Hypersonic Aviator EX7: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX First Look
by Josh Venning on October 10, 2005 9:30 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
Overall, what we have here is a very impressive mobile gaming part. Those looking for the highest performance in notebook gaming need not look any further than this. NVIDIA's GeForce Go 7800 GTX, while not quite as fast as the standard version, still lives up to its name and handles the native 1920x1200 resolution with ease, even with 4x AA enabled. This will make any unit that is fitted with one attractive to those who want a complete and compact package, offering the power that they need to run any game at the highest settings. While the limited battery life that you'll probably experience in a laptop like this is a drawback (these types of systems usually only have 1 or 2 hours of battery life), the portability factor makes it ideal for LAN parties, and it will be sure to impress, regardless of your gaming abilities. But with prices that can get as high as $5,000, you'll be paying top dollar for the performance.
The Hypersonic Aviator EX7 is one of the best laptops that you can buy for gaming right now, but many companies who offer desktop replacement laptops will most likely offer a version fitted with a Go 7800 GTX. With the Hypersonic, we were very pleased at how all of the games ran smoothly at even the highest settings, so you definitely wouldn't be disappointed with the performance of this card. Some people might not like the fact that it's not clocked quite as high as the normal version, and due to obvious reasons (heat, etc.), the card can't really be overclocked. But because most laptops don't incorporate screens larger than 1920x1200 and no games are going to truly bring the Go 7800 GTX to its knees at this resolution, there's not much else right now which would require you to do so.
It's interesting to note that in the past, ATI has generally been the leader in mobility parts over NVIDIA. Since the Go 6800 Ultra hit the scene (and the rest of the mobile 6 series line up), NVIDIA has been gaining ground in performance and desirability. We're curious to see how ATI will respond to the Go 7800 GTX, as this looks like yet another major blow from NVIDIA. Especially considering the fact that NVIDIA had availability of a mobile part the day it launched from multiple vendors including Dell and Hypersonic. ATI couldn't even pull that off with a desktop product launch.
At the same time, as we've seen with Intel hardware, leaner hardware with high clock speeds tend to scale less forgivingly with power than wider architectures with a lower clock speed. We are very interested to see if ATI will be able to drop anything like their 625 MHz X1800 XT into a notebook without melting the plastic casing. Power draw on the high end part is higher than their previous generation, and won't likely fit into the same TDP envelope as the X850 XT as easily as the Go 7800 GTX does.
But this industry is all about surprises, and we won't count out ATI until we see hardware. Of course, no matter how good their hardware is, the longer they take to bring a mobile part to market, the more ground they will lose.
Overall, what we have here is a very impressive mobile gaming part. Those looking for the highest performance in notebook gaming need not look any further than this. NVIDIA's GeForce Go 7800 GTX, while not quite as fast as the standard version, still lives up to its name and handles the native 1920x1200 resolution with ease, even with 4x AA enabled. This will make any unit that is fitted with one attractive to those who want a complete and compact package, offering the power that they need to run any game at the highest settings. While the limited battery life that you'll probably experience in a laptop like this is a drawback (these types of systems usually only have 1 or 2 hours of battery life), the portability factor makes it ideal for LAN parties, and it will be sure to impress, regardless of your gaming abilities. But with prices that can get as high as $5,000, you'll be paying top dollar for the performance.
The Hypersonic Aviator EX7 is one of the best laptops that you can buy for gaming right now, but many companies who offer desktop replacement laptops will most likely offer a version fitted with a Go 7800 GTX. With the Hypersonic, we were very pleased at how all of the games ran smoothly at even the highest settings, so you definitely wouldn't be disappointed with the performance of this card. Some people might not like the fact that it's not clocked quite as high as the normal version, and due to obvious reasons (heat, etc.), the card can't really be overclocked. But because most laptops don't incorporate screens larger than 1920x1200 and no games are going to truly bring the Go 7800 GTX to its knees at this resolution, there's not much else right now which would require you to do so.
It's interesting to note that in the past, ATI has generally been the leader in mobility parts over NVIDIA. Since the Go 6800 Ultra hit the scene (and the rest of the mobile 6 series line up), NVIDIA has been gaining ground in performance and desirability. We're curious to see how ATI will respond to the Go 7800 GTX, as this looks like yet another major blow from NVIDIA. Especially considering the fact that NVIDIA had availability of a mobile part the day it launched from multiple vendors including Dell and Hypersonic. ATI couldn't even pull that off with a desktop product launch.
