800XL loses out again. FEAR with 4X FSAA and 16 X aniso likes ATI's X1800XL as this is the only test where the X1800XL can keep up and be even slightly faster. Strangely enough, we could not run the highest resolution with all effects on, on ATI's card.

Battlefield 2 is again a game that likes a higher clock and more graphics memory. The Bliss 512MB wins in all resolutions except 1024x768. Yet again ATI's X1800XL cannot keep up with the two and ends up 20 frames slower in the two highest resolutions. When you turn up the FSAA and Aniso, ATI's X1800XL can handle this game better and can keep up with the 512MB Bliss 7800 GT card. It beats teh Geforce 7800 GT 256MB by as much as 10 frames at the three highest resolutions.

The faster-clocked Bliss 7800 GT 512MB card dominates in 3Dmark03. It scores 1000 marks more than its 256MB brother and is 3100 points faster than the X1800XL. The numbers are much closer in 3Dmark05, but Big Bliss manages to score 500 points more than the 256MB version and is some 700 marks faster than ATI's X1800XL. The Bliss 7800 GT 512MB is fastest in every single 3Dmark test or benchmark.

Conclusion
Gainward did a great job with this 512MB card. We think that this might be a great seller as it is fastest 7800 GT card that we have tested so far, it has the advantage of 512MB memory and it should cost around €399. The faster clock and extra memory will really help you in new games such as Quake 4, FEAR and Battlefield 2 and if you like those this should be great card for you. If you are a 3Dmark05-score freak this card is the winner, no question about it.

Gainwards 7800GT Ultra/3400 PCX 440/1100MHz is still great card and at €299 price it sounds really attractive. If you don't want to spend an extra €100 for 7800 GT 512MB card this might be the right one for you. If you really like ATI you can go out and buy Radeon X1800XL but this card will just keep you up to this two in those latest games while it will lose in older ones including 3Dmark tests. I think that both Gainward cards might be the better choice.

If you want to get a fast performer with 512MB memory and you don't want to spend €699 on a Geforce 7800 GTX 512MB this could be the right card for you. If you want to spend even less, there is a Bliss 6800 GS 512MB card as well that we are about to test soon. By the way we do like the new Bliss box design, as the girl looks much better; much more professional than the old one. µ