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Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is the last game in our benchmark suite and here the trend persist. We're practically seeing the same thing in this game, much like the previous benchmarks. The Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme is the fastest of all GeForce 7600GT we tested, offering around 10 percent higher frame rates. While it may garnish some bragging rights, that's not really noticeable in gameplay - particularly if frame rates is below 30 fps. However, in this case the Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme did achieve minimum frame rates that's above 30 fps compared to below 30 fps from the other GeForce 7600GTs.

Conclusion:

Today, many AIB manufacturer are permitted to 'vary' their product in an effort to differentiate themselves from their competitors - either by adding more features, using their own custom designed cooling solution and using higher core and memory clocks. Of course, this makes comparison and round up more interesting than usual. A higher clocked card should be faster than a reference clocked one and the Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme is an example of that.

However, after looking at the benchmark results, it's clear that the difference between a higher clocked and a reference clock GeForce 7600GT is not really that significant. The clock difference is simply not enough for the card to break free from the rest of the pack. A difference of 10 percent in performance can be seen as minimal at best, particularly if we're already seeing high enough frame rates with reference clocked cards. In situations where frame rates are low, that difference may become significant, yet again they may not matter at all. A 10 percent difference of 30 fps and 40 fps is 3 and 4 fps, respectively which is only significant if the difference occurred very close to the 30 and 40 fps mark - say 29 fps to 32 fps or 36 to 40 fps.

With minimal differences in performance, the price premium we pay for these cards are usually justified in other aspects such as bundles and features. However since these are all mainstream cards, bundles are typically scarce and standard fare. That's why we give special attention to manufacturers who went the distance with their product. We recommend the Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme out of the few GeForce 7600GT we've tested today simply because we feel Leadtek has put an extra effort to make sure you get what you pay for. The Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme is undeniably runs much cooler than the other GeForce 7600GT, no doubt due to its slightly larger, copper heatsink. Keep in mind, that's with at default, with a much slower and much less audible fan. Running the fans at reference speeds of a standard GeForce 7600GT allows you to have a significantly cooler core temperature. The slight performance lead and the single slot design is just icing on the cake for this card. However, that doesn't mean the card is not without fault. We would've prefer the heatsink to actually touch the memory chips and the lack of a second DVI to analog dongle and S-Video extension cable. But that's just us being anal retentive.

Another worthy mention is the ASUS EN7600GT. Although ASUS stuck to the reference clock with this card, they have the right mind to include a copper based heatsink to cool the core. This also mean they were able to retain a single slot factor, something that users with small cases like in a HTPC setup will appreciate. Yes, there's still a fan to cool it down, but we think a fan is still necessary since that single fan can lower the temperature 10 Celsius° lower. ASUS also retained the policy of two DVI to analog dongles. Let's face it, if you're buying a mainstream card, chances are you will still be using the old analog VGA cables to connect the card to your monitor(s). Hopefully, the price their asking for this card is not as outrageous as their high end offering. After all, mainstream cards are about price / performance.

The question that popped in our mind during testing is probably one that many users asks before buying a mainstream card - is it worth it? We think overall, any GeForce 7600GT is still worth the price, but not if your looking for performance in new, demanding games. Our overclocking experiment with these GeForce 7600GTs seems to indicate that the clock used by the Leadtek PX7600GT Extreme is quite possibly the highest you can go without resorting to extreme cooling and voltage modifications - 590 MHz for the core, 800 MHz for the memory. And we all can see that only netted something like a 10 percent improvement.

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