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The GeForce 7600 GT |
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eVGA Superclock Style |
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by Josh Walrath |
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So, not only did NVIDIA make the 7600 GT clock faster than the NV42 chip powering the 6800 GS, but they also added all of the GeForce 7 features, improved per clock performance, and made the chip around 20 million transistors lighter. So the die size of the 7600 GT chip is probably around 60% that of the NV42. The packaging for the chip is also cheaper because it only features a 128 bit memory bus. PCB costs are down due to the simplified memory bus, as well as the lower power and cooling needs of the 7600 GT. This card has good margins built into it from the very beginning.
The unpacked box shows the sturdy plastic inner box that protects the card. Everything is organized on top of the plastic so there is minimal shifting during transit. Unlike previous generations, NVIDIA is trying to do more with fewer transistors. In a time when transistor counts are approaching 400 million for the high end, NVIDIA simplified things and released a very fast chip with less than half of the transistors as the high end ATI part. Not only that, but the die size of the 7600 GT is about 15% smaller than the competing X1600 XT. When looking at the 7600 GT from an architectural point of view, it shares the same amount of pixel shaders as the X1600 series, but it doubles the ROPS and triples the texture units. The impact of this is quite evident, as testing has shown the 7600 GT in stock form to throttle the X1600 XT in most benchmarks and applications. The X1600 series may have a feature-set advantage over the 7600 GT, but it certainly does not have a speed one. The eVGA 7600 GT CO Superclocked eVGA is a very close partner to NVIDIA, and as such they are one of the first out of the blocks with this next generation of 90 nm NVIDIA products. On March 9th, 2006 eVGA introduced a full lineup of products based around these parts. Hitting squarely in the mid-range is the 7600 GT CO Superclocked. eVGA has taken the stock 7600 GT, which is typically clocked at 560 MHz core and 700 MHz DDR (1400 MHz effective) and boosted the speed to a pretty large degree. The CO Superclocked comes in at 600 MHz core and 780 MHz DDR (1560 MHz effective). While the extra core speed is nice, the faster memory clock really helps in bandwidth limited situations. The extra core speed does not significantly heat up the chip, and so the stock 7600 GT/7900 GT cooler is used. This is not a bad thing, as that cooler is pretty beefy as is. Considering that it can handle the heat load of a 450 MHz 7900 GT, it should easily be able to handle a faster but smaller 7600 GT. The cooler never gets very warm, and the chip itself does not get above 68 degrees C when at full load. The memory on the card is listed as 1.4 ns GDDR-3, which should have a maximum speed of 714 MHz. This memory runs perfectly fine at 780 MHz on the CO Superclocked. During the entire testing period, I did not see any signs of corruption due to the memory being clocked higher than it is rated for. During use the memory did not get very warm, and it certainly did not burn my finger when I touched the modules.
While the contents may be minimal, it does provide the user with everything they could need for a good experience. eVGA has never been known for their extravagant bundles, and this card is no exception. In the box there are 2 DVI to VGA adapters, a component output cable, S-Video cable, an information and installation packet, and the driver CD with two trial software packages for media playback and DVD editing/burning. Of note is that there is no 2 x 4 pin molex to PCI-E power cable, as the 7600 GT CO Superclocked does not need an external power connector. The 7600 GT, even when clocked this high, pulls around 60 to 65 watts at full power. The PEG slot it resides in can supply up to 75 watts, so the card is well within that range. This is quite impressive considering how fast this card is overall. The card appears to be well built with plenty of good quality capacitors. The card itself has a good heft to it due to the copper cooler. When running the cooler is very quiet in 2D mode, but it starts to whine a bit when running in 3D mode. This is not a very loud fan though, and it is actually a bit quieter than the 6800 GT I tested it against. In a closed case the user would probably not notice any sound coming from the card. Unlike the 7300 GS I recently reviewed, the 7600 GT CO comes with a limited lifetime warranty upon registration of the card. eVGA has a very good reputation with customers, and most people who buy from them end up buying again. With a strong community forum as well as the Step Up program, many users seem quite happy to stay loyal customers. While the standard 7600 GT will be priced at $199, the 7600 GT CO Superclocked will be $239.99 from eVGA direct. The consumer will have to decide if the extra $40 is worth it to get a lifetime warranty at overclocked speeds.
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Copyright 1999-2006 PenStar Systems, LLC. |
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