Nvidia Tightens Up Midrange Performance With The $300 GeForce 7950GT

Test Setup

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System Hardware
Processor(s)AMD Athlon 64 FX-602.6 GHz, 1.0 GHz HT-Link, 1 MB L2 cache
PlatformNvidia : Asus AN832-SLI PremiumNVIDIA nForce4 SLI, BIOS version 1205ATI : Asus A8R32-MVP PremiumATI Xpress 3200 CrossFire, BIOS version 0404
RAMCorsair CMX1024-4400Pro2x 1024 MB @ DDR400 (CL3.0-4-4-8)
Hard DriveWestern Digital Raptor, WD1500ADFD150 GB, 10,000 RPM, 16 MB cache, SATA/150
NetworkingOn-Board nForce4 Gigabit EthernetOnboard Marvell Gigabit Ethernet
Graphics Cards
ATI Based CardsATI Radeon X1900XTX 512 MB GDDR3650 MHz Core775 MHz Memory (1.55 GHz DDR)ATI Radeon X1900XT 256 MB GDDR3625 MHz Core725 MHz Memory (1.45 GHz DDR)
Nvidia Based CardsPNY GeForce 7900GTX 512 MB GDDR3675 MHz Core820 MHz Memory (1.64 GHz DDR)XFX GeForce 7900GT 256 MB GDDR3550 MHz Core815 MHz Memory (1.63 GHz DDR)Nvidia GeForce 7950GT 550M 256 MB GDDR3550 MHz Core700 MHz Memory (1.40 GHz DDR)PNY GeForce 7900GTX 256 MB GDDR3430 MHz Core600 MHz Memory (1.20 GHz DDR)PNY GeForce 7900GS 256 MB GDDR3450 MHz Core660 MHz Memory (1.32 GHz DDR)PNY GeForce 7800GTX 256 MB GDDR3430 MHz Core600 MHz Memory (1.20 GHz DDR)EVGA GeForce 7800GT 256 MB GDDR3445 MHz Core535 MHz Memory (1.07 GHz DDR)
Power SupplyPC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1,000 W
System Software & Drivers
OSMicrosoft Windows XP Professional 5.10.2600, Service Pack 2
DirectX Version9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Graphics Driver(s)ATI - Catalyst 6.6 WHQLNVIDIA - Forceware 91.47 WHQL

Benchmarks Results

3DMark05

In 3DMark we tested at all resolutions with antialiasing and anisotropic filtering disabled for the first run. The second time around we increased the image quality with 4xAA and 8xAF.

In 3DMark05 we saw mixed results that leaned towards the GeForce 7900GT. The GeForce 7950GT only won at 1024x768 at the default settings (No AA / No AF) and with everything cranked up at 2560x1600. In every other discipline the GeForce 7900GT won the head-to-head competition. The differences could be from the advantage that the XFX card has in terms of memory speeds, or from driver limitations.