Rage3D GeForce 7950 GT Review

[Ratchet]

With the embargo now lifted, we've officially published our review of a reference 7950 GT from NVIDIA, the same card set to replace the venerable 7900 GT. Here's a snip from the article:

You can see that the line has blurred significantly between NVIDIA’s enthusiast and performance products. Now, with 512MB memory onboard, the only thing separating the 7950 GT and the enthusiast level 7900 GTX above it is clock speeds and price.

Rage3D NVIDIA Geforce 7950 GT Review

[guest]

Is there any chance the extra 256MB will get you something in the future over the ATI card?

[bigtabs]

Good review Ratchett. However it would be nice if the default benchies that you saw on high end parts were of the 4x 16x variety as this is what we will be gaming at (in general). One guy I spoke to didn't even realise that you could choose which to look at via the bracketed links at the top. To be honest it took me a while to work it out when I first started reading the reviews here.

Of course it seems very simple and obvious in hindsight.

[cvearl]

Sad that you have to come to Rage3D for some of the very FEW unbiased reviews. And ones done correctly at that.

#1. You compared to the right card while adding past cards for reference!
#2. You used HQ mode in the review for nVidia driver!
#3. You did not slam the 7950GT and appeared to like it.
#4. You did NOT use misleading sentences like CARD A was completely spanked by CARD B when there's like 10% at best separating them. Nothing but the facts and numbers to back them up.
#5. Multiple resses and AA/AF settings used.

This is why I wish R3D did more reviews. I cannot wait for the X1950Pro review. Let's hope it's $200 as promised!

Only other ones I can (sometimes) count on seem to be XBITLABS and FIRING SQUAD. Although XBIT still does not use HQ moe in the tests so I always have to adjust thier numbers by 5% on the nVidia results to be accurate.

LASTLY - Any comments on the noise of the 7950GT under load versus the X1900XT256 under load? Keeping in mind that aftermarket coolers are around $30 and the 1900XT is $50 - $70 less than the 7950GT from what I can tell.

Thanks Ratchet!

Prediction... ATI adds the new cooler to the X1900XT512 and releases it as the X1950XT to go toe to toe with the 7950GT 512MB.

The 1950XTX starts dropping to $425 and as low as $400 with rebates occasionally.

C.

[Vengeance]

It was a great review Ratch! My only take on it however is that the 7950 GT was not made to go up against the X1900XT 256MB card. It was made to fight the X1900 GT. But ATi is being very aggressive on pricing! So for the price Vs performance..... ATi has a winner.
But how long can they keep it up at that price point? I have to wonder will this make nVidia lower the price on anything or will they wait it out?

[Ratchet]

Originally Posted by cvearl

...

Thanks for the compliments dude. I wish I had more time to go into testing power temperature and noise, but I only had the card for a little over a day and really wanted to make an NDA deadline (for a change ).

As for noise (and very informally speaking), the 7950 GT is quite, even under extended load. The same cannot be said for the X1900 XT 256MB.

[cvearl]

Originally Posted by Ratchet

Thanks for the compliments dude. I wish I had more time to go into testing power temperature and noise, but I only had the card for a little over a day and really wanted to make an NDA deadline (for a change ).

As for noise (and very informally speaking), the 7950 GT is quite, even under extended load. The same cannot be said for the X1900 XT 256MB.

That's what I needed to hear. Great! With an aftermarket cooler, X1900XT256MB is simply the best bang for the buck card in the market today. With a good enough case you could just ignore the cooler.

C.

[Ratchet]

Originally Posted by Vengeance

It was a great review Ratch! My only take on it however is that the 7950 GT was not made to go up against the X1900XT 256MB card. It was made to fight the X1900 GT. But ATi is being very aggressive on pricing! So for the price Vs performance..... ATi has a winner.
But how long can they keep it up at that price point? I have to wonder will this make nVidia lower the price on anything or will they wait it out?

Yep, doesn't matter what it was designed for though, it's price that's makes your competition and the X1900GT price is currently in flux.

