HardwareHell

Introduction and First ThoughtsThe wait is over! NVIDIA has finally released a midrange GeForce 7 Series video card, and that card is the GeForce 7600 GT. EVGA was kind enough to send us its e-GeForce 7600 GT CO Superclocked so we can check out how good this new card performs. The 7600 GT is based on the same architecture as the 7800 GTX, but the 7600 GT has a 90nm die where as the 7800 GTX has a 110nm die. While the 7600 GT is based on an impressive high-end architecture, it doesn’t quite have all the bells and whistles of the 7800 GTX or the new 7900 GT/GTX since it’s a midrange card. Instead of a 256-bit memory interface, it features a 128-bit interface for its 256MB of GDDR3. Additionally, the 7600 GT has 12 pixel pipelines and 5 vertex shaders. By now, you might be wondering what makes this 7600 GT a “CO Superclocked” one. Well, the GPU core and the memory are overclocked out of the box. The NVIDIA reference 7600 GT’s core clock is 560 MHz, and the memory clock is 1400 MHz (effective). For the e-GeForce