NVIDIA 7900GTX Details

[Kaeishiwaza]

I think the moral of the story here is that die shrinks take up a huge amount of development resources and time without any boost in performance. You have to shrink the die to get better performance, that's true, but the shrink itself doesn't do it inherently. The time last year when NVidia was building a big lead in speed over ATI was when ATI was transitioning to a smaller die. Now ATI is done with that transition and is putting out cards like the X1900. Both companies needed to do it (shrink the die) but ATI went first and it cost them. Now, perhaps, we'll see if it paid off in the long run.

 

[Alaa]

Originally posted by: munky
Meh... no big, bad 32 pipe 700+mhz Nv g71 coming out in March? What a surprise. :roll:

the big munky is here, i guess ur so happy, u spent too long time praying..well done!
:laugh:

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Alaa

Originally posted by: munky
Meh... no big, bad 32 pipe 700+mhz Nv g71 coming out in March? What a surprise. :roll:

the big munky is here, i guess ur so happy, u spent too long time praying..well done!
:laugh:

LOL, I dont have to pray when I know something about hardware that you dont. But it looks like you didnt pray hard enough! :laugh:

 

[imported_Crusader]

This is no more a disappointment than the x1900 was. To put it in perspective.

IF its even completely true. But regardless I'll be holding onto my current GF7 until G80. Neither ATIs 1900s nor the 7900s have enough to make me swap.

Geforce 6xxx and 78xx was the time to buy.
X1900 and 7900= not enough of a speed bump.. too little too late and too close to unified NV/ATI cards.

Originally posted by: Kaeishiwaza
Both companies needed to do it (shrink the die) but ATI went first and it cost them. Now, perhaps, we'll see if it paid off in the long run.

Doubt it. Appears NV is holding the performance crown with SLI currently, and will continue too. Single card they will more than likely take back with the 7900.
It wasnt the die shrink that caused ATI to "lose the lead" their cards dont have a platform as stable/mature as SLI for multiGPU and dont seem to have the public appeal that the Geforce 6 and 7 series has had.

 

[Janooo]

Originally posted by: Crusader
This is no more a disappointment than the x1900 was. To put it in perspective.

IF its even completely true. But regardless I'll be holding onto my current GF7 until G80. Neither ATIs 1900s nor the 7900s have enough to make me swap.

Geforce 6xxx and 78xx was the time to buy.
X1900 and 7900= not enough of a speed bump.. too little too late and too close to unified NV/ATI cards.

Originally posted by: Kaeishiwaza
Both companies needed to do it (shrink the die) but ATI went first and it cost them. Now, perhaps, we'll see if it paid off in the long run.

Doubt it. Appears NV is holding the performance crown with SLI currently, and will continue too. Single card they will more than likely take back with the 7900.
It wasnt the die shrink that caused ATI to "lose the lead" their cards dont have a platform as stable/mature as SLI for multiGPU and dont seem to have the public appeal that the Geforce 6 and 7 series has had.

FYI
It appears that G80 will not be unified.

 

[imported_Crusader]

Hey.. thank you!

This is a very interesting link that I must have missed. A hybrid design eh?
Now these ARE interesting times ahead indeed between ATI/NV!

edit- I'm still waiting for the G80 and ATIs unified card.. whatever one is faster gets my $ (ATI is going to have to do something about that horrid CCC first though, AT reports a full 10second additional bootup time alone from the CCC.. and now its the only 1st party method)

 

[AthlonAlien]

24 Pipelines... ok
650 MHz Core... ok
1600MHz Memory... um,

The 7800GTX-512 had 1700MHz memory... why would Nvidia bump it back down? Were the chips really that rare and expensive?!

 

[TraumaRN]

Originally posted by: AthlonAlien
24 Pipelines... ok
650 MHz Core... ok
1600MHz Memory... um,

The 7800GTX-512 had 1700MHz memory... why would Nvidia bump it back down? Were the chips really that rare and expensive?!

