GeForce 7600GT Round Up
PCI Express x16 graphics cardsChipset GeForce 7600GT 256 MB, 128 bit
The GeForce 7600GT is true to form, a mainstream card. It offers high frame rates up to 1600 x 1200 with old games or less demanding new games in which frame rates are typically high enough, that you can 'absorb' the performance penalty with AA and AF and still have a high enough frame rate. This usually means you can have more than 30 to 45 fps minimum at 1024 x 768 with 4x AA and 16x AF. For new games or at least a graphically intensive games, the GeForce 7600GT can only offer high enough frame rates at 1024 x 768, without AA (you may still enable AF, if you choose).
The culprit for the lack of performance with AA and AF is obviously bandwidth, in this case the use of 128 bit memory bus. Unlike many other 3D graphics technology, bus width remains a premium that's only available on high end cards. Both ATI and NVIDIA have put more shader or ALU units into new designs and spent a lot of effort in tweaking them to enable their products to scale better in performance. However, for the last three generations since the introduction of the first 256 bit graphics card (the Radeon 9700), 256 bit bus remains solely a premium feature. The reason is actually quite simple: economics. It's simply is cheaper to build a graphics card with 128 bit bus than with a 256 bit bus. The board design is much less complicated and manufacturing costs are lower.
The ongoing trend with graphics cards is that high end cards of today have the same performance as mainstream cards of tomorrow or the 'next generation'. The GeForce 7600GT is no exception - the performance it offers is comparable with a GeForce 6800GS or 6800GT. The difference between them is mostly core and memory clock - the GeForce 7600GT sports a similar feature set like 12 pixel shader units, 5 vertex shader units and have roughly a 40 percent clock advantage to make up for its use of a 128 bit bus. Another trend with graphics cards is that new games and applications usually become more demanding and put more burden on these cards than older games and applications. That's why high end cards is typically good for at least two years of gaming while mainstream cards can be considered lucky if it can survive for a year.
So, is the GeForce 7600GT still worth the buy? Yes if you only need mainstream performance or don't want to spend more than USD 300 - 350 for a graphics card. One potential scenario for these mainstream cards in the future is physics acceleration. For example, you buy a single GeForce 7600GT now just for the performance. When new, demanding games come out, you could buy a much faster card like the GeForce 7900GT and use GeForce 7600GT as a second card or a Havok FX physics accelerator. At least if NVIDIA kept their word about supporting asynchronous SLI for physics acceleration.
With this in mind, you typically don't want to buy more premium than you have to for mainstream cards. Take for example performance. With a high end card, price is not a major concern. Some people will gladly pay a premium for a graphics cards that's marginally faster than another. However, users who buy mainstream cards will consider price / performance ratio. Features may also be a determining factor as is bundles. Today, we'll be looking at four offerings of GeForce 7600GT from four different manufacturers: the ASUS EN7600GT, Gigabyte GeForce 7600GT, Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme and MSI NX7600GT.
Overview
ASUS EN7600GT
560/700 MHz
NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT, 256 MB GDDR3Core Clock : 558 MHz
Memory Clock : 702 MHz (1404 MHz GDDR3)
Overall Score: 78.5 points
Unlike many ASUS graphics cards, the EN7600GT comes across as quite, well, plain. There's no exotic custom designed cooling like the Silencer series or extravagant bundles. The packaging itself is simple and much smaller than we typically see from ASUS. The card comes with the standard accessories: HDTV dongle and thankfully, two DVI to analog dongle. You can also find three CDs - one for the manual, another for the drivers and DVD playback software and the final third is ASUS exclusive full game bundle, King Kong. A little bit sparse to say the least, but then again such bundles are typical of mainstream cards.
In the utilities CD, you'll find some ASUS utility fan fare like the GameFace Messenger, Game LiveShow and Video Security Online. If you install the included ASUS Enhanced Driver, you'll get to use their color enhancing utility, Splendid, and On Screen Display, which enables you to quickly adjust your display properties (brightness, contrast etc) via an OSD you can call with a hot key.
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