Nvidia GeForce 7 series

GPU Nvidia G71

The GeForce 7 series is a series of desktop - graphics chip company Nvidia and successor to the GeForce 6 Series . All cards of the GeForce 7 series support the Shader model 3.0 (SM 3.0) according to DirectX 9.0c . The main competitor was the ATI Radeon X1000 series . The successor is the Nvidia GeForce 8 series .

history

GeForce 7900 GX2

GeForce 7950 GX2

The GeForce 7 series was launched in mid-2005 and replaced the GeForce 6 series on whose architecture it is based. With 20 official models, the GeForce 7 was one of the largest GeForce desktop series. The anisotropic filtering of the GeForce 7 series partially produced a so-called texture flicker, which was heavily criticized in the trade press and produced a poorer image quality compared to the Radeon X1000 series from ATI .

As the first card of the GeForce 7 series, the GeForce 7800 GTX was launched on June 22, 2005. Based on the G70 graphics processor , which was still manufactured using the 110 nm production process , the GeForce 7800 GTX proved to be the fastest graphics card on the market when it was presented. As a result, it was rated well in the trade press, also because it was widely available early on. The GeForce 7800 GTX was the last high-end graphics card that still had a single-slot cooler.

On August 11, 2005, Nvidia presented the GeForce 7800 GT as an inexpensive alternative to the GeForce 7800 GTX. This was delivered with reduced clock rates and a deactivated quad. This resulted in a performance loss of up to approx. 15%, but the price discount was significantly higher. Since the GeForce 7800 GT was still faster than the high-end models of the previous series ( GeForce 6800 Ultra , Radeon X850 XT ), it was able to show good sales figures. Nvidia launched an AGP version of the 7800 GT under the name GeForce 7800 GS, for which a bridge chip had to be installed.

After competitor ATI presented its first models of the Radeon X1000 series late in October 2005 , the new top model, the Radeon X1800 XT (which was only available towards the end of November), performed better than the GeForce 7800 GTX. Since the card was not only faster, but also had better image quality and was cheaper to manufacture thanks to the 90 nm manufacturing process, Nvidia came under pressure. At the same time, the technical advantage of being the only manufacturer to be able to offer graphics cards with DirectX 9.0c support was lost, whereby ATI was also able to display HDR effects and activated anti-aliasing at the same time; Nvidia was only able to do this de facto with the GeForce 8 series . In addition to the X1800 series, ATI also presented the X1600 and X1300 series and was thus able to cover the entire market. For marketing reasons it was therefore necessary for Nvidia to bring back the so-called “performance crown” for the fastest graphics card on the market and on November 14, 2005 presented the GeForce 7800 GTX 512, which was also referred to as the GeForce 7800 Ultra in the trade press. The GeForce 7800 GTX 512 was still based on the G70 graphics processor, but the clock rates were massively increased. To counteract the resulting increase in heat, Nvidia installed a newly developed dual-slot cooler, which, in contrast to the ATI competition, turned out to be very quiet. Nvidia increased the graphics memory to 512 MB for the first time in a reference design. In combination with the higher clock rates, the GeForce 7800 GTX 512 once again proved to be the fastest graphics card on the market. However, the GDDR3 memory clocked at 850 MHz was difficult to find at the time, which is why the GeForce 7800 GTX 512 was only produced in small numbers.