At the same time, as we've seen with Intel hardware, leaner hardware with high clock speeds tend to scale less forgivingly with power than wider architectures with a lower clock speed. We are very interested to see if ATI will be able to drop anything like their 625 MHz X1800 XT into a notebook without melting the plastic casing. Power draw on the high end part is higher than their previous generation, and won't likely fit into the same TDP envelope as the X850 XT as easily as the Go 7800 GTX does.
But this industry is all about surprises, and we won't count out ATI until we see hardware. Of course, no matter how good their hardware is, the longer they take to bring a mobile part to market, the more ground they will lose.
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timmiser - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
We need a review of the Dell Inspiron XPS. You can get that with the cooler Pentium M and the 7800GTX and only costs about $2100. You don't get the dual hard drives for Raid 0 but for less than half the price, I could live with that.Now that would be interesting, a 3.8 Pentium vs. a Pentium M in a gaming laptop.
yacoub - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Nah, it's more like $3500-3800 for a decent Dell for gaming. Still way out of phase with reality. A laptop should cost the price of a desktop plus maybe $250-500 max premium for the mobile design costs. A $1500 desktop will blow away a $3500 laptop. That's just not right to pay three times as much and come away with less. Yeah, you can carry it around. You carry around your Less that you can't game so well on, and I'll stick with gaming on a desktop in the meantime. Besides, if you're really gonna game on that laptop, it's gonna be plugged in to an outlet and sitting on a desk not on your lap, so really when it is mimmicking a desktop it's even more apparent how much you get ripped off for the laptop.timmiser - Wednesday, October 12, 2005 - link
Actually, Dell has coupon deals all the time. Most recently they had a 35% off coupon which drops 1 grand off the Inspiron XPS with the 7800GTX!No question that a gaming laptop won't be as fast as a gaming desktop but... Sometimes gamers can't always be at their desks when the need arises. For example, airplanes, camping, road trips, at work, staying with the inlaws, etc. (I could go on!)
ksherman - Monday, October 10, 2005 - link
How bout some pics of the lappydragonballgtz - Monday, October 10, 2005 - link
Redo! So why not us a system that is more comparable then? Also, more benchmarks please.
bldckstark - Monday, October 10, 2005 - link
Although I don't like to be in the minority opinion most of the time, I have to be this time. The comparison was intended to show what this notebook that you would buy pre-built could do compared to the desktop system you would build yourself. I think the FX-55 system fits the bill as a control model quite well. First I need to know what the 7800 Go can do compared to a desktop system, then I need to know how several 7800 Go systems do compared to each other. That is the only way to get all the facts in this case. I must say that this does call for a DTR 7800 Go comparison, tho. I hope one is scheduled in the near future.JarredWalton - Monday, October 10, 2005 - link
Let's take it one step further. The laptop as configured costs around $5000.FX-57 = $1000
7800 GTX = $500
Remainder = $500
24" LCD = $1000
So, we're comparing a $3000 complete desktop system against a $5000 laptop. HOW UNFAIR!
As Derek has already pointed out, we wanted to compare the best that both platforms have to offer. We didn't even use an FX-57 but went with an older FX-55. We ARE becoming GPU limited at 1920x1200 4xAA, though, even with these super GPUs. The performance hit from enabling 4xAA makes that very clear. Our CPU could be twice as fast, and the 1920x1200 4xAA numbers aren't going to go up very much.
Leper Messiah - Monday, October 10, 2005 - link
way to go on the defensive...how hard would it have been to get a P4 3.8 system together? Honest, we would have waited another day or two if time is so important.Anyways, about the lappy. Nice, but why in god's name would you use a prescott in a mobile system? That just boggles my mind. A 2.4GHz Turion or a high end Pentium M would perform damn fine, and make the thing about 3 pounds lighter and get a hell of a lot more battery life.
And if you're looking for a decently priced gaming lappy, ABS makes some decent ones for around $1300-1400, Pentium M 1.7 1GB DDR2-533, 60GB HDD, 600gt Go, 15.4" widescreen, etc. Does about as well as my 9800pro based system in games.
bob661 - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
You're a dipshit! What is the purpose of this comment?Because not everyone runs an AMD system. Next dumb question.
Not part of the test. Now go into your bathroom and look in the mirror. Is there an orange light in the middle of your forehead? If yes, pull the power cord out of your ass and plug it into the outlet. Come back when your brain is fully charged.
Leper Messiah - Tuesday, October 11, 2005 - link
Wow, way to have a stick up your ass.I'm sorry, maybe my supposed AMD fanboism is clouding my judgement, but please, PLEASE, give me a good reason why one would use Intel's hottest single core proc in a frickin' mobile chassis?! The thing probably draws more juice than a whole system with a pentium M in it.
And my brain is fully charged thank you very much. Might want to check your own though.