I have decided after looking over the threads for a while (at least since the 7800GS came onto the market) that there have been a lot of repeated questions, along with a lot of people wishing to know if it is worth it or not. So I am going to do this write up and would like for other owners to help contribute if I have left something out, given wrong information, and I would like it if the people that own the 7800GS would please post your system setup and your benchmark results.
 
Now a little information about the Video Card.  
 
The 7800GS is undoubtedly the best video card for AGP Users. Tomshardware has done research and stated that there is little to no difference in performance between AGP and 16x PCI-e IF the video cards being tested are the same such as a 6600GT AGP vs. a 6600GT PCI-e.  
 
PRICE: (according to newegg at time of thread start)
 
The price will vary between $269.99 for a EVGA 7800GS with a Core Speed of 375MHz and a Memory speed (Effective) 12000MHz (AKA 375/1200) and goes up to $299.99 for a XFX 7800GS with a Core Speed of 440MHz and a Memory Speed (Effective) 1300MHz (AKA 440/1300).
 
Physical size:
 
This card is defiantly a big card. It is 2.5 inches longer then my old 5700LE. I personally would not recommend this card for people using crowded mid tower cases. I personally use the Thermaltake Armor Case (not the JR.) and there is more then enough room in it to provide excellent cooling and allow for good cable management.
 
Cooling:
 
The stock cooler seems to be working very good for me and is extremely quite. I can’t even hear it over my CPU fan (Thermaltake Volcano 12) At Idle my 7800GS runs at about 35C and under load it tops out at 48C. There was a reported problem with Gen 1 and Gen 2 (pre April 2006) EVGA and XFX 7800GS’s where a bit of plastic wrapping from the manufacture was accidentally left on and made the fan really rather noisy. To fix this all you would have to do is take off the over of the heat sink and peal off the plastic. Take about 15 minutes and won’t void the warranty.  

Pixel Pipelines:
 
All 7800GS's are equipped with a 16 Pixel Pipeline
 
(NOTE) there are two 7800GS's that come with a 20 and 24 Pixel Pipeline
both come from a European company known as Gainward, and if you are here in the states there will be a large shipping charge and wait for one of these monsters to get here.
 
(About unlocking the Pipelines) At the time of this article being written there has been no conformations of anyone using any of the following manufacturers 7800GS's that have been able to unlock the extra 4 or 8 pixel Pipelines.
The Manufactures that so far are unable to unlock the extra 4 and/or 8 Pipelines are:
 
EVGA
XFX
BFG
PNY
MSI
 
Open GL:
 
All 7800GS's come with support for Open GL 2.0
 
Memory Interface:
 
All 7800GS's come with a 256-Bit Memory Interface.
 
Overclocking ability:
 
Although I have yet to really push my 7800GS to an extreme amount I have been able to put my card from 440/1300 to 460/1350 without any issues using Powerstrip, and only suffered from a 2 degree Celsius increase in idle temp but under load there are only a 1 degree increase. If you do over clock your 7800GS and/or your CPU please post the results and what program you used to overclock your GPU.
 
Benchmark Results:
 
So now what I would like is for all 7800GS owners to list their system specs in the following format, followed by their 3DMark03, 3DMark05, 3DMark06, and Aquamark3 Benchmark results along with own opinions of their card's performance, and if possible please also give some in game reviews such as what games you play and at what settings you can play them at. If possible for games such as FEAR and HL:2 if you could post the results of the games own in game benchmark with the following settings. This what we can help show people that are looking at possibly getting the card what to expect and also to help diagnose possible problem that current owners might be experiencing.
 
FEAR’s benchmark is right in the Performance settings it will say “Test Settings”
 
HL:2’s benchmark is in Counterstrike Source. You will see it say “Video Stress Test”
 
How to show your system settings:
(Example)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 3000+, Barton, 333FSB 2.167GHz
Motherboard: Shuttle AN35N Ultra V1.1 Socket A
Ram: 1 GB (2x512) Dual Channel Kit OCZ Value Series
GPU: XFX 7800GS, 440/1300 (Core/Memory) Forceware v91.31
HDD: 200GB ATA100 Western Digital 8MB cache, 7200RPM
PSU: 450 Watt NSPIRE 25A 12V  
 
Settings for the benchmark results:
 
3DMark03 - Default Settings
3DMark05 - Default Settings
3DMark06 - Default Settings
Aquamark3 - Default Settings
 
F.E.A.R. - All Settings maxed out. 2x AA, 4x AF, No Soft Shadows, No VSYNC, 1024x768 Resolution. (Please list you minimum, average, and highest FPS)
 
