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Eyes on G71

At this stage we'll do a little Copy and Paste from our original 7950 GT review; we'll briefly look at the technology behind the GeForce 7950 microarchitecture, the cards versus bundles, some features, power consumption, heat management and the very obvious... noise :)

So then the GeForce 7950 GT. As stated previously, the same graphics processor as the GeForce 7900 GT yet clocked slightly faster. This is what the industry calls a refresh product. More of the same, yet a different configuration to adapt and address the market in a better way or to adapt towards competitor products.

Why is it called 7950? Well it beats me but I do have an idea. The 512MB memory might be a reference to that. Take for example the GeForce 7950 GX2, it's a dual PCB, dual graphics core based product. If you rip the two boards from each other, what to you have? A single PCB 7950 GX1; a card that is 100% similar to the 7900 GT and 7950 GT except for the somewhat slower graphics core and memory.

Why do I explain all this so much in detail? Because it's getting a jungle in the computer stores, consumers do not have a clue what the differences are anymore as there are too many products saturating and cluttering the market for the end-user to comprehend what exactly they are buying.

Hey luckily for you you're on Guru3D.com, we just love to explain. Let's have a look at the some product specifications and compare them to understand where the differences are to be found.

		NVIDIA GeForce 6 & 7 Product Lineup Specifications

Product Name

# pixel processors

# vertex processors

Bus width

Memory Type/Amount

GPU Speed

RAM Speed

GeForce 7950 GX2 24(x2) 8x2 256-bit GDDR3/512MB (x2) 500MHz 1200 MHzGeForce 7900 GTX 24 8 256-bit GDDR3/512MB 650MHz 1600 MHzGeForce 7950 GT 24 8 256-bit GDDR3/512MB 550MHz 1400 MHzGeForce 7900 GT 24 8 256-bit GDDR3/256MB 450MHz 1320 MHzGeForce 7900 GS 20 7 256-bit GDDR3/256MB 450MHz 1320 MHzGeForce 7800 GTX 24 8 256-bit GDDR3/512MB 560MHz 1600 MHzGeForce 7800 GTX 24 8 256-bit GDDR3/256MB 430MHz 1200MHzGeForce 7800 GT 20 7 256-bit GDDR3/256MB 400MHz 1000MHzGeForce 7800 GS 16 6 256-bit GDDR3/256MB 375MHz 1200MHzGeForce 7600 GT 12 5 128-bit GDDR3/256MB 560MHz 1400MHzGeForce 7600 GS 12 5 128-bit GDDR2/256MB 500MHz 1400MHzGeForce 7600 GS 12 5 128-bit GDDR2/256MB 400MHz 800MHz

GeForce 6800 Ultra

16

6

256-bit

GDDR3/256MB

400MHz

1100MHz

GeForce 6800 GT

16

6

256-bit

GDDR3/256MB

350MHz

1000MHz

GeForce 6800 GS PCX 12 5 256-bit GDDR3/128/256MB 425MHz 1000MHzGeForce 6800 GS AGP 12 5 256-bit GDDR3/128/256MB 350MHz 1000MHz

GeForce 6800

12

5

256-bit

GDDR/128MB

325MHz

700MHz

GeForce 6800 LE

8

4

256-bit

GDDR/128MB

320MHz

700MHz

GeForce 6600 GT 8 3 128-bit GDDR3/128/256MB 500MHz 1000MHzGeForce 6600 8 3 128-bit GDDR/128MB 300MHz 275(550)GeForce 6200 4 3 64/128-bit GDDR/128MB/256MB 300MHz 275(550)

So what you need to be comparing to the most is the GeForce 7900 GT 256MB. The big differences are, a 100 MHZ faster core clock, an 80MHz faster memory clock and obviously an extra 256MB of framebuffer/memory. That's it! Other then that there are virtually no differences between both cards in terms of features or anything. It has 24 pixel shader processors, eight vertex units, 16 ROPS; in short, this is the 0.09 micron G71 graphics core.

Again, this is a refresh product. The entertaining part is, for roughly 300 bucks you can get a top-segment mid-range product slash lower segment high-end graphics card in your system and that's fascinating for sure.

Compared to the big daddy 7900 GTX the card is producing much less heat due to the lower clocks and a nice side-effect of that is that it's a single slot solution whereas the GTX has the bigger dual slot heat pipe cooler. That cooler btw has changed compared to the 7900 GT cooler. It seems to be slightly quieter, which is good!

Okay, some other specifications.

• 8 Vertex Shading Units
• 24 Pixel pipelines
• 512MB 256-bit 1.4ns (8x32) GDDR3 Memory
• PCI Express x16 Compatibility (PCI Express Compliant)
• Integrated NVIDIA TV Encoder (HDTV, S-Video, Composite,)
• Integrated NVIDIA VIVO (S-Video, Composite,)
• Dual DVI-I Connectors
• NVIDIA PureVideo Technology
• DVD + HDTV Decode assist up to 1920x1080p resolution
• Integrated Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
• Two Dual Link TMDS DVI Connector
• NVIDIA Digital Vibrance Control (DVC) 3.0
• Support for Microsoft Video Mixer Renderer (VMR)
• Advanced adaptive de-interlacing

Inno3D

Right then .. the Inno3D GeForce 7950 GT when you look at it is a 100% reference design based card. It comes with a default green PCB (I would have really loved another color) but most definitely the zalman cooler Makes up for a lot. Once you open up the box you'll notice you'll receive a full free game (that is really great) yet what you will immediately notice is that the Zalman cooler needs to be connected to your mainboard as the 3pin connector does not fit onto the PCB connector of the graphics card. To be honest .. that is quite weird to observe.  It will also mean that the fan will spin at 100% RPM for most mainboards without voltage control.

So if you are in the market for this card then definitely bare in mind that you need a spare 3-pin fan header on your mainboard preferably connect to a fan-controller.

Although the cooling is far better  than NVIDIA's reference cooer, the card does not come pre-overclocked which surprises me as right now to my right I see the card idles at a very cool 39 Degrees C. Ah we'll we'll overclock the Bejesus out of it ourselves then :)

What else is in the box:

• Full version of Commandos Strike Force
• CD with drivers and manual
• quickstart guide
• 2x DVI dongles
• 6-pin PCIe-to-molex adapter
• S-Video-to-composite cable
• HD TV-Out (component) cable

There's nothing much to be said here other then you'll receive all the basics to get started and even a full game. This is your run of the mill GeForce 7950 GT with a good bundle and very nice fan.