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We will be adding a lot of tests to our suite over the next couple of weeks, so I’ll probably be putting these cards through their paces again with titles like F.E.A.R, Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4. But from the results I’ve obtained so far, it definitely looks like the GeForce 7800 GTX 512 is the fastest graphics card out there right now. Add to this the fact that it seems to run far cooler and quieter than the competition and nVidia has a very compelling high-end part on its hands.

But there is another factor to consider other than performance, and that’s price. When I looked at reference X1800 boards I criticised the high prices they carried compared to the nVidia competition – this time however the roles are reversed. Whereas early pricing for a 512MB X1800 XT was around the £470 mark, last week that price tumbled and you can now buy a board for as little as £370! Comparatively, an extensive search around the web has shown that the cheapest 7800 GTX 512 available will set you back £475 – that’s over £100 more expensive!

To be fair to nVidia, I was told that this card would cost around £430, but it’s clear that the retailers are hoping to make some quick bucks while the demand is very high for the product. As always, it’s impressive to see retail stock in the channel on the day of launch, but you’re going to have to be desperate to get your hands on this card to pay such a price premium.

There’s no denying that the 7800 GTX 512 is the faster part, but does that make it worth over £100 extra? I guess that depends on how badly you want to have one of the first cards available. My advice would be to wait a few weeks until the pricing settles down. I imagine that the X1800 XT will remain cheaper, but I expect the gap to close significantly.

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