A GeForce 7800 GS from the manufacturer BFG

On March 9, 2006, Nvidia presented the GeForce 7600 GT at CeBit . The card was based on the G73 graphics processor (a halved version of the G71) and replaced the successful GeForce 6600 GT in the mainstream sector. The GeForce 7600 GT showed an approx. 60% higher performance than the competing card from ATI, the Radeon X1600 XT . Since it was able to maintain the good price-performance ratio of its predecessor, the 7600 GT assumed a virtually monopoly position and became one of the most commercially successful cards in the GeForce 7 series. This also contributed to the fact that the technical disadvantages from the high-end sector compared to ATI (incompatibility of HDR effects and activated anti-aliasing, as well as texture flickering) were relatively insignificant for the mainstream sector. ATI initially responded with the Radeon X1900 GT , which was based on a partially deactivated R580 graphics processor, but had higher production costs for technical reasons. Only the Radeon X1650 XT was able to compete with the GeForce 7600 GT in terms of price-performance ratio, but did not come onto the market until the beginning of 2007. Nvidia responded by switching to the 80 nm manufacturing process and was able to further reduce production costs. As a result, the GeForce 7600 GT remained successful on the market until it was replaced by the GeForce 8600 GTS at the end of April 2007 . The GeForce 7600 GT was also marketed with reduced clock rates and DDR2 memory under the name GeForce 7600 GS.

Also at CeBit on March 9, 2006, Nvidia presented the GeForce 7900 GT and 7900 GTX, which replaced the GeForce 7800 GT, 7800 GTX and 7800 GTX 512. In the meantime, these had proven to be useless compared to the newly released Radeon X1900 series , as they could not compete in terms of performance or value for money. Nvidia now used the G71 graphics processor , which not only had fewer transistors than the G70 , but was also manufactured using a 90 nm manufacturing process (instead of 110 nm). Therefore, the production costs could be reduced significantly and for physical reasons higher clock rates could be achieved. On the GeForce 7900 GTX, the G71 was delivered with the highest clock rates, which was roughly the same as the Radeon X1900 XTX . The poor image quality was offset by lower noise development, based on the cooler of the GeForce 7800 GTX 512, so that there was a stalemate in the high-end area. Some GeForce 7900 GTX models were later marketed as the GeForce 7900 GTO with a reduced memory clock. The GeForce 7900 GT had roughly the performance of the GeForce 7800 GTX with lower production costs. In contrast to the GeForce 7800 GT, there was no need to deactivate a quad. Nevertheless, the performance fell sharply at higher resolutions because the 256 MB graphics memory was now too small. Therefore, Nvidia's board partners independently brought cards with 512 MB onto the market. Since the price-performance ratio was not sufficient compared to the ATI competition, Nvidia replaced the GeForce 7900 GT on September 14, 2006 with the 7950 GT with higher clock rates. Due to the better performance, it sold more successfully on the market. Nvidia still installed G71 GPUs with a deactivated quad on the GeForce 7900 GS.

A special feature of the GeForce 7 series is that Nvidia is introducing dual graphics cards for the first time. Board partners had already tried to develop dual graphics cards on their own, but these had no real relevance for the market. At CeBit 2006, Nvidia first presented the GeForce 7900 GX2. This consisted of two circuit boards that communicate with each other via an SLI bridge chip . However, the GeForce 7900 GX2 had a massive excess length, required a special PCI power connection and was therefore not available on the retail market. Nvidia revised the GeForce 7900 GX2 and presented the GeForce 7950 GX2 on June 5, 2006 (also for the retail market). This again had a relatively normal PCB length and an additional standard power connection. The GeForce 7950 GX2 once again proved to be the fastest graphics card on the market and Nvidia made it possible for the first time to set up a so-called Quad SLI system consisting of four GPUs.

technology

Quads

The graphics chips used consist of so-called "quads". Depending on the version, quads can also be deactivated. In the GeForce 7 series , a quad consists of four graphics pipelines , a texture mapping unit (TMU) and a vertex processing unit (VPU) (4 × 1 × 1). The basic version of each chip, however, consists of four graphics pipelines, a TMU and three VPUs (4 × 1 × 3). Depending on the expansion stage, the equipment increases with z. B. two quads on 8 × 1 × 4 and with three quads on 12 × 1 × 5 etc. This way all desired configurations are achieved.

Graphics processors

Various graphics processors are used within the GeForce 7 series, which differ in terms of their production technology and their max. Differentiate quad number.