[Ratchet]

Originally Posted by cvearl

That's what I needed to hear. Great! With an aftermarket cooler, X1900XT256MB is simply the best bang for the buck card in the market today. With a good enough case you could just ignore the cooler.

C.

yep, stick aftermarket cooling on the X1900 and you'd be golden.

[Ratchet]

Originally Posted by bigtabs

Good review Ratchett. However it would be nice if the default benchies that you saw on high end parts were of the 4x 16x variety as this is what we will be gaming at (in general). One guy I spoke to didn't even realise that you could choose which to look at via the bracketed links at the top. To be honest it took me a while to work it out when I first started reading the reviews here.

Of course it seems very simple and obvious in hindsight.

you are right, I should make that you can change the charts clearer and maybe start using the AA/AF benchmarks as the default mode for these higher performance cards. I'll do that from now on.

[cvearl]

Originally Posted by Vengeance

It was a great review Ratch! My only take on it however is that the 7950 GT was not made to go up against the X1900XT 256MB card. It was made to fight the X1900 GT. But ATi is being very aggressive on pricing! So for the price Vs performance..... ATi has a winner.
But how long can they keep it up at that price point? I have to wonder will this make nVidia lower the price on anything or will they wait it out?

Well. In this environment of Leap Frogging, I agree. It changes all the time. It is always about price point versus price point and bang for the buck regardless of "percieved model versus model".

Which is why I laugh when I see people say "kills the X1900GT". Which it should. It's $309 for the 7950GT and it's current price of $239 for the X1900GT's that even remain in stock and are about to dissapear into history. Even IF the X1900GT was to be around another 6 months. It is $80 less or more. Not the right card to compare to regardless of nVidias's perception of model placement in the market. It's like assuming the X1900GT is the natural competitor to the 7900GS. Which it beats. But is is not. But they are in the same price point. 7900GS is not a better value than X1900GT PERIOD. They are about the same. X1950Pro will force nVidia to drop the price on the 7900GS to $159 IMO. But the leap froggin goes on and on.

And speaking of "how long can they keep it up at that price point?", If "THEY" is ATI. I don't think they could. But realistically "THEY" is now AMD. So I guess longer than just ATI. They could get hurt I guess. nVidia is a financial monster by comparison.

In the fabrication world, I imagine AMD has more "pull" in negotiations than ATI did on thier own. But I have little knowledge in those dealings specifically. But I can imagine that as a team (ATI/AMD) thier leverage is now greater than what it was as individual companies.

Like you, I can only guess nVidia is about to release all new price points to deal with the gap. Can you imagine this...

I bet in under 30 days. This is the landscape.

X1950Pro $199
7950GT and X1900XT256 for $249
X1900XT512 for $279
X1950XTX and 7900GTX OC'd for $399 (or 7950GTX possible clock bump refresh)
and finnally the 7950GX2 for $479

It's never been a better time to need a new card.

Thank you ATI.

C.

[Ratchet]

Not really sure why us, as consumers, should be concerned about how much it costs ATI or NVIDIA to make something or what their profit margins are.

[cvearl]

Originally Posted by Ratchet

Not really sure why us, as consumers, should be concerned about how much it costs ATI or NVIDIA to make something or what their profit margins are.

QFT!

[ShaidarHaran]

I've been completely glossing-over this thread because of the similar title of the X1950 review

Nice move, ATI marketing department

[Ratchet]

all my article threads are titled like this

[Monrad]

but the 7950 is a dual gpu video card!! oh... we were not discussing that here, sry

j/k

Nice review Ratchet.

[nutcrackr]

Nice review. Interestingly in my area I can get a 256MB 7950gt for quite a bit less than the 512mb version. I'm guessing that the 512mb version would be better for high resolution gaming?

[cvearl]

Originally Posted by Monrad

but the 7950 is a dual gpu video card!! oh... we were not discussing that here, sry

j/k

Nice review Ratchet.

