Well that's it, the first NVIDIA review on Rage3D and the first time I've ever gone hands-on with a top-end Geforce.

What do I think of it? Clearly the performance is nothing short of amazing. I can't believe that at 2048x1536 with 4xAA the card can still pull along nicely, even with the newest game engines (and in a nod to playability at that level of detail, my CS:Source profile is now set to 2048x1536/4xAA/16xAF details max). And this is with a single card too; I can't imagine how crazy fast things would be with an SLI setup.

The new Transparency AA is pretty cool too. It really does make a significant impact on quite a few games, and the impact it has on performance is fairly negligible (at least with the games I tested). The same goes for the new gamma correction, it too has an insignificant impact on performance... which honestly makes me wonder why NVIDIA has these new features disabled by default. It might be that they cause a few problems in some cases, but I'm of the opinion that it's better to have to turn it off if there are problems than to have to turn it on to enjoy the benefits.

The primary concern now is the price. At $599 it's the most expensive videocard on the market, $50 more than ATI's flagship X850XT Platinum. The price is out of reach for a lot of users obviously, but the real kicker here is that many people have been suggesting that NVIDIA has an even faster part in store which they will reveal depending on how well ATI's yet to be released R520 stacks up. Should the R520 be faster and NVIDIA releases the 7800 Ultra (for lack of a real name), then those early adopters might feel a bit stung knowing that their 2-3 month old top of the line card got replaced so quickly.

Having said that, it looks like the 7800 GTX street price seems to be falling rather quickly. I've seen one or two from some reputable AIBs that are even close to street prices for the X850XT-PE. Certainly it's still out of range for most, but the aforementioned risk of buying a 7800 GTX can be a bit easier to swallow should you find the right deal.

Compared directly to the X850XT Platinum it's easy to be impressed with the 7800 GTX. Not only with the outstanding performance of the part, but also with the features it offers. With games already out to support Shader Model 3.0 and with more sure to come very soon, the oft denounced technology is now a truly viable feature that gamers should be looking for in a new graphics card. Couple that with SLI, which has been welcomed into the marketplace with open arms despite plenty of doubts cast on its practicality, and it's all but impossible to recommend anything but the 7800 GTX when asked for high-end videocard advice.

Before I wrap this up, I feel it necessary to point out the fantastic job NVIDIA did with the launch of the 7800 GTX. Every single graphics card release prior to the 7800 GTX was a "paper release". That more or less means that a product was announced but actual availability was still some ways off (a single month was considered very good). On the very day that the 7800 GTX was announced NVIDIA had cards on store shelves. Not ready to ship, not on the way to stores, actual product right on the shelf. That, right there, is how things should be done. With the 7800 GTX launch NVIDIA set a precedent that other companies must follow.

In short, if you're looking for a high-end videocard right now, the only choice you have is the 7800 GTX.

• Fastest 3D graphics card on the planet
• Shader Model 3.0 support
• Excellent AA Image Quality
• Single slot cooler
• Excellent overclocking
• SLI enabled
• Immediate availability

• Expensive