The latest addition to the extremely popular GeForce 7900 Series of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) by NVIDIA is the GeForce 7900 GS. With a price point of around $200, the GeForce 7900 GS is set to bring the power of the GeForce 7900 lineup to the masses.
Although the GS branded model may make some cringe with thoughts of lesser features and slower clock speeds, I can safely say that this graphics card should perhaps be the first consideration when contemplating an upgrade to the GeForce 7900 series.
I was looking forward to this review after my previous experience with Inno3D's GeForce 7600 GST. The GeForce 7600 GST was a powerhouse waiting to be unlocked and I had the same high-hopes for their GeForce 7900 GS. The GeForce 7900 GS is based on the same G71 architecture as the GeForce 7900 GT, GeForce 7900 GTX and GeForce 7950 GX2 and features Dual-Link DVI and HDTV connections and is SLI and Windows Vista ready.
Package Contents
Inno3D's GeForce 7900 GS sticks to NVIDIA's reference design and I like that they kept things simple. Stability and performance is what I care about. Looks are secondary.
Included in the packaging is a driver CD with WinDVD Creator2, WinDVD 5, an instruction manual, S-Video cable, a molex-to-PCI Express power connector, DVI-to-VGA converters and an S-Video to component cable.
TEST SYSTEM
There were absolutely no problems getting the graphics card installed. Within 10 minutes of uninstalling the display drivers, powering off the machine and tearing it down, I was back up and ready to go.
Graphics Card Installed
The test system consists of the following components:
Here's a quick-glance chart to see how the GeForce 7900 GS stacks up to the rest of the GeForce 7900 lineup (these are all the stock speeds). As the chart shows, for all intents and purposes, the GeForce 7900 GS is the exact same GPU as the GeForce 7900 GT, with the exception of 4 fewer pipelines.
GeForce 7900 Series
7900 GS
7900 GT
7900 GTX
Memory
256MB
DDR3
256MB
DDR3
512MB
DDR3
Core Frequency
450MHz
450MHz
650MHz
Memory Frequency
1320MHz
1320MHz
1600MHz
Memory Bus
256-bit
256-bit
256-bit
Pixel Pipelines
20
24
24
SLI Ready
Yes
Yes
Yes
Since the GeForce 7900 GS has the same core and memory speed as a reference GeForce 7900 GT, I was expecting performance similar to the MSI NX7900GT, although slightly slower as the pixel fill-rate will be impacted with 4 fewer pipes.
