The performance gains come from a faster and updated core compared to the GeForce 7800GT. The GeForce 7900GS has the same number of processing units as the GeForce 7800GT, with 7 vertex shaders, 20 pixel shaders and 16 ROPs. The differences come from manufacturing: while the GeForce 7800GT is based on the G70 processor manufactured on a 110 nm process, the GeForce 7900GS is built on the G71 processor that is manufactured at 90 nm.

This difference, along with the optimizations inherent in the newer processor, allow for higher clock frequencies. The Nvidia design specification for the GeForce 7900GS has the vertex shaders running at 470 MHz, the rest of the core at 450 MHz, and the memory at 660 MHz (1.32 GHz DDR). That is an increase of 30 MHz on the vertex shaders, 50 MHz on the core and 60 MHz for the memory (120 MHz DDR).

More To Come: GeForce 7950GT

The other card that has been announced is the GeForce 7950GT, which by the looks of the naming current convention might make one think the card has two processors. It is, however, an upgraded version of the GeForce 7900GT. It has all of the same core components as the 7900GT, but runs them 100 MHz faster, so the vertex shaders operate at 570 MHz, the rest of the core at 550 MHz, and the memory at 700 MHz (1.4 GHz DDR). While we will follow up with results of the GeForce 7950GT, we are excited to see another card enter the market - all of these improvements trickle down performance and cost savings onto consumers.