Probably better yields at 1600Mhz

 

[yacoub]

Originally posted by: Crusader
Geforce 6xxx and 78xx was the time to buy.
X1900 and 7900= not enough of a speed bump.. too little too late and too close to unified NV/ATI cards.

For you maybe. Those of us who have held out and didn't buy into the 6xxx or 78xx series are now going to be able to buy something with even more performance for the same or less price.

 

[lopri]

I think the success of this card will heavily depend on the price. I look at it like a CPU revision via die shrink. If it runs @650MHz with relatively low noise/temps/power consumption, and if NV set the MSRP @$499, that's basically you're getting a 7800GTX 512MB heavily OC'ed to match 1900XTX, without all the side-effects of OC (hot, noisy, etc.) I think that'll be a great deal. We all wanted to get a GTX 512MB a couple months ago for $650.. Depending on yields, the street price could even go lower. Then I'll definitely pick one up.

However, if the MSRP debuts somewhere around $600, I don't think many people will be interested.

 

[Cookie Monster]

As said earlier, i guessing this:

MSRP $399 7900GT 450mhz, 24 pipe
MSRP $499 7900GTX 256mb 550~650 mhz 24 pipe
MSRP $649 7900GTX 512mb 650mhz 32 pipe (limited quantity)

IF they could sell a G71 card equivalent of the 7800GTX 512mb (with less heat, power due to the use of 90nm lowk) at price of 499 it would be great. Since the 7800GTX 512mb performs similiarly to the X1900XT which has the MSRP of $549 i think NV can be pretty competitive.

 

[extra]

While it may look like not that big of performance increase, i must say what I always say in my posts (sorry to those who read my comments when i reply if i sound like a broken record)...

The real win here is hopefully it will perform about the same or a little better than the x1900, forcing prices back down. Again, the real win will hopefully be a huge tumble in the price of the 7800gt, etc, and a nice competitive price on ati for the x1800 series, hopefully pushing them under $200!

I'm honestly not expecting anything too exciting until late 2006, and then games that really start to use DX10 becoming common in mid-2007. Honestly though, the unreal engine, and the half life engine, even when re-written etc to support dx10, if the past is any indication, will likely run great on today's 7800gt's, even if it means losing some features.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Crusader
This is no more a disappointment than the x1900 was. To put it in perspective.

If it can offer faster performance and newer features for less money then I'll believe ya. From what I've seen, I'm 99.9% sure that's not gonna happen

Geforce 6xxx and 78xx was the time to buy.
X1900 and 7900= not enough of a speed bump.. too little too late and too close to unified NV/ATI cards.

Unified cards are nowhere close. You'll be waiting at least another 5 months if not more.

Originally posted by: Kaeishiwaza
Both companies needed to do it (shrink the die) but ATI went first and it cost them. Now, perhaps, we'll see if it paid off in the long run.

Doubt it. Appears NV is holding the performance crown with SLI currently, and will continue too. Single card they will more than likely take back with the 7900.
It wasnt the die shrink that caused ATI to "lose the lead" their cards dont have a platform as stable/mature as SLI for multiGPU and dont seem to have the public appeal that the Geforce 6 and 7 series has had.

SLI is a niche market, and has no public appeal whatsoever. And the assumption that the 7900 will be faster doesnt sound too convincing either...

 

[n7]

There's some hilarious comments in this thread :laugh:

Thanx for the laughs guys...sad that i find sarcastic fanboi posts funny isn't it?

I'm actually serious though

 

[Sentry2]

 

[yacoub]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
As said earlier, i guessing this:

MSRP $399 7900GT 450mhz, 24 pipe
MSRP $499 7900GTX 256mb 550~650 mhz 24 pipe
MSRP $649 7900GTX 512mb 650mhz 32 pipe (limited quantity)

Considering the specs point to the GTX simply being a 512MB version of the GT with slightly higher clockspeeds as well, I don't think you'll see them offer three cards when they can do it with two:

GT 450MHz 24-pipe 256MB
GTX 600MHz 24-pipe 512MB

If GT is priced $300 like latest rumor, GTX cannot be more than $450-500.
If GT is priced $400 like first rumored, GTX can be as high as $550.

