Final thoughts
Final thoughtsNVIDIA, seemingly, seems quite relaxed with just what frequencies its partners set their GeForce 7800 GT/GTX cards at. In light of this, XFX has launched a GeForce 7800 GT card that is pre-overclocked to significantly higher levels than the reference model. Indeed, XFX is so adamant about the quality of G70 cores it buys in that its 'GT clocks in at 450MHz core and 1050MHz memory, up from the reference's 400MHz/1000MHz speeds. In terms of pure performance, then, XFX's 'GT sits somewhere between regular GeForce 7800 GTs and '7800 GTXs, and the competitive £270 pricing adequately reflects its speed, we feel.
What's not evident in benchmarks but is equally as pleasing is just how quiet and cool the card is when running in full-blown 3D mode. Further, VIVO functionality makes for a well-rounded solution that makes a strong case if your budget doesn't quite stretch to the faster GeForce 7800 GTX.
The SAPPHIRE RADEON X1800 XL card can be considered a direct PCIe competitor to the GeForce 7800 GT. From a technical standpoint X1800 XLs bring a number of features to the table that were conspicuously lacking in ATI's R480 line, and the feature-set, including Avivo and dual dual-link TMDS, comfortably matches and even surpasses NVIDIA's. Benchmark performance is a case of swings and roundabouts, with the X1800 XL strong in D3D apps. and the XFX GeForce 7800 GT gaining the upper hand in OpenGL titles. Whichever you choose, framerates won't become a real issue until 1600x1200 HQ.
Both card packages offer compelling reasons for purchase and both are available immediately, but given a direct choice between the two, our money would slide over into XFX's corner for a number of reasons. Its GeForce 7800 GT is marginally faster in a sector where framerates matter hugely. It also runs quieter, and, should you wish and funds/hardware permitting, can be put to immediate SLI use. That's not to say that the SAPPHIRE X1800 XL is a bad card; it's patently not, and it outscores the XFX GeForce 7800 GT on the features front, but priced at £300 it steps just a little too close to GeForce 7800 GTX money. We hope that ATI and its partners can release X1000-series CrossFire master cards in the very near future, as SAPPHIRE's card is just crying out to be run in multi-GPU mode.
