Introduction
The rate at which the price of video card hardware is falling has been quite astonishing over the past year. Performance that cost around $500 this time last year in the form of NVIDIA's 7800 GTX, can be had for half that price from the right vendor due to the continuous slashing of 7900 GT prices. The 7600 GT can generally be purchased for around $160 but can be found for less than $130 with rebates and careful shopping. NVIDIA are aggressively moving the entry price for a very capable gaming machine down the ladder and today's launch only hastens the pace.
NVIDIA are officially launching two new products today, both of which are variants of the 7900 GT core, the G71. Rather than aiming to push 7900 GT pricing down further, NVIDIA are cutting the 7900 GT from their lineup altogether and replacing it with two new SKU's that slot in on either side of the venerable performance segment board.
The first board, which we are not covering here in details for the very reason that its benchmark results are still under embargo, is the 7950 GT. The 7950GT is ultimately an overclocked 7900 GT with a couple of tweaks to the overall package. NVIDIA have boosted the core clock from 450 MHz to 550 MHz with this card and have tweaked the overall package in a couple of ways. The memory has been boosted from 660 MHz to 700 and along with a better variable speed fan control, they have added full HDCP support. We'll be taking a further look at this card when it officially hits shelves next week.
In the meantime, we are focusing on the second product: the 7900GS which is being hard launched today and will retail for the $199 "sweet spot". EVGA and Leadtek have both launched 7900 GS cards today, and XFX have sent us their sexy 7900 GS XT which looks to fill the space between the 7600 GT and what will be the 7950 GT. The next page details the changes and adjustments that NVIDIA have made to the G71 core to create the 7900 GS.
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