Gigabyte GV-NX78T256V-B 7800GT

Performance Summary: The Gigabyte GV-NX78T256V-B, like other 7800GT cards, proved to be one of the faster video cards available today. It bests NVIDIA's previous mid-level offering, the 6800GT, by 20-30 percent in most tests. And it out-performed the ATi Radeon X850XT in most cases, only falling slightly behind in a couple of our DirectX-based game benchmarks, namely FarCry and Half Life 2.

We started off looking for a video card that would satisfy the average enthusiast's appetite for performance. But, have we found it in the Gigabyte GV-NX78T256V-B?  From a performance point-of-view, some might say so.  The card, powered by the GeForce 7800GT GPU, has shown itself to be quite capable of dishing out high frame-rates. There's a large enough improvement  in performance over last year's mid-range offering that could help justify selling off a 6800GT and using the cash to upgrade. And we surely loved the single-slot, quieter operation of the GV-NX78T256V-B over ATi's Radeon X850XT. 

But what didn't we like?  Well, the price for one.  From what we've seen online, Gigabyte's card is retailing for approximately $340-$380, which is somewhat more expensive than other manufacturers' GeForce 7800 GTs.  Adding to that dilemma is that there's nothing about the card or its bundle that's a "must-have".  A standard looking reference design coupled with a relatively weak software bundle isn't inspiring when faster, pre-overclocked cards from BFG are available for a similar price, or when titles like Call of Duty 2 are included with cards from eVGA and XFX.  In the end, we're giving the Gigabyte GV-NX78T256V-B a HotHardware Heat Meter rating of 7.5, and hope Gigabyte has a new revision of this card in the works with higher clock speeds and a better bundle.

•_Good performance for the price •_Good Overclocker •_Single-slot solution •_SLI Capable	•_Priced Higher than other 7800GTs •_Relatively weak bundle •_Doesn't stand out from the crowd

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