We recently reviewed Gainward’s BLISS 6800 GS ‘Goes like Hell’ 512MB card and found it to be an impressive showcase, not only to what can be achieved by moving away from reference designs, but as an indicator to the direction the company is heading. Gainward swapped out the 256MB of 2.0ns memory clocked at 1GHz and in its place put 512MB of 1.4ns memory clocked at 1.3GHz. The additional performance over a standard 6800 GS was high enough to warrant its £170 asking price, but that’s not the full story of why this card didn’t face any serious criticism. At £170 it really had no competition to speak of, and the next card up was the 7800 GT of which was priced around £220 at the time of the article. The point is, Gainward were able to exploit a gap in the market with their 6800 GS GLH because it didn’t tread on any toes.

This time, Gainward are giving the ‘Goes like Hell’ treatment to the hugely successful 7800 GT, but this is an altogether trickier segment of the market to hike prices. Looking around popular UK e-tailers tells me a regular 7800 GT can cost as little as £200, and Gainward’s 7800 GT ‘Goes Like Hell’ 512MB weighs in at £250. That’s quite a price hike and will need to be justified with stellar performance. In fact, it’s such a large difference that it’s no longer in direct competition with other 7800 GT’s. I set out to find exactly which cards out there in retail are facing direct competition with this card, though I already had an incline as to what I’d find…

Our last article was a quick refresh of the X1800 XT – a card that has dramatically come down in price since the X1900 series launched. At around £260 it offers enthusiasts massive performance for the money. Gainward’s 7800 GT GLH is currently priced at £258 and so it’s directly in X1800 XT’s territory. Has Gainward overpriced this time round?

What we really need to do is compare the specifications of the cards above. On paper the only advantage the GTX holds over Gainward’s 7800 GT GLH is the extra 4 pixel pipes and the higher clocks on the GT might not be enough to offer GTX performance. The X1800 XT destroys both with its impressive clock speeds, but it only has 16 pixel pipes and is the main reason why it needs those high clocks in the first place.

Once you look at the specifications side by side you start to wonder if this supercharged GT has what it takes, and the answer could well be worrying for Gainward. Of course, the 7800 GTX is still too expensive to be a problem for the 7800 GT GLH, but the X1800 XT is a real threat.

In this article I aim to find out if this supercharged 7800 GT from Gainward can compete against the mighty X1800 XT and if by some miracle it does, should you buy one anyway? All will be answered on the following pages…