Evga's 7900 GT CO Superclok beats 7800GTX, Radeon X1800XT

NVIDIA fooled many people with its G71. Like the name implies, it is a shrink which is cheaper and cooler than the G70.

But it did made a big deal with the G71 GT, or should we call it the Geforce 7900 GT. Nvidia made a card that is roughly as fast if not faster than the Geforce 7800 GTX and is selling it for $300 plus. It is still a single slot cooling card normally clocked to 450/1320 MHz but knowing Evga it also has some cards that are clocked much higher than that. It is important to underline that Geforce 7900 GT has full 24 pipelines which makes it a perfect 7800 GTX 256 MB competitor.

Nvidia can do it as the chip is slower and as the G71, Geforce 7900 GTX can overclock up to a smashing 700MHz with an dual slot, quad heatpipe cooler.

It is important to say that all Geforce 7900 GT cards will comes with 256 MB GDDR 3 memory but 256 will do just fine.

Evga also ships an e-Geforce 7900 GT CO version clocked at 500 MHz/1500 MHz memory while we got top of the range e-Geforce 7900 GT CO superclocked card at a storming 550MHz core and 1580MHz memory.

We tested this card at Nvidia's default 450/1320 MHz and at its shipping 550 MHz/1580 MHz clock. Since ATI dropped the price of Radeon X1800 XT 256 MB memory to match this card, we wanted to include one of those as well. However, we could not find one at press time and we decided to use a Radeon X1800 XT 512 MB card instead. The clock is the same - it is just the amount of memory that is different. At super high resolutions it can result in up to five per cent performance difference and that's about it.

EVGA offers a lifetime warranty for all these cards and in the US it offers 24 hours by seven days technical support and the 90 days "step up" programme. You can switch your card for some other EVGA card within three months.

You will be surprised with the scores as we most certainly were. The e-Geforce 7900 GT CO Superclocked card will cost around €399 in European retail while the standard e-Geforce 7900 GT costs around €300.

Benchmarketing

We used :
Athlon FX 57 2800 MHz
Gainward Bliss 7800GS 425/1200 MHz 512MB
EVGA 7800 GS 460 MHz /1350 MHz
Abit AV8 , K8T800 based motherboard
512 MB Corsair PC 3200 memory
Western Digital 8MB 160GB IDE drive
Akasa AK128 EVO Athlon 64 cooler
Akasa 650W multi rail PSU

Doom 3	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	106.7	105.0	99.2	79.8
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	105.3	101.7	90.8	68.0
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	108.1	101.0	85.6	56.8
Doom 3 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	102.0	84.7	66.2	43.1
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	95.0	73.7	55.1	35.5
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	97.8	79.3	59.2	38.5
Far Cry	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	85.34	83.31	83.44	83.24
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	83.94	83.10	83.95	73.22
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	83.09	83.01	83.83	74.78
Far Cry High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	84.42	84.36	83.48	71.28
SLI 6800GS - XFX+Gainward 450/650	84.21	79.52	59.30	36.40
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	83.05	82.28	78.10	50.58
Half Life 2	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	72.1	73.3	72.0	71.8
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	72.4	73.2	72.1	69.9
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	74.8	75.9	73.5	70.3
Half Life 2 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	72.0	73.1	71.6	62.8
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	72.1	72.5	68.6	52.4
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	74.6	71.7	67.7	56.4
Quake 4	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	148.8	143.9	128.9	115.6
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	145.9	139.1	128.9	98.7
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	141.1	135.9	125.4	93.7
Quake 4 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	139.7	127.9	109.4	77.5
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	134.1	116.6	94.2	64.1
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	133.7	123.6	105.1	72.7
FEAR	1024x768	1280x960	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	115	93	70	47
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	102	79	57	39
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	93	72	52	34
FEAR High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 16X	1024x768	1280x960	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	84	60	41	26
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	70	50	34	22
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	74	56	40	25
Battlefield 2	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	100.24	99.07	96.82	78.62
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	99.51	98.54	88.09	65.38
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	99.01	98.45	92.38	69.80
Battlefield 2 High Quality FSAA 4X + Aniso 8X	1024x768	1280x1024	1600x1200	2048x1536
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	96.52	86.84	63.67	40.24
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	92.79	72.17	54.71	34.68
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	97.41	96.66	86.32	62.10
Composite Figures 3Dmark 03	3DMark 03	Game2	Game3	Nature
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	19633	161.3	132.6	113.3
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	16848	134.0	111.9	96.4
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	17098	139.5	103.2	108.6
Composite Figures 3Dmark 03	Single Texturinng	Multi Textur.	Vertex Shader	Pixel Shader 2.0
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	5290.1	12745.2	53.3	427.4
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	4408.6	10388.5	44.5	356.1
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	4197.2	9214.8	60.9	201.6
Composite Figures 3Dmark 05	3DMark 05	Game1	Game2	Game3
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	9290	39.6	28.3	45.7
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	7809	34.0	23.7	37.8
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	9287	39.2	28.2	46.4
Composite Figures 3Dmark 05	Single Texturinng	Multi Textur.	Pixel Shader	VS /VS complex
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	6233.0	12818.1	366.3	72.8/55.5
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	5181.4	10536.1	298.6	59.9/45.5
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	4945.2	9809.8	234.8	91.5/56.6
Composite Figures 3Dmark 06	3DMark 06
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	4723
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	4062
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	4153
SM2.0 Test	Score	GT1	GT2
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	2167	17.425	18.699
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	1777	14.261	15.359
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	1823	14.020	16.365
HDR/SM3.0 Test	Score	HDR1	HDR2
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	2149	19.228	23.754
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	1770	15.873	19.534
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	1830	17.866	18.732
CPU Test	Score	CPU1	CPU2
EVGA 7900GT 550/1580 MHz	1107	0.348	0.563
NVIDIA 7900GT 450/1320 MHz	1100	0.346	0.560
ATI X1800XT 625/1500 MHz	1098	0.346	0.557