7950GT is a single GPU.

[Ratchet]

checking out some prices on Newegg I could also have put the X1900XT 512MB and the X1900XTX in the review and made further legitimate comparisons with the 7950 GT.
Sapphire X1900XTX - $301 after $30 MIR
Sapphire X1900XT - $298
and the X1900 XT 256MB is there for $239 too
that's just

[cvearl]

Originally Posted by Ratchet

checking out some prices on Newegg I could also have put the X1900XT 512MB and the X1900XTX in the review and made further legitimate comparisons with the 7950 GT.
Sapphire X1900XTX - $301 after $30 MIR
Sapphire X1900XT - $298
and the X1900 XT 256MB is there for $239 too
that's just

I know!!

WTF is going on????

I still think they are aggressively clearing the channel for the (not even rumored) X1950XT now to fill that $300 hole. The 1900GT's are all but gone and stock is dwindling. Even locally in my city! So clearing the way for X1950Pro as well.

Damn I hate waiting.

C.

[aiya]

WTF?! X1900XT 512 for $300?! lol, thats crazy and it's retail too, not OEM

nice review ratchet, one of the best review i've read to date.

[TRD Supra]

A review with an ATI X1900XT 512 and 256 MB with a XFX 7950GT Extreme570/1500 would be a good way to see how good the card is.

[SpiffMistroII]

I see you have seen the review. ^^^^

Quite to the contrary, the XFX Xtreame is a little more $$ making the price/performance value of the x1900xt's just that much sweeter.

JMO!!!!

[TRD Supra]

no not realy, would still get the 7950GT Xtreme. It will do the same as a X1900XT 512.

[SpiffMistroII]

Originally Posted by TRD Supra

no not realy, would still get the 7950GT Xtreme. It will do the same as a X1900XT 512.

Hmm. So you perfer single slot/less power over IQ. Not saying thats wrong, but I would think many other people will much perfer the IQ. JMO!!!

Trying not to scare you, but I remember XFX took their forum down because of the crazy amounts of faulty cards and complaints they got. Thats not how a company should operate IMO. Might wan't to look at say EVGA.

[cvearl]

First off I agree with the "look at eVGA first" sentiment.

I just want to comment on XFX...

They are PINE industries. I HATE PINE!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent alot of years in the hardware biz and they were the absolute WORST product you could buy. They had a whole line of crap under the PINE name. They even had a line of generic PC's for Futureshop that sucked like a $5 whore.

All thier **** burnt down all the time. The LOWEST Quality Control standards in the industry EVER.

And XFX cards coolers often fell off IN THE BOX. ROFLMAO. well ok that was the 4200,4400,4600 cards. Years ago.

Anyay. That's my RANT.

If this is not the PINE Industries I came to HATE 10 years ago and for a number of years after. I appologise.

I am off my rocker. Sorry. They are probably not the same company and that was long ago.

C.

[cvearl]

Originally Posted by TRD Supra

no not realy, would still get the 7950GT Xtreme. It will do the same as a X1900XT 512.

I cannot find the review showing that. Can you offer up a link?

And also can you explain why you would go with that over a less expensive X1900XT512?

I am just curious.

C.

[TRD Supra]

One of my friends got a XFX 6800 and has never had a problem with it. Also all the people who have xfx, I have never heard them have any problems.

[SpiffMistroII]

Originally Posted by cvearl

I cannot find the review showing that. Can you offer up a link?

And also can you explain why you would go with that over a less expensive X1900XT512?

I am just curious.

C.

Cuz NV is the cool thing. If you don't have a NV, your not cool.

[SpiffMistroII]

Originally Posted by TRD Supra

One of my friends got a XFX 6800 and has never had a problem with it. Also all the people who have xfx, I have never heard them have any problems.

Try to say that to XFX's forum. O wait. You can't, it's gone I believe.

Of course you might not see a issue with the 6800, the issue was all in the 7900gt. It's fixed up now, but, if you have any moral standards, XFX is a no no.