I also don't see them needing more than two cards for another reason: It's a refresh, not a whole new lineup.

 

[crazydingo]

Originally posted by: yacoub
Considering the specs point to the GTX simply being a 512MB version of the GT with slightly higher clockspeeds as well, I don't think you'll see them offer three cards when they can do it with two:

GT 450MHz 24-pipe 256MB
GTX 600MHz 24-pipe 512MB

If GT is priced $300 like latest rumor, GTX cannot be more than $450-500.
If GT is priced $400 like first rumored, GTX can be as high as $550.

I also don't see them needing more than two cards for another reason: It's a refresh, not a whole new lineup.

Your point is valid. Why offer a 256MB 7900GTX when that would basically be a 7900GT.

I think the 7900GTX will be priced at $549-$599, we have the BFG story also to back it up. Regarding the 7900GT's price either Inq goofed up or its right. I'm hoping for the latter )) but the $249-$300 gap is looking too big and unreasonable.

7900GTX 512MB $549 (24 pipes, 650mhz) (replacing 7800GTX 512MB)
7900GT 256MB $449 (24 pipes, 450mhz) (replacing 7800GTX 256MB)
7900GS 256MB $349 (20 pipes, 400mhz) (replacing 7800GT 256MB)

How does that sound?

 

[yacoub]

Probably close, but the 7900GT won't be more than $400 and the GS simply wouldn't be worth $350 when the 7800GT is $250.

Try pricing GS at $300, GT at $400, and GTX at $500 for reference style, $550 for BFG's OC models.

 

[crazydingo]

Originally posted by: yacoub
Probably close, but the 7900GT won't be more than $400 and the GS simply wouldn't be worth $350 when the 7800GT is $250.

Try pricing GS at $300, GT at $400, and GTX at $500 for reference style, $550 for BFG's OC models.

The prices I guessed are msrps. AFAIK, the 7800GT's msrp is still at $399.

Oh and 7900GTX reference is at $549 and the BFG version is going to be $599.

 

[coldpower27]

Originally posted by: crazydingo
Your point is valid. Why offer a 256MB 7900GTX when that would basically be a 7900GT.

I think the 7900GTX will be priced at $549-$599, we have the BFG story also to back it up. Regarding the 7900GT's price either Inq goofed up or its right. I'm hoping for the latter )) but the $249-$300 gap is looking too big and unreasonable.

7900GTX 512MB $549 (24 pipes, 650mhz) (replacing 7800GTX 512MB)
7900GT 256MB $449 (24 pipes, 450mhz) (replacing 7800GTX 256MB)
7900GS 256MB $349 (20 pipes, 400mhz) (replacing 7800GT 256MB)

How does that sound?

That would make sense to engage the ATI lineup:

X1900 XTX remains on its own.
7900 GTX 512 vs X1900 XT MSRP's 549US
7900 GT 256 vs X1900 XL MSRP's 449US
7900 GS vs X1900 Vanilla MSRP's 349US
7600 GT 256MB $249US (12 pipes, 560mhz) (replaces 6800GS 256MB) engages ATI Radeon X1800 GTO
7600 GS 256MB $149US (8 pipes, xxxmhz) (replaces 6600 GT 128MB) engages ATI
Radeon X1600 XT?

 

[TheSlamma]

How reliable is that 24 pipes rumor?

it's 2 weeks, I'll wait for the official

 

[Sunrise089]

Originally posted by: coldpower27

Originally posted by: crazydingo
Your point is valid. Why offer a 256MB 7900GTX when that would basically be a 7900GT.

I think the 7900GTX will be priced at $549-$599, we have the BFG story also to back it up. Regarding the 7900GT's price either Inq goofed up or its right. I'm hoping for the latter )) but the $249-$300 gap is looking too big and unreasonable.

