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When nVidia launched the GeForce 7800 GTX, several months ago, its stellar performance blew us away--but so did its scary $600 price. The latest nVidia chip is the $400 7800 GT, which features great performance for power users on a slightly tighter budget.

To make the 7800 GT, nVidia slowed down its 7800 GTX chip and turned off a few pipes. But card vendor XFX has sped things up by slightly overclocking its PCI Express-based GeForce 7800 GT board, allowing it to keep pace with a previously tested 7800 GTX reference card, and to easily outrun a high-end ATI Radeon X850 Platinum Edition card.

In our Doom 3 test, the 7800 GT posted 62 frames per second at 1600 by 1200 resolution, close to the 7800 GTX's score of 64 fps and well ahead of the X850's 45 fps. With antialiasing on, the 7800 GT mustered 41 fps; the 7800 GTX and the X850 managed 42 and 31 fps, respectively.

At the same resolution but with antialiasing turned off, tests with Far Cry produced similar results: The 7800 GT achieved 77 fps; the 7800 GTX, 80 fps; and the X850, 67 fps. With antialiasing switched on, the 7800 GT reached 47 fps, while the 7800 GTX managed 50 fps and the X850 hit 17 fps.

If those frame rates mean something to you, the 7800 GT is well worth considering.

Tom Mainelli