Posted:2006-09-15 By video card review Number of View:54143
GEFORCE 7950 GT REVIEW OVERCLOCK
AND BENCHMARK PERFORMANCE TEST
LEADTEK AND XFX 7950 GT
By :video card review
Posted:2006-09-15
xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source
One week after launching the GeForce 7900 GS, NVIDIA return to us with new card in the range GeForce 7. It is this time we will talk about GeForce 7950 gt, a chip which is supposed to replace the current GeForce gt in the graphics boards price range of 300 euros. ATI have recently repositioned its price range, NVIDIA follows the movement and connects its new offer before the arrival of DirectX 10 chips. We thus propose here to give a performance report on GeForce 7950 gt we should not expect a crashing performance from it, we will have to check its performances and thus its positioning vs the current NVIDIA offer , but also vs its eternal competitor " ATI ". Since we speak about ATI, this article is for us the occasion to return on Radeon X1900 XT, of return in version 256 MB.
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
In spite of its name, and contrary to the GeForce 7950 GX2,NVIDIA GeForce 7950 gt use only one and single graphics chip. there is No question thus for multiprocessors … Tthe last-born NVIDIA child divides only common point with GeForce 7950 GX2 witch is the use of chip G71 type. Without reconsidering the details of architecture GeForce 7, already approached in our columns, we will underline simply that the chips of family GeForce 7 are compatible DirectX 9.0c, deal with Shader Model 3.0 and manage the HDR effects .
Side pure and hard design features, the chip GeForce 7950 gt counts 278 million transistors in 90 Nm. Comprising 24 pixels pipelines, GeForce 7950 gt has 8 Vertex units and 16 ROP. The memory interface does not change compared to the GeForce 7900 GTX and GeForce 7900 GS and still as 256 bits. However, contrary to recent GeForce 7900 GS, GeForce 7950 gt is equipped with 512 MB of video memory and not 256 Mb. Attention however, certain partners will propose models of GeForce 7950 gt with 256 Mb of video memory. With regard to the operation frequencies , NVIDIA fixes the clock speed of the graphics chip at 550 MHz while the Vertexes units work at 570 MHz. Side of the memory, NVIDIA proposes the frequency of 700 MHz is 1,4 GHz for a theoretical band-width of 44,8 Go a second. Taking into consideration specification and as one can see it in the table below, GeForce 7950 WP thus posts from the start as higher than GeForce 7900 gt without however competing with GeForce 7900 GTX which preserves the most aggressive specifications with for recall a chip frequency of 650 MHz.
ATI X1900 GT
ATI X1900 XT 256 Mb
NVIDIA 7900 GS
NVIDIA 7900 GT
NVIDIA 7950 GT
NVIDIA 7900 GTX
Interface
PCI-E 16x
PCI-E 16x
PCI-E 16x
PCI-E 16x
PCI-E 16x
PCI-E 16x
Thec proc
0,09 µ
0,09 µ
0,09 µ
0,09 µ
0,09 µ
0,09 µ
Transistors
~380 million
~380 million
~278 million
~278 million
~278 million
~278 million
RAMDAC
2 X.400 MHz
2 X.400 MHz
2 X.400 MHz
2 X.400 MHz
2 X.400 MHz
2 X.400 MHz
T&L
DirectX 9.0c
DirectX 9.0c
DirectX 9.0c
DirectX 9.0c
DirectX 9.0c
DirectX 9.0c
Pixels Pipelines
36
48
20
24
24
24
Vertex Pipelines
8
8
7
8
8
8
Installed memory
256 Mb
256 Mb
256 Mb
256 Mb
256/512 Mb
512 Mb
memory Interface
256 bits
256 bits
256 bits
256 bits
256 bits
256 bits
memory Band-width
35,8 Go/s
43,2 G/s
42,2 G/s
39,3 G/s
41,7 G/s
47,7 G/s
GPU Frequency
575 MHz
620 MHz
450 MHz
450 MHz
550 MHz
650 MHz
memory Frequency
600 MHz
720 MHz
660 MHz
660 MHz
700 MHz
800 MHz
On the practical level, it is necessary to underline a small functional difference with GeForce 7900 gt, the new card containing GeForce 7950 gt systematically integrating the Crypto-ROM necessary to the support of HDCP: a good point for NVIDIA. Taking again the PureVideo engine, the card GeForce 7950 gt are able in addition to relieve the system during thevideo reading flow high definition with the H.264 formats, VC-1, WMV and MPEG 2. Lastly, ports DVI of the card containing GeForce 7950 gt are both Dual-Link type what makes possible to connect two screens 30 inches to only one card.
NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT: The card reference
The card reference provided by NVIDIA for this test is rather close to the current GeForce 7900 gt in term of design. The two chips divide the same PCB size . we finds on the card a strip SLI and a power connector , the bus PCI-Express 16x not being sufficient to fully power the chip . The cooling system retained by NVIDIA for its last-born child is identical to that of GeForce 7900 gt with copper radiator simply covering the graphics chip and provided in its end with a green translucent blade fan. The memory chips are of type GDDR3. Accompanied by 512 MB of memory, GeForce 7950 gt reference uses Infineon certified components with 1,4 NS. Provided with the famous chip dedicated to encoding HDCP, the card offers at exit two ports DVI and a video connector format mini-DIN. Design of reference has the frequencies of 550 MHz for the graphics chip and 700 MHz for the memory.
GeForce 7950 gt: the reference NVIDIA card.
Leadtek WinFast PX7950 WP TDH Review
Leadtek is among the first manufacturers to deliver card based on GeForce 7950 gt. The small last Taiwanese manufacturer proposed the 256 Mb version and takes again the PCB of reference . It is about a simple card witch use PCI-Express bus slot on which we finds SLI connector and the additional power . The cooling system employed by Leadtek is however different and here we are in the presence of the metal radiator which cover the hole graphics processor via its copper base and also makes contact with the memories chips . Side technical specifications, the PX7950 gt TDH has the GPU at550 MHz and its 256 Mb memory at 700 MHz. Here, Leadtek uses chips memories from Hynix certified to 1,4 NS. Deprived, at least in this version, of function VIVO, the card offers at exit two connectors DVI and a mini-DIN for the video exit. Leadtek do not forgot to equip its card with the Crypto-rom for HDCP management .
Leadtek WinFast PX7950GT TDH With regard to the bundle, Leadtek delivers, in addition to the books and other driver discs , only one and single adapter DVI/VGA, a cable doubles Molex towards PCI-Express bus for the additional power supply the card also offer a component exit and an exit S-Video. there was two game also availble Serious Sam II and SpellForce 2 in complete versions
XFX Extreme GeForce 7950 GT review
XFX strikes extremely with the launching of GeForce 7950 gt by proposing a model says extreme . XFX offer a completely quiet card . The card, has a black PCB and covered with a black radiator. Failing to make contact with the memories chips , the principal radiator has base copper which is connected via two heat-pipes to a second metal gilled-tube radiator present on the card section covering the PCB part . To avoid torsions, XFX took care to affix a black metal strip over the entire length of the card while not forgetting to spare an opening for SLI connector . Completely quiet, Extreme GeForce 7950 GT from XFX is provided with an electric connector PCI-Express bus . Side operation frequencies , XFX proposes 570 MHz for the graphics processor and 730 MHz for the memory. 512 MB of video memory, the card adopts chips signed Infineon and certified to 1,4 NS. At exit we finds two ports DVI color green fluo, as well as a connector mini-DIN, the whole fixed on a black square.
XFX Extreme GeForce 7950 gt
Question bundle, XFX proposes to us, in addition to driver CD the books, two adapters DVI/VGA, a power adapter Molex towards PCI-Express bus, a cable S-Video . In premium, XFX delivers the game Tom Clancy\' S Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter in complete version.
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256 MB Review:
We takes the same ones and we starts again! , ATI is positioning the card around 250 euros including all taxes. Design features question, the graphics chip animating Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb is always R580 which remains in 90 Nm. Let us recall that the chip in question is compatible DirectX 9.0c, deals with Shader Model 3.0 and supports HDR with the possibility to mix HDR and antialiasing, witch is impossible thing on GeForce 7 from NVIDIA. For memory, the graphics processor is provided with 48 pixels pipelines, 16 texture units and 8 vertex units for a total of 16 ROP. Using GDDR3 contrary to recent Radeon X1950 XTX which adopts the GDDR4, Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb posts operation frequencies identical to model 512 Mb is 620 MHz for the graphics chip and 720 MHz for the memory. Only, therefore, the quantity of video memory changes on this model, and ATI uses on the card reference the certified Samsung chips 1,2 NS.
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mo: the chart of reference
The bad news, comes from the card design which is identical to the Radeon X1900 XTX and current XT. We are thus in the presence of a card double-slot, massive, whose cooling system as always still noisy. The reference card has a additional power connector from PCI-Express bus as well as a chip Rage Theater for the video inputs/outputs. At exit, we finds two connectors DVI, both Dual-Link type, and a connector mini-DIN.