Graphics chip	production			Render pipelines			API support		Bus interface stelle
	production process	transis- interfere	The surface	Quad number	Pipes × TMU × VPU	Pixel shader	DirectX	OpenGL
NV44	110 nm	075 million	110 mm²	2	04 × 04 × 3	04th	9.0c	2.1	PCIe
G70		302 million	333 mm²	6th	24 × 24 × 8	24
G71	090 nm	278 million	196 mm²	6th	24 × 24 × 8	24
G72		112 million	081 mm²	2	08 × 08 × 5	08th
G73 / b	090/80 nm	177 million	125/111 mm²	3	12 × 12 × 5	12

Naming

The GeForce 7 series uses the same naming scheme as the GeForce 6 series . All graphics chips are identified with a four-digit number that generally begins with a “7” (for GeForce 7). The second digit then divides the family into different market segments, the third and fourth digits serve for further differentiation.

EVGA GeForce 7300 GS Personal Cinema

division

• 71xx / 72xx / 73xx / 75xx: Low-Cost
• 76xx: mainstream
• 78xx / 79xx: high-end

Letter abbreviations

• LE, SE - low-performing budget version (only in the low-end segment)
• GS - budget version, the weakest version in the mainstream and high-end segment
• GT - powerful version, the most powerful version in the low-cost and mainstream segment
• GTO - special model, less powerful GTX version
• GTX - most powerful version (only in the high-end segment)
• GX2 - version with two graphics chips on one card (only in the high-end segment)

Model data

model	Official launch	Graphics processor (GPU)				Graphics memory					TDP	Others
		Type	activated quads	Clock rate (MHz)	Fill rate ( MT / s)	Size ( MB )	Clock rate (MHz)	Type	Storage interface	Bandwidth ( GB / s)
GeForce 7100 GS	0Aug 8, 2006	NV44	2	350	1400	064 128	350	DDR2	064 bit	05.6	k. A.	TurboCache , no HDR
GeForce 7200 GS	Jan. 18, 2006	G72	1	450	1800	128 256	334	DDR2	064 bit	05.34	k. A.	TurboCache
GeForce 7300 SE	March 22, 2006	G72	1	350	1400	256	333	DDR2	064 bit	05.33	k. A.	OEM product
GeForce 7300 GS	Jan. 18, 2006	G72	1	450	1800	128 256	400	DDR2	064 bit	06.4	023 W
GeForce 7300 LE	March 22, 2006	G72	2	350	2800	128 256	333	DDR2	064 bit	05.33	k. A.
GeForce 7300 GT	May 15, 2006	G73	2	350	2800	256 512	325	DDR2	128 bit	10.4	024 W.	also as an AGP version
GeForce 7350 LE	March 22, 2006	G72	1	450	1800	128	400	DDR2	064 bit	06.4	k. A.	OEM product
GeForce 7500 LE	March 22, 2006	G72	2	475	3800	064 128 256	405	DDR2	064 bit	06.48	k. A.	OEM product
GeForce 7600 LE	March 22, 2006	G73	2	400	3200	256	400	DDR2	128 bit	12.8	k. A.	OEM product
GeForce 7600 GS	March 22, 2006	G73	3	400	4800	256 512	400	DDR2	128 bit	12.8	027 W.	also as an AGP version
GeForce 7600 GT	0March 9, 2006	G73	3	560	6720	256	700	GDDR3	128 bit	22.4	040 W
GeForce 7650 GS	0March 9, 2006	G73	3	450	5400	256	400	DDR2	128 bit	12.8	k. A.	OEM product
GeForce 7800 GS	0Feb 2, 2006	G71	4th	375	6000	256	600	GDDR3	256 bit	38.4	075 W	only as AGP version
GeForce 7800 GS +	28 Sep 2006	G71	4th	450	7200	512	625	GDDR3	256 bit	40.0	k. A.
GeForce 7800 GT	Aug 11, 2005	G70	3	400	8000	256	500	GDDR3	256 bit	32.0	065 W
GeForce 7800 GTX	Jun 22, 2005	G70	4th	430	10300	256	600	GDDR3	256 bit	38.4	086 W
GeForce 7800 GTX 512	Nov 14, 2005	G70	4th	550	13200	512	850	GDDR3	256 bit	54.4	108 W.
GeForce 7900 GS	0May 1, 2006	G71	5	450	9000	256 512	660	GDDR3	256 bit	42.2	k. A.	also as an AGP version
GeForce 7900 GT	0March 9, 2006	G71	6th	450	10800	256 512	660	GDDR3	256 bit	42.2	k. A.
GeForce 7900 GTO	0Oct 1, 2006	G71	6th	650	15600	512	660	GDDR3	256 bit	42.2	120 W	Special version
GeForce 7900 GTX	0March 9, 2006	G71	6th	650	15600	512	800	GDDR3	256 bit	51.2	120 W
GeForce 7900 GX2	Apr 30, 2006	2 × G71	2 × 6	500	2 × 12000	2 × 512	600	GDDR3	2 × 256 bits	2 x 38.4	k. A.	OEM product
GeForce 7950 GT	0Aug 6, 2006	G71	6th	550	13200	256 512	700	GDDR3	256 bit	44.8	065 W	also as an AGP version
GeForce 7950 GX2	0Jun 5, 2006	2 × G71	2 × 6	500	2 × 12000	2 × 512	600	GDDR3	2 × 256 bits	2 x 38.4	110 W

