XFX 7800GS AGP Extreme Edition Review :: The Card

The XFX card is similar in many respects to the NVIDIA reference card for the 6800 Ultra from 2004. The card is longer than the standard 7800GT, due to the need to put a HSI Bridge chip on the PCB. XFX decided to put a 29-fin fan over the graphics chip to cool the 7800GS. Unlike other 7800 cards, the 7800GS has a bunch of power regulators on the front of the PCB.

Fan

Top View of Fan

Power regulators

Top regulators

The rest of the card is covered by a heat sink that covers the memory sticks. One thing that XFX has included was a metal bracket over the top of card. This was a bit of an annoyance for PCI Express 6800GTs, as SLI required the bracket to be removed. The AGP 7800GS does not have SLI capabilities, and is not a concern therefore in that aspect.

Top Bracket

Card

AGP connection

Rear of card

NVIDIA introduced their PCI Express parts in 2004 with a bridge chip, the HSI (High Speed Interconnect). This allowed them to make cards for the PCI Express bus without changing the design of the chip. The 7800GS AGP card has a HSI bridge chip for the opposite reason. This allows a PCI Express native video card to be used on an AGP system. The HSI chip is under the fan, with the graphics chip next to the chip.

I/O

Side view of I/O

Power connector

Input and Output options on the card are very interesting. XFX outfitted the card with a D-Sub connection. This is a bit strange as almost every monitor today has a Digital connection and you can attach a DVI-I to D-Sub adapter if you need to use the D-Sub. The other connections include a DVI-I connection and a TV-Out connection. Overall the layout of the card is a fairly standard one with nothing that far removed from the norm to warrant any grievous shortcoming.

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