To test the performances of GeForce 7950 gt we had recourse to the following platform:
Motherboard Asus P5N32 SE SLI Deluxe,
Processor INTEL Core 2 Extreme 6800,
2x1 G Corsair Twin2X 6400 C3,
Hard disk Western DIGITAL Raptor 150 G
On this machine we will test GeForce 7900 GS, GeForce 7900 gt, GeForce 7950 gt and GeForce 7900 GTX. This configuration offers the advantage of SLI using the GeForce 7950 gt. We would not be complete without testing ATI card and for this reason we will employ the following configuration:
Motherboard asus P5W-DH Deluxe,
Processor INTEL Core 2 Extreme 6800,
2x1 G Corsair Twin2X 6400 C3,
Hard disk Western DIGITAL Raptor 150 G
On this platform we will test Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb, Radeon X1900 XT 512 Mb, Radeon X1950 XTX without forgetting Radeon X1900 gt. Our two machines were provided with the last driver and BIOS available to the date of test. With regard to the graphic driver, we had recourse to the last CATALYST 6.8 for all ATI card and to ForceWare 91.47 for all NVIDIA nvidia.
3DMark 06
We start with 3DMark 06. Without surprise, the SLI GeForce 7950 gt is at the head with a comfortable advantage on Radeon X1950 XTX. According to 3DMark the 06 last-born children from NVIDIA post themselves like 18% faster than GeForce 7900 gt in 1600x1200. Alas for NVIDIA, that recent Radeon X1900 XT in version 256 Mb offer higher performance than the nvidia 7950gt card.
Quake 4 - v1.2
Under Quake 4, it is obvious that our graphics card are limited by the processor in the resolutions lower than the 1600x1200. We will thus concentrate on this last resolution which only makes possible to establish a coherent classification. Without surprise the SLI GeForce 7950 gt is the leader, but pretty close to the Radeon X1950 XTX . The news GeForce 7950 gt maintains advance of 17% over the GeForce 7900 gt, but there still not sufficient to precede Radeon X1900 XT 256 MB. This one is like 7% faster. Although our two Radeon X1900 XT operate at the same frequencies, model 512 MB is appreciably in front of the 256 Mb version . An advantage which we also finds for GeForce 7950 gt model of reference NVIDIA with 512 MB is at equal frequencies it is 4% faster than the Leadtek card provided with only 256 mb of video memory.
Tomb Raider Legends - v1.2
For Lara Croft, tested here using FRAPS the result still with the SLI. Our news GeForce 7950 gt are pretty close to the Radeon X1900 XT 256 MB, but they still a bit lower. At equal frequencies our GeForce 7950 gt provided with 256 or 512 Mo of video memory posts identical performances, whereas we notes a very light advantage for Radeon X1900 XT 512 MB vs model 256 Mb. Compared with GeForce 7900 gt, the last chip of NVIDIA is 19% faster
Half-Life 2 - Lost Coast
The Radeon X1900 XT 512 and 256 Mb are with equality with a very short advance on our three GeForce 7950 gt. It will be noted besides that the higher frequencies of model XFX do not confer to him that an advantage of 0,6% on the NVIDIA card reference in 1600x1200. In addition, the scores of model 256 Mb are nearly identical to those of version 512 Mb. Vs GeForce 7900 gt, the new one come still 19% faster, constant value since the beginning of our tests.
Far Cry v1.4 Beta - HDR 7
Without surprise, the SLI is largely at the head, in front of Radeon X1950 XTX. Here, Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb is shown as fast as our three GeForce 7950 gt in 1600x1200 are excessively close, except for version 256 Mb from Leadtek . In this resolution, Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb shows 7% faster performance than the Leadtek card.
Splinter Concealment Theory Chaos - v1.05
Is it still useful to comment on the performances of the SLI? :-)
we always notes an advantage for Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb vs the GeForce 7950 gt, about 3 to 4%. Extreme GeForce 7950 gt from XFX is disappointing since its higher operation frequencies do not enable him to take the lead of other 7950gt card . Once again, GeForce 7950 gt is about 19% faster than its predecessor GeForce 7900 gt.
F.E.A.R. - v1.0
It is noted that the contribution of the 512 Mb on GeForce 7950 gt is not convincing… The model XFXoffer identical performance with the referebce card . and here first time the Radeon X1900 XT 256 loose over the NVIDIA chip . since the radeon card is already powerful enough as showin in other test so the nvidia advantage is not higher than 5%.
