Asus EN7900GS TOP
1. Introduction
Asus, as a respectable VGA manufacturer has introduced its own proposal for the Nvidia 7900GS platform. This time, Asus hasn't exactly followed what other manufacturers have done, but rather, introduced new levels of performance with the EN7900GS Top VGA card. We compare how this card performs against various 7900GS VGA cards and how much performance can be gained by pairing two EN7900GS Top in SLI mode.
- Asus EN7900GS Top
Asus' proposal for the 7900GS platform, uses the reference board for Nvidia's 7900GS series but with much higher GPU/RAM clocks. Below you can find a comparison between the various GeForce 7 series, its main differences in specs, since we will comparing them in real life gaming tests.
GeForce 7 Series GPUs Model Comparison
Feature |
GeForce 7950 Models |
GeForce 7900 Models |
GeForce 7800 Models |
GeForce 7600 Models |
GeForce 7300 Models |
Graphics Bus Technology |
PCI Express |
PCI Express |
AGP 8X/PCI Express |
AGP 8X/PCI Express |
PCI Express |
Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 |
SM3.0 |
SM3.0 |
SM3.0 |
SM3.0 |
SM3.0 |
NVIDIA® Intellisample™ Technology |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology |
Y1 |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y2 |
High Dynamic-Range (HDR) Support |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
NVIDIA® TurboCache™ Technology |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
Y |
Effective Memory Interface |
512-bit |
256-bit |
256-bit |
128-bit |
128-bit3/64-bit |
Memory |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3/DDR2 |
GDDR3/DDR2 |
Process |
0.09 µ |
0.09 µ |
0.11 µ |
0.09 µ |
0.09 µ |
RAMDACs |
400MHz |
400MHz |
400MHz |
400MHz |
400MHz |
Geforce 7900GS Chipset Features
Next Generation Super Scaler GPU Architecture
Delivers over 2x the shading power of previous generation products, taking gaming performance to extreme levels.
Full Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 Support
The standard for today's PCs and next generation consoles enables stunning and complex effects for cinematic realism.
NVIDIA® CineFX® 4.0 Engine
Delivers advanced visual effects at unimaginable speeds. Next generation shader architecture with new texture unit design streamlines texture processing for faster and smoother gameplay.
NVIDIA® SLI Technology
NVIDIA SLI technology is a revolutionary platform innovation that allows users to intelligently scale graphics performance by combining multiple NVIDIA graphics solutions in a single system with an NVIDIA nForce SLI MCP.
NVIDIA® Intellisample 4.0 Technology
The industry’s fastest antialiasing delivers ultra-realistic visuals with no jagged edges, at lightning-fast speeds. Visual quality is taken to new heights through a new rotated grid sampling pattern, advanced 128 tap sample coverage, 16x anisotropic filtering, and support for transparent supersampling and multisampling.
True High Dynamic-Range (HDR) Rendering Support
The ultimate lighting effects bring environments to life for a truly immersive, ultra-realistic experience. NVIDIA's 64-bit texture implementation delivers state-of-the-art high dynamic-range (HDR) visual effect through floating point capabilities in shading, filtering, texturing and blending.
NVIDIA® PureVideo Technology
The combination of high-definition video processors and decoder software delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color and precise image scaling for all video content to turn your PC into a high end home theater.
NVIDIA® UltraShadow II Technology
Enhances the performance of bleeding-edge games that feature complex scenes with multiple light sources and objects.
NVIDIA® ForceWare® unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
Delivers a proven record of compatibility, reliability and stability with the widest range of games and applications. ForceWare ensures the best out-of-box experience for every user and delivers continuous performance and feature updates over the life of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs.
OpenGL® 2.0 Optimizations and Support
Ensures top-notch compatibility and performance for Open GL applications.
NVIDIA® nView Multi-Display Technology
Advanced technology provides the ultimate in viewing flexible and control for multiple monitors.
PCI Express® Support
Designed to run perfectly with the next generation PCI Express bus architecture. The new bus doubles the bandwidth of AGP 8X delivering over 4 GB/sec. in both upstream and downstream data transfers.
The system requirements for such a high end card:
1. Microsoft Windows® 2000/XP
2. A PCI-Express compliant motherboard with full size expansion slot
3. Installation requires CD-ROM or DVD-Rom drive
4. A 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector
5. DVI or VGA compatible monitor
6. Minimum of 500-600W Power Supply with a minimum of +12V @ 30A for all PC components in SLI mode