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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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Conclusion Color me impressed. I had originally thought that the 7600 GT would probably fall short of the 6800 GT/GS in performance, but still be a major upgrade from the 6600 GT. I was dead wrong. The 7600 GT simply stomps all over the 6800 GT/GS, and looking at other results around the web it has a huge performance advantage over ATI’s X1600 XT as well. The 128 bit memory controller does not hold this card back, but I honestly wonder what a 256 bit bus running at 1560 MHz would really do for performance? HDR and AA performance would be improved, but considering that the 128 bit controller still has access to 24.96 GB/sec of bandwidth the card does very well by its own right. Adding another 128 bits would only really increase the price of the card, and with the standard 7600 GT being priced at $199 with this level of performance, I honestly don’t think that the extra cost is worth it. NVIDIA has a definite winner on their hands, and the 7600 GT will quickly replace the 6800 GS on the PCI-E platform. The 7600 GT should also outsell the lackluster X1600 XT, even though it is somewhat deficient in features compared to the ATI part. I did not receive a second card to test in SLI, but it seems somewhat pointless to buy two of these when the 7900 GTX will cost around $499. It is probably a better deal to buy a single 7900 GTX than it is to buy two 7600 GT CO’s for about the same price. It does appear as though the 7600 GT is the true spiritual successor of the 6600 GT, and NVIDIA hopes that this product will last as long as the 6600 series did. Looking at the features and performance that this card brings to the table, I have few doubts that it will fulfill the needs of NVIDIA for some time to come across the midrange and eventual budget sectors. eVGA has put together a very nice package and product with the 7600 GT CO. With a lifetime warranty on a nicely overclocked card, many users will find the Superclocked card quite appealing. The price is right in line with the performance, and considering the features I believe there may be a user or two who will upgrade to this card.
Overall Score: 95%
eVGA/NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT Excellence in Engineering Award
Pros Fast, fast, fast 256 MB of high speed GDDR-3 Cool running core Low fan sound All copper heatsink Small card Low power consumption (requires a 300 watt power supply minimum) Full GeForce 7 features PureVideo enhancements Simply outperforms everything else in its price range
Cons Software bundle is unexciting No 512 MB option as of yet Not as feature packed as the X1600 XT Texture filtering not as good as it could be
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