Hints

• The specified clock rates are those recommended or specified by Nvidia. However, the final specification of the clock rates is in the hands of the respective graphics card manufacturer. It is therefore entirely possible that there are or will be graphics card models that have different clock rates.
• It is also up to the manufacturers whether the final graphics card has a PCIe or an AGP connection, because GPUs with a native PCIe interface can also be used for AGP graphics cards with the help of a bridge chip ( HSI bridge ).
• The clock frequency of the memory is also often given as twice as high. The reason for this is the double data rate (DDR).

GeForce 7 as IGP

Three integrated graphics units (IGP), which Nvidia uses in its own chipsets, are marketed under the names GeForce 7025, GeForce 7050 and GeForce 7100 .

See also

• List of Nvidia graphics processors

Web links

• GeForce 7 series on the official Nvidia homepage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 3DCenter: HighEnd-Chip G70: Only with flickering graphics? , Report dated August 13, 2005, accessed January 26, 2010
2. ↑ ComputerBase: Report: nVidias G70 - New chip, new AF optimizations - does that have to be? , Report of August 24, 2005 (update August 31, 2005), accessed January 26, 2010
3. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX (SLI) - performance rating , test report from June 22, 2005, accessed on January 26, 2010
4. ↑ PC Games Hardware: Nvidia introduces GeForce 7800 GT , message dated August 11, 2005, accessed on January 26, 2010
5. ↑ ^{a b} ComputerBase: Test: AOpen Aeolus 7800 GT - performance rating , test report from September 14, 2005, accessed on January 26, 2010
6. ↑ PC Games Hardware: Radeon X1800 XT available , message dated November 29, 2005, accessed on January 26, 2010
7. ↑ ^{a b} ComputerBase: Test: nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 - performance rating quality , test report from November 14, 2005, accessed on January 26, 2010
8. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 - volume , test report from November 14, 2005, accessed on January 26, 2010
9. ↑ ^{a b c} ComputerBase: Test: GeForce 7600 GT, 7900 GT and 7900 GTX - performance rating , test report from March 28, 2006, accessed on January 26, 2010
10. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: GeForce 7600 GT, 7900 GT and 7900 GTX - price-performance ratio , test report from March 28, 2006, accessed on January 26, 2010
11. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: ATi Radeon X1650 XT - performance rating , test report from January 27, 2007, accessed on January 26, 2010
12. ↑ ComputerBase: Test: nVidia GeForce 7950 GX2 , test report from June 5, 2006, accessed on January 26, 2010