My decision to go for the Gainward was based on several factors. While you may not agree with what I am about to say, they, IMO make sense and as a result I am happy with my decision.
1) A simple issue regarding cost, with the release of the 7900 cards, the cost of the Gainward came down by £40 odd, which put it firmly in my price bracket.
2) The performance advantage of the Gainward is through a combination of factors, not just the 512mb. The card is already OC’d (as indicated by Gainward's "Goes like Hell" ('GLH') range) to 450/650 as compared with the standard GT reference boards which are at 400/500.
I accept that you can do this yourself, but hey, I am lazy. Although, probably more accurate; I do not feel that I have enough knowledge to embark on overclocking properly. I am at the stage of "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing". Having said that, by all accounts, the GLH range of cards can be clocked further.
3) Regarding the 512Mb, it should be noted that not only is there more memory, but perhaps more importantly it is running quicker at 1.3 GHz. (Compared to the 256Mb of 1Ghz).
4) Regarding the 512 v 256 'debate', I bought the card with an eye on the future. Currently, games may not demand 512Mb, but they will eventually. There is a marked performance difference between 256 and 512 when running games at high quality settings (i.e when the 256mb card uses over 100mb of system memory), perhaps nothing really noticeable now, but as games get inevitably more complex I believe the gap will open.
One reviewer summed up my position:
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It’s so difficult to choose either way really. You could buy a 256MB card today and it would most definitely serve you well for a year or two, but on the other hand there is no reason not to get a 512Mb card other than price. The performance increase 512MB offers over 256MB is here today in game we all play and the gap will only increase with the next generation of titles, think UE3 and you’ll get what I mean.
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So, all in all, the Gainward GLH card can more than hold its own, further at the time of purchase it undercut the 1800s on price. It does out perform other 7800 GT cards so I put my money where my mouth is and got it.
256mb v 512mb (using a a de-clocked Gainward card as a reference)
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=33&page=1
a review of the Gainward 7800 GT GLH 512mb:
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=32&page=1
Computer Ordered: **Build pics up***
and congrats !
I need to mulitply all that by 2 hehe
Oh no! 
hehe 
Linear Mode