Need For Speed Most Wanted - v1.2
The SLI show as always a remarkable performances , particularly in 1600x1200. GeForce 7950 gt from XFX take slightly the lead of other GeForce 7950 gt, whereas vs Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb, the last NVIDIA born benefit here from certain advantage. Thus WinFast PX 7950 gtTDH 256 from Leadtek is 6% faster than Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb.
Call Of Dutty 2 - v1.3
For Call Of Duty 2, the advantage of SLI is not so obvious, Radeon X1950 XTX do better in 1600x1200. In the same way Radeon X1900 XT post performances definitely higher than GeForce 7950 gt which are besides all with equality. we note that GeForce 7950 gt makes here equal play with Radeon X1900 gt. Under this game, Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb show 27% higher performances vs GeForce 7950 gt frp, Leadtek! also the Radeon X1900 XT, that with 512 Mb version is faster than the 256 mb one
Call Of Dutty 2 - v1.3 - FSAA 4x & Aniso
We takes the same card and we starts again, but this time by activating the filtering functions . The result really does not move since Radeon X1950 XTX remains the leader whereas GeForce 7950 gt are clearly preceded by the Radeon XT with 256 or 512 Mb video memory. in any case here the GeForce 7950 gt show 8 % higher performance than the GeForce 7900 gt.
F.E.A.R. - v1.07 - FSAA 4x + AF 8x
Let us continue with F.E.A.R. where we activate this time the filtering functions .The SLI takes again the lead whereas Radeon X1900 XT post a certain superiority vs the new GeForce 7950 gt. In 1600x1200, X1900 XT 256 Mb from ATI is 17% faster than GeForce 7950 gt 256 mb from Leadtek. With equality with GeForce 7900 GTX, Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb makes all the same slightly less although model 512 mb which preserves an advantage of 6%. 7950 gt Vs GeForce 7900 gt is 17% faster.
Quake 4 v1.2 - FSAA 4x
For Quake the SLI remain at the head, but Radeon X1900 XT continue to make trouble to NVIDIA. New model 256 mb are 33% faster than GeForce 7950 gt 512 mb when antialiasing 4x is activated… the XFX card preserves the advantage on other GeForce 7950 gt, but this one is tiny here. GeForce 7950 gt vs GeForce 7900 gt finally can be 30% faster, always in 1600x1200.
Half-Life 2 Lost Coast - FSAA 4x + AF8x
We finish with Half-Life 2 Lost Coast by activating not only antialiasing 4x, but also anisotropic filtering 8x. Here also Radeon X1900 XT are in front of the new GeForce 7950 gt… Thus the model Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb shown 11% faster performance than the Leadtek card based on GeForce 7950 gt 256 mb of video memory. note that the 512 Mb video memory version brings a little more performances to the GeForce 7950 gt, the reference card provided with 512 Mo being 6% faster than the Leadtek card with his 256 Mb in 1600x1200.
7950gt Overclocking
As with each one of our tests or almost, we had to check the overclocking potential of the GeForce 7950 gt. For that, we use NVIDIA driver by activating Coolbits function. The reference card provided by NVIDIA overclock rather easily, letting to us to reach 625 MHz for the GPU and 750 MHz for the memory, against 550 MHz for the GPU and 700 MHz for the memory in default time, the card from Leadtek seems less clocker. we could not exceed the 575 MHz for the graphics chip when the memory did not exceed the 725 MHz. Lastly, side XFX, the Extreme card were flexible to reach the 635 MHz for the graphics chip against 755 MHz for the memory. It should be recognized that with XFX card we starts from higher frequency with 570 MHz for the graphics chip and 730 MHz for the memory.
Conclusion
The GeForce 7950 gt! replaces its predecessor advantageously," GeForce 7900 gt". With higher performances by about 18%, the new arrival fills its high contract the hand while proposing the support of the HDCP . Side ATI! the Canadian proposes a version with 256mb Radeon X1900 XT which offers overall performances higher than those of the GeForce 7950 gt. However, the last-born child of NVIDIA comprises twice more memory . GeForce 7950 gt is announced at the public price of 319 euros for model 512 Mb, price should quickly decrease, Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb is negotiated in the 250 euros. Consequently Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb has our preference the more so as the image quality is higher at ATI and than antialiasing with HDR is supported there. This test also allowed us to note that between versions 256 mb and 512 mb of the same graphics chip the differences in performances are generally small, at least at NVIDIA. Because side ATI, the difference between Radeon X1900 XT 256 Mb and model 512 Mb is a little more significant.
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