MSI GeForce 7800 GTX Review

The GeForce 7800 GTX from MSI

You can see GeForce 7800 GTX from MSI on Figures 2 and 3. The model we reviewed is called NX7800GTX-VT2D256E by MSI.

Figure 2: MSI GeForce 7800 GTX.

Figure 3: MSI GeForce 7800 GTX, back view.

This video card can be installed in SLI configuration, i.e., you can have two GeForce 7800 GTX working in parallel. This video card is very slim, not using the slot available next to the x16 PCI Express slot. You can see SLI connector in Figure 4.

We disassembled the video card heatsink to take a look at the memory chip used. This video card uses 1.6 ns GDDR3 memory chips from Samsung which can run up to 1.2 GHz, according to the manufacturer. Since GeForce 7800 GTX accesses the memory also at 1.2 GHz, there is no room for memory overclocking inside the memory’s specifications. But of course you can try overclock it over its specs. Besides each memory chip we found a place for soldering an extra chip. This suggests that this card can come with 512 MB memory.  

Figure 4: 1.6 ns GDDR3 memory chip used by GeForce 7800 GTX from MSI.

This video card has two DVI connectors, allowing you to use two video monitors on your PC. The board comes with two DVI-to-VGA adapters, so you can transform these outputs into standard VGA outputs.

As we mentioned, this board has video capture function (VIVO). To use this function, you need to install an adapter cable that comes with the board. This cable provides component video outputs, composite video input, S-Video input and S-Video output.

In Figure 5, you can see all cables and adapters that come with this video card, and also the game The Chronicles of Riddick: Butcher’s Bay Developer’s Cut.

Figure 5: Cables, adapters and game that comes with GeForce 7800 GTX from MSI.