HL:2 – All settings maxed out. 2x AA, 4x AF, No VSYNC, 1280x1024 Resolution. ( Please List your Average Frame rate during the test
 
Result Format:
 
3DMark03:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
 
3DMark05:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
 
3DMark06:
3DMarks: enter number here
CPU Score: enter number here
 
Aquamark3:
Score: enter number here
GFX: enter number here
CPU: enter number here
 
F.E.A.R.:
Minimum FPS: Enter Number here
Average FPS: Enter Number here
Maximum FPS: Enter Number Here
% Below 25FPS: Enter Number Here
 
HL:2
 
Average FPS: Enter Number here
 
If you feel I have made a mistake or have wrong information please list it and I will gladly change it.
 
Best Score Holders
 
3DMark03: Voska
3DMarks: 13,393  
CPU Score: 1,007
 
3DMark05: GeneticWeapon
3DMarks: 7,311  
CPU Score: 4,629  
 
3DMark06: wallis
3DMarks: 4,189
CPU Score: 914  
 
Aquamark3: Voska
Score: 73,727
GFX: 11,658
CPU: 10,029
 
F.E.A.R.: wallis
Minimum FPS: 30 FPS  
Average FPS: 61 FPS
Maximum FPS: 148 FPS
% Below 25FPS: 0%  
% Between 25 and 40 FPS: 28%
% Above 40: 72%
 
HL:2: Voska
 
Average FPS: 84.36 FPS

I guess I'll start since it is my thread
 
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 3000+, Barton, 333FSB 2.167GHz
Motherboard: Shuttle AN35N Ultra V1.1 Socket A
Ram: 1 GB (2x512) Dual Channel Kit OCZ Value Series
GPU: XFX 7800GS, 440/1300 (Core/Memory) Forceware v91.31
HDD: 200GB ATA100 Western Digital 8MB cache, 7200RPM
PSU: 450 Watt NSPIRE 25A 12V  
 
3DMark03:
3DMarks: 12,249
CPU Score: 586
 
3DMark05:
3DMarks: 6,031
CPU Score: 2,805
 
3DMark06:
3DMarks: 2,965
CPU Score: 743
 
Aquamark3:
Score: 49,275
GFX: 8,334
CPU: 6,107
 
F.E.A.R.:
Minimum FPS: 16 FPS
Average FPS: 32 FPS
Maximum FPS: 65 FPS
% Below 25FPS: 35%
 
HL:2
 
Average FPS: 84.36 FPS

You took the time to post this, so I figured I would go ahead and reply. I havent run all of the benchmarks you are requesting scores from, but here is what I have anyways....
 
Athon 64 3000+ socket 939 overclocked @2.47Ghz
Asrock Dual Sata2 PCI-E and AGP
1GB Corsair PC3200 Ram
MSI NX7800GS @500/1500+ clock speeds
 
3DMark05 score - 7,311
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2001139
 
I havent seen a 16pp 7800GS beat my 3DMark05 score yet, so maybe someone will step up here and take me down 8)

I thank you GeneticWeapon for replying. I will definantly have to post my new scores once my new mobo gets in. I am upgrading from a AMD XP 3000+ to a AMD 64 Socket 939 4000+ San Diego so we shall see about that score of yours. Who knows maybe this will spark some interest in others to see who has the best 7800GS powered PC.

The reason noone  has unlocked those extra 4/8 Pipelines is because Gainward used a 7800gt GPU and 7900gt GPU for the 20 and 24 pipeline versions.

I ran this card on a 3000+ Barton/nForce 2 system for a while, and my score was 6,700ish. Going to Athlon 64 didnt help as much as you would think.
 
What motherboard are you planning to run?

Right now I have planned for the Asus K8V K8T00 Pro. It looks sofar like the best choice. unless anyone else has any other thoughts on good AGp S939 Boards. Please send me a message if you do I would like to keep this thread for just the 7800GS information to better help the remaining AGP users and helping current 7800GS owners maximize their cards potential.

 
I have to ask....why buy an AGP 939 board, unless you already have the Memory, CPU and Graphics card. Otherwise just get a PCI-E AM2 board.

