Since the performance of the part falls between the 6800 GS and the 7800 GT, we took a look at what those parts cost in order to get a lay of the land. The 6800 GS is priced between $200 and $230, and the 7800 GT comes in at $320 to $370. If we look simply at averages, this would mean we should expect the 7800 GS to be sold between $260 and $300 if 7800 GT prices stay stagnant - but most likely lower if the 7800 GT prices move before the 7800 GS launch. NVIDIA roadmaps confirm that even though GeForce 6800 GS will reach sub $190 levels by the end of the year, the product will not actively be continued.
At the same time, this part performs in the same class as the X1800 XL. While the ATI card fairly consistently beats the 7800 GS in these benchmarks, the fact that that the 7800 GS keeps up at all (and will cost even less than the 7800 GT) means that it would be very difficult for this card not to have a lot of value. Of course, if this part debuts at the high end of our estimate, a cheap 7800 GT would definitely be a better way to go. There are some rebate and coupon offers that can get you a 7800 GT for $300 right now if you look hard enough.
We are quite excited about this part; the sooner it arrives the better. The 7800 GS will be a great part for people who can't decide between the 6800 GS and the 7800 GT. Hopefully the introduction of the 7800 GS will also allow the price of the 6800 GS to get pushed down a little more without leaving a huge gap between it an the next higher performing part.
We will definitely publish more news on the 7800 GS when we get more details.
Recent leak of a 7800GS card was covered up by saying these were engineering samples for internal circulation. Now think about this for just one second. Does it make sense for a company to go around making redundant products just for the heck of it? Just to help developers test on it? Developers won’t want to test on anything that will never see the light of the day.
Our own feeling is that 7800GS will indeed come out as a card (recent reports elsewhere not withstanding) and we have a strong suspicion that the card will be AGP compliant. Though PCIe has been fairly successful thus far, NVIDIA still has a significant AGP market to cover, which it needs to do to justify as much profits as possible.
When NVIDIA launches a possible update to the G70 or the 7800GTX 512MB series in Feb ’06, that’s exactly when we suspect NVIDIA to come out with an AGP version of the 7800GS. With that said, we don’t believe 7800GS will ever come out in PCI Express standard.
Blade_Runner said:7800GS Confirmed, Benchmarked
easily become 2006's rendition of the Radeon X800GTO^2. A 16 pipe version of 7800GT would easily best a GeForce 6800GT or 6800 Ultra (at least on paper), but with current drivers we've already witnessed higher performance than that.
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