MSI NX7800 GTX x 2: Retail SLI
Introduction, Specifications & Bundle
It's been less than two months since NVIDIA initially announced the availability of their new GeForce 7800 GTX, and already we ourselves in the enviable position of showcasing a third retail-ready version of NVIDIA's flagship card. We've previously showcased BFG's Editor's Choice Winning GeForce 7800 GTX OC and EVGA's e-GeForce 7800 GTX EGS, but this time around we have MSI's NX7800GTX in the HotHardware labs. Due to the fact that they are all based on NVIDIA's reference design, the MSI NX7800GTX is similar to BFG's and EVGA's products in many respects, but they differ in clock speed and perhaps more importantly in price. Read on and see what MSI has done with NVIDIA's latest top-of-the-line gaming GPU...
;)
;)
Click Any Image For An Enlarged View
 |
|
| NVIDIA CineFX 4.0 Shading Architecture •_Vertex Shaders ·_Support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Vertex Shader 3.0 ·_Displacement mapping ·_Geometry instancing ·_Infinite length vertex programs •_Pixel Shaders ·_Support for DirectX 9.0 Pixel Shader 3.0 ·_Full pixel branching support ·_Support for Multiple Render Targets (MRTs) ·_Infinite length pixel programs •_Next-Generation Texture Engine ·_Accelerated texture access ·_Up to 16 textures per rendering pass ·_Support for 16-bit floating point format and 32-bit floating point format ·_Support for non-power of two textures ·_Support for sRGB texture format for gamma textures ·_DirectX and S3TC texture compression •_Full 128-bit studio-quality floating point precision through the entire rendering pipeline with native hardware support for 32bpp, 64bpp, and 128bpp rendering modes API Support • Complete DirectX support, including the latest version of Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 •_Full OpenGL support, including OpenGL 2.0 64-Bit Texture Filtering and Blending •_Full floating point support throughout entire pipeline •_Floating point filtering improves the quality of images in motion •_Floating point texturing drives new levels of clarity and image detail •_Floating point frame buffer blending gives detail to special effects like motion blur and explosions NVIDIA Intellisample 4.0 Technology •_Advanced 16x anisotropic filtering (with up to 128 Taps) •_Blistering- fast antialiasing and compression performance •_Gamma-adjusted rotated-grid antialiasing removes jagged edges for incredible image quality •_Transparent multisampling and transparent supersampling modes boost antialiasing quality to new levels •_Support for normal map compression •_Support for advanced lossless compression algorithms for color, texture, and z-data at even higher resolutions and frame rates •_Fast z-clear NVIDIA UltraShadow II Technology •_Designed to enhance the performance of shadow-intensive games |
NVIDIA Digital Vibrance Control (DVC) 3.0 Technology •_DVC color controls •_DVC image sharpening controls NVIDIA SLI Technology •_Patented hardware and software technology allows two GPUs to run in parallel to scale performance •_Scales performance on over 60 top PC games and applications NVIDIA PureVideo Technology •_Adaptable programmable video processor •_High-definition MPEG-2 and WMV9 hardware acceleration •_Spatial-temporal de-interlacing •_Inverse 2:2 and 3:2 pull-down (Inverse Telecine) •_4-tap horizontal, 5-tap vertical scaling •_Overlay color temperature correction •_Microsoft Video Mixing Renderer (VMR) supports multiple video windows with full video quality and features in each window •_Integrated HDTV output Composited Desktop Hardware Engine •_Video post-processing •_Real-time desktop compositing •_Accelerated antialiased text rendering •_Pixel shader-driven special effects and animation Advanced Display Functionality •_Dual integrated 400MHz RAMDACs for display resolutions up to and including 2048x1536 at 85Hz •_Dual DVO ports for interfacing to external TMDS transmitters and external TV encoders •_Full NVIDIA nView multi-display technology capability Advanced Engineering •_Designed for PCI Express x16 •_Designed for high-speed GDDR3 memory Operating Systems •_Windows XP/Windows XP 64 •_Windows ME •_Windows 2000 •_Linux •_Macintosh OS X |
;)
;)
;)
;)
In the past, MSI had been known for including an exorbitant amount of extras with their high-end video cards. Just take a look at their 5950's accessory bundle (article here), and you'll see what we mean. We wouldn't categorize the NX7800GTX's bundle as exorbitant, but MSI did a good job nonetheless. Included with the NX7800GTX were two manuals, a quick installation guide and a user's manual, a registration reminder, and the requisite driver CD. The drivers included on the disc are a modified version of NVIDIA's reference drivers, with a built-in auto overclocking feature dubbed "D.O.T", for Dynamic Overclocking Technology. MSI also included a few other utilities on the CD - GoodMem, LockBox, and WMIinfor. GoodMem can be used to free unused memory, LockBox is a basic file encryption tool, and WMIinfor is a simple system information monitor. MSI also went a step further on the software bundle and included a copy of the very good game, the Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay.
On the hardware front, the NX7800GTX comes bundled with a pair of DVI-to-DB15 monitor adapters, a pair of S-Video cables, and a dongle with assorted S-Video and component inputs and outputs. The NX7800GTX has ViVo (Video In / Video Out) capabilities, and the dongle is necessary to connect various devices to the cards inputs and outputs.
