7800 GTX Extreme Edition Head-to-Head

Benchmarking - How We Tested:

Please be aware that the way we test our video cards is not a like-for-like comparison, and it is not meant to be. We decided to concentrate on finding the "Best Playable" settings - this means that we're finding the best possible gaming experience delivered on each different configuration. There are no time demos used in our evaluations - we're focusing on the real-world gaming experience, which is, ultimately what should determine your next graphics card's purchase.

Rather than focusing on reporting the minimum and average frame rates for every configuration, we have decided to move the focus to resolution and settings. Thus, we are displaying our "Best Playable" resolutions and settings in a table that should be easier to understand than our previous format. If you take the logic that the higher the resolution and in game details, the faster the video card, you will not go far wrong.

In situations where we find that two competing video cards run at the same settings, we will bring the frame rates in to the discussion of our game play experiences with each particular video card.

System Setup

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (operating at 2400MHz, 12x200MHz); DFI LANParty nF4 SLI-DR (NVIDIA NForce4 SLI); 2 x 1GB Corsair XMS4000 Pro (operating in dual channel at 200MHz with 3.0-3-3-10 timings); Western Digital Raptor 74GB, 10000RPM SATA 150 Hard disk drive; OCZ PowerStream 520W Power Supply; Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2; DirectX 9.0c; NVIDIA NForce4 Standalone chipset drivers, version 6.66.

Video Cards:

• 1 x Leadtek PX7800 GTX TDH Extreme 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 490/1250MHz using Forceware version 81.84 available from nZone.
  
• 1 x XFX GeForce 7800 GTX Extreme Gamer Edition 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 490/1300MHz using Forceware version 81.84 available from nZone.
  
• 1 x Gainward Ultra/3500PCX Golden Sample 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 470/1300MHz using Forceware version 81.84 available from nZone.
  
• 1 x NVIDIA Reference 7800 GTX 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 430/1200MHz using Forceware version 81.84 available from nZone.
  
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon X1800XL 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 500/1000MHz using Beta Catalyst drivers, version 8.173.
  
• 1 x XFX GeForce 7800 GT Extreme 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 450/1050MHz using Forceware version 81.84 available from nZone.
  
• 1 x BFGTech GeForce 7800 GT OC 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 425/1050MHz using Forceware version 81.84 available from nZone.
  
• 1 x NVIDIA Reference GeForce 7800 GT 256MB - operating at its default clock speeds of 400/1000MHz using Forceware version 81.84 available from nZone.

The video card drivers were left at their default settings (unless otherwise stated) with the exception of Vsync, which was disabled in all cases.

It is also worth noting that NVIDIA's Forceware release 80 drivers are multithreaded drivers. We are expecting ATI to release drivers that take advantage of dual core processors over the course of the next few months. For those who question our use of the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+, the CPU was chosen based on the results of a reader poll in our forums.