Exactly the reason I have my 7800GS Video Card (AGP Obviously) I have 1GB of PC3200 OCZ, and I just got my AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego S939 in.

my specs
 
Athlon 64, 3400+
Gainward bliss 7800gs 512MB agp
2gb ram
Ennermax noistaker 600w
Gigabyte K8ns pro
Nvidia 84.43 gfx driver
all running at stock speeds
 
3DMark06: Resolution at 1024x768 (15in monitor)
3DMarks: 4, 183
CPU Score: 914
 
 
F.E.A.R.: 1024x768, no AA, no soft shadows...everything maxed
Minimum FPS: 30 FPS
Average FPS: 61 FPS
Maximum FPS: 148 FPS
Below 25FPS: 0%
28% between 25 and 40 FPS
72% above 40
 
 
ALL TESTS RAN WITH SOME APPS RUNNING IN BACKGROUND LIKE NORTON INTERNET SECURITY SO WITH A CLEAN INSTALL WOULD PROBABLY GAIN A FEW FPS

P4 C 3.0 Ghz
Abit IC7-Max3
1 Gig Corsair XMS memory 2-2-2-5
XFX 7800GS currently running at 475/1400 via Rivatuner
120GB SATA Seagate HD 7200 RPM
Audigy Gamer Audio
Razer Copperhead Lazer Mouse (very 1337) Fe@r My leet h@x0r m0use
 
I decided to get a 7800GS after I purchased Oblivion.  Oblivion Chewed up my 6800 stock.  Although I later learned that ATI cards generally run better with Oblivion, I have been very impressed with my 7800GS, not just in Oblivion, but also in CSS, HL:2, Prey and some older games that I play such as Freelancer and Renegade.  I am not the kind of guy that gets off on 3dMarks or Fraps displays, so I cannot give you concrete numbers.  What I can tell you (and what I think is the most important stat) is how I feel when I use the card.  I can play Every game mentioned (except Oblivion) at 1024X768 with 4XAA and 8XAF and I don't notice any hiccups.  I do play Oblivion at 1024X768 with 8XAF, but no AA because I use HDR.  I'm sure you can guess how Oblivion plays, smooth as silk in dungeons, smooth in towns, and rough in wilderness/Oblivion world.  I'm sorry that I can't give you detailed numbers, but I hope this helps!
 
One other thing to those who say, "why don't you just get a new MOBO":  I'm not willing to throw away my P4,RAM,and existing MOBO just to save $50 on a PCIE GPU.

 
Yeah i noticed your sig AFTER i had posted, i'm silly like that sometimes.

Please keep the information coming. If you think your system has the best scores with a 7800GS please post. And of course owner reveiws are great too.

I got this card 5 months a go, it's XFX 7800GS Extreme Edition. Well, i'm quite happy to "playing" with. Run almost all games in high quality without a hitch.  
 
There's a little problem with this card, sometimes in some 3D applications it's loosing its graphics signal, occuring no display and computer lock. There are so many threads about this. So long, there's no official solution. The only thing you can do to solve the problem is using the driver from NGOHq and install it in compatibility mode.
 
Another thing is, i had P4 2.6GHz, this card idle in 35° full load in 45°C, then i upgraded my proc to P4D 930 3 GHz and a new mainboard, this card idle in 45° full load 60°C or sometimes it hit 70°C depends on what i played. I had a thread about this, i don't know if i can say this is a problem after upgrading or not but until now i never have a crash. PS. : I don't overclock/downclock, everything's run in its speed.
 
In my opinion, this is a good card with a little problem. I paid it for $300, but it was a good invest. Well, at least i don't need to upgrade in the next 2 years.
 
P4D 930 3GHz
P5P800SE
1GB Corsair ValueSelect
120GB Maxtor HDD
Audigy2 ZS
CoolerMaster RealPower 550W PSU.

I Would Like to make an update. I just recently upgraded from an old Athlon XP 3000 to my new Athlong 64 4000+ san Diego. Gameing performance has definantly increased. love it so here are the new scores.  
 
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 2.4GHz
Motherboard: ASUS A8V K8T800 Pro Socket 939
Ram: 1 GB (2x512) Dual Channel Kit OCZ Value Series  
GPU: XFX 7800GS, 440/1300 (Core/Memory) Forceware v91.31  
HDD: 200GB ATA100 Western Digital 8MB cache, 7200RPM  
PSU: 520 Watt Vantec 28A 12V+
 
3DMark03:  
3DMarks: 13,393
CPU Score: 1,007  
 
3DMark05:  
3DMarks: 6,350
CPU Score: 4,746  
 
3DMark06:  
3DMarks: 3,071
CPU Score: 940  
 
Aquamark3:  
Score: 73,727
GFX: 11,658
CPU: 10,029

 
Looks good! Might have to upgrade my CPU!

Congrads

 
Give me some time to work out the bugs in my new system and Ill see what i can d