NVIDIA's GeForce 7800 GTX Hits The Ground Running
by Derek Wilson on June 22, 2005 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Battlefield 2 Demo
For this game, we recorded our own timedemo using the freely availabe demo versino of the game. The demo was played back using EA's demo.cmd file, but we used FRAPS to determine the framerate as the timedemo feature incorrectly incorporates frames from the loading screen (which generally runs at >400 fps on the cards we tested).With the added graphical effects, Battlefield 2 is quite a bit more demanding of systems than its predecessor. In fact, BF2 actually has a huge memory footprint and could even take advantage of more than 1 GB of RAM! That said, frame rates varied quite a bit between the configurations, and once again a single 7800GTX beats the 6800U SLI setup - it's a tie at 1600x1200, but the 7800 holds a 42% lead at 2048x1536. ATI does very well here, surpassing the 6800U by a decent margin and coming within striking distance of the SLI setup at 2048x1536. As with other games, the 6800 series struggles with the high resolution, running less than half as fast compared to 1600x1200. The benefit of SLI over a single card ranges from over 100% on the 6800U to 59% for the 7800GTX. If you want AA/AF at 1600x1200 or higher resolutions, only the 6800U SLI or 7800GTX setups are even remotely able to handle the strain.
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CrystalBay - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
Does this card play Riddick smoothly @ shader 2++ ?????fishbits - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
"In aboot 5 years i figure we'll be paying 1000 bucks for a video card. These prices are getting out of control, every generation is more expensive then the last. Dont make me switch to consoles damnit."Funny, I can't afford the very best TVs the minute they come out. Same for stereo components. But I don't cry about it and threaten "Don't make me switch to learning the ukelele and putting on my own puppet shows to entertain myself!" Every time a better component comes out, it means I get a price reduction and feature upgrade on the items that are affordable/justifiable for my budget.
Seriously, where does the sense of entitlement come from? Do these people think they should be able to download top-of-the-line graphics cards through BitTorrent? Do they walk around Best Buy cursing out staff, manufacturers and customers for being so cruel as to buy and sell big-ass plasma TVs?
On second thought, get your console and give up PC gaming. That way you can stop being miserable, and we can stop being miserable hearing about your misery.
tazdevl - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
Funny how the single card deltas here are higher than at any other site.Unwhelmed for the amount of money and lack of performance increase.
Have to commend nVIDIA for ensuring retail availability at launch.
archcommus - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
Impressive, but I'm still happy with my X800 XL purchase for only $179. For what it seems, with a 1280x1024 display, I won't need the kind of power this card delivers for a very long time. And less than $200 compared to $600, with still excellent peformance for now and the forseeable future? Hmm, I'll take the former.Lonyo - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
I would have liked some 1280x1024 benchmarks with 8xAA from the nVidia cards and 6xAA from ATi to see if it's worth getting something like a 7800GTX with 17/19" LCD's to run som esuper high quality settings in terms of AA/AF.segagenesis - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
I'm not disappointed. For one thing the price of current cards will likely drop now, and there will also be mid-range parts soon to choose from. I think the transparency AA is a good idea for say... World of Warcraft. The game is loaded with them and too often can you see the blockyness of trees/grass/whatever.#44 - Actually are you new to the market? :) I remember when early "accelerated" VGA cards were nearly $1000. Or more.
Everybody lambasted NVIDIA last year for the lack of product (6800GT/Ultra) to the market, so them actually making a presence this year instead of a paper launch should also be commended. Of course, now what is ATI gonna pull out of its hat?
KeDaHa - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
The screenshot shows very clearly that SSAA provides quite a quality improvement over no AAThe difference is bloody miniscule, perhaps if you used an image SLIGHTLY larger than 640x480 to highlight the difference?
L3p3rM355i4h - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
Wowzers. Time to get rid of teh 9800...shabby - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
In aboot 5 years i figure we'll be paying 1000 bucks for a video card. These prices are getting out of control, every generation is more expensive then the last.Dont make me switch to consoles damnit.
Xenoterranos - Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - link
Hell, for the same price as an SLI setup I can go out and get a 23 inch cinema display...And since these cards can't handle the 30" native resolution anyway, it's a win-win. And yeah, whats up with the quality control on these benchmarks! I mean really, I almost decided to wait for the ATI next-gen part when I saw this (GeForce man since the GeForce2 GTS!)