EVGA 7900 GT Superclocked is the fastest card in Doom 3. At 1600x1200 it runs 14 frames faster than the Radeon X1800 XT 512 MB card. It runs 23 frames faster at extreme 2048x1536 resolution. Even the default Geforce 7900 GT is faster at the three highest resolutions but not that much. Once you turn 4X FSAA and 8X anisotropic ATI can stand a good chance versus the default clocked 7900 GT and manages to stay a few frames faster but the 7900 GT superclocked card beats X1800 XT but a few frames at all resolutions.

You have to get to 2048x1536 to see the difference in Far Cry. The cards will be level until you get to the highest resolution where the superclocked card manages to outperform both cards by 10 frames. Radeon X1800 XT can beat the default 7900 GT with FSAA and Aniso on. It can get up 19 frames faster in 1600x1200. At first three resolutions it manages to stay up with 7900 GT Superclocked card but it loses by up to 20 frames at the highest resolution.

Half Life runs the same at all of the cards. You have to turn on the effects to see the difference. Even with the effects on you need to get to the highest resolution to see Superclocked card can get a few frames faster. Radeon X1800 XT is faster or matched with the default 7900 GT clocked card.

Quake 4 likes the speed. Both Nvidia cards are a little bit faster than the X1800XT. You have to get to the highest resolution to get the significant difference of 23 fames advantage in Evga's superclocked favour. Once you turn 4X FSAA and 8X aniso the X1800 XT can beat the default 7900 GT card and can get up to 11 FPS faster. EVGA 7900 GT beats the both cards and at 1600x1200 scores 15 FPS faster score than the default 7900 GT. In Fear, Radeon X1800 XT loses to both the 7900 GT cards. Even at 10x7 Superclock is massive 22 frames faster and in all three resolutions scores almost 20 frames faster. The default clocked 7900 GT scores five frames better. Once you turn FSAA 4X and Anisotropic filtering 16X Radeon X1800XT can stand a chance, but at higher resolutions. It is just a single frame slower than both Nvidia cards but at 10x7 and 12x10 Superclok scores five to ten frames faster.

There are some difference with Battlefield 2 but you have to go to the higher resolutions to see them. Radeon X1800XT will be a few frames faster than a default 7900 GT but it will still lose against Superclock card, by up to eight frames. Radeon X1800XT wins the all tests as soon as you turn the FSAA and Aniso on. It can score even more than 20 frames higher, even from Superclock card. It rips default Geforce 7900GT heart out of its chests as it runs up to 30 frames faster. This is the only game where X1800XT really stand a huge chance.

Superclock card wins all the 3Dmarks and in 03 it runs 2600 points faster than ATI and 2800 faster than the default 7900 GT. Radeon X1800XT and Geforce 7900 GT CO Superclock are tight and both runs roughly 1400 points faster. ATI wins in 3Dmark06 over default 7900 GT by less than 100 points but Superclock scores 570 marks more.

Conclusion
Nvidia made a very good card. 7900 GT is definitely beating the old 7800 GTX 256 MB cards. It competes Radeon X1800XT and makes it runs for its money. It can score significantly more but R520, Radeon X1800 XT has Avivo a nice video acceleration feature that can decode video much faster than anything else.

EVGA 7900 GT CO Superclock card is definitely the winner here. It is faster than both of the cards and it probably deserves €100 extra that you need to pay to get it. It is probably the fastest single slot card available. It can overclock even more than the default clock but we didn't played much with that. It will cost you €399 but we think it is the right price. ATI Radeon X1800XT 256 MB and even 512 MB should be available for round €350 while the default clocked Geforce 7900 GT costs around €320 at press time. I am using the reference prices from the etailers that has them available for that money.

EVGA sure did a great job with this card and I can easily recommend it. I also believe that buying a X1800XT 512 MB card for €350 should be a nice deal as well, as this card sure has something to offer. µ