eVGA e-GeForce 7900GS KO
By Rob Williams
June 18, 2007
Gamers. They want to do what they do best, without having to take out a small loan to do it. Of course, I am exaggerating, but when top-end GPU's cost upwards of $500 - $800, it does make you consider some ridiculous things. Luckily, for gamers on a budget there are many other options available, one of which we will be taking a look at today.
NVIDIA launched their 7900 GS series late last year alongside their slightly beefier 7950 GT cards. At that time, 7900 GS cards retailed for an average of ~$200. Given the normal progression of things, it has since gone down in price to settle closer to $150. Some e-tailers offer even lower prices if you take advantage of mail-in-rebates.
The immediate question is, should you opt for the 7950GT which retails for only $50 more? Considering that many who are looking for a lower-end card are on a strict budget, then probably not. While I no longer have a 7950GT card to test with, I do have the next best thing, a 7900GT. Though it's easier to find 7950GTs for sale, we are simply using that card as a basis for comparison.
Closer Look: The stock speeds of the 7900 GS are 450MHz on the core and 1320MHz on the memory, but eVGA's KO version utilizes speeds of 500MHz and 1380MHz respectively. It utilizes a 256-Bit memory bus and also 256MB of GDDR3. By comparison, eVGA's own 7950 GT offers clocks of 560MHz on the core and 1450MHz on the memory.
Tech Gage