7900GTX 512MB $549 (24 pipes, 650mhz) (replacing 7800GTX 512MB)
7900GT 256MB $449 (24 pipes, 450mhz) (replacing 7800GTX 256MB)
7900GS 256MB $349 (20 pipes, 400mhz) (replacing 7800GT 256MB)

How does that sound?

That would make sense to engage the ATI lineup:

X1900 XTX remains on its own.
7900 GTX 512 vs X1900 XT MSRP's 549US
7900 GT 256 vs X1900 XL MSRP's 449US
7900 GS vs X1900 Vanilla MSRP's 349US
7600 GT 256MB $249US (12 pipes, 560mhz) (replaces 6800GS 256MB) engages ATI Radeon X1800 GTO
7600 GS 256MB $149US (8 pipes, xxxmhz) (replaces 6600 GT 128MB) engages ATI
Radeon X1600 XT?

This sounds like the bad old days (of last year) when you had like 20 video card models from each company, which has somewhat come under control as of late. On the other hand, it would be nice if Nvidia and ATI's entire lineup could be from the same series again, since that would eliminate feature set differences from within the same brand.

 

[meson2000]

I read a rumor somewhere that that GTX was going for $499 (Not sure if that was the 512meg version) and the GT was going for $299. I will check for the link....

 

[yacoub]

Well looking at the current RTPE pricing, the cheapest X1900XT is $480 right now, not even with any rebates.
The cheapest 7800GTX is $435 and that's 256MB. The cheapest 512MB 7800GTX is $690 and it's a pre-order aka non-existent.
The 7900GT coming in at $400, while expensive, is par for a 7800GT replacement. The 7900GTX though, unless it outperforms the X1900XT, can't be more than $500 without being overpriced from the get-go, especially considering the X1900XT prices will continue to drop, especially with a 512MB competitor (7900GTX) actually available in stores (assuming NVidia can come through with supply quantity this time).

So if you release a new product at $500 and your competitor's product is already at $480, unless you're outperforming them or offering some additional features, you're going to have to drop the price right away. The price differential is even more exaggerated if it comes out at $550.

Now consider if they do bring it out at $500. That's only $100 more than the 256MB GT model. That should do one thing: force the pricing down on the GT model to $350 so there is a greater price differential between the two. Since they can't go UP in price with the GTX, they'll likely have to come down in price on the GT to maintain the $150 price gap we saw with the 7800GT and GTX (and those were even both 256MB models).

Should be interesting to see what they end up doing for MSRPs on the GT and GTX.

I'm still expecting $400 and $550 and performance on the GTX on part with the XT in most games, better in Q4 and B&W2, worse in FEAR and Source engine (HL2). Then the GT will come down to $350 at the end of March when the X1900XL comes out, probably also at $400, and offers very strong competition for the 7900GT.

That's when I'd buy a 7900 (especially the GT) - at the end of March after the X1900XL has been out for a week and reviews are up showing how it compares to the GT. If the XL wins, the GT's price should start to drop a bit and would be a great time to grab one. On the other hand if you're an ATI fan, you already have an XT (or are waiting for a more quietly cooled XT lol).

 

[ronnn]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
As said earlier, i guessing this:

MSRP $399 7900GT 450mhz, 24 pipe
MSRP $499 7900GTX 256mb 550~650 mhz 24 pipe
MSRP $649 7900GTX 512mb 650mhz 32 pipe (limited quantity)

IF they could sell a G71 card equivalent of the 7800GTX 512mb (with less heat, power due to the use of 90nm lowk) at price of 499 it would be great. Since the 7800GTX 512mb performs similiarly to the X1900XT which has the MSRP of $549 i think NV can be pretty competitive.

So why would nvidia make a limited edition 32 pipe card? Either it will have 32 pipes or it won't is my opinion. If it is 32 pipes, should be a killer, if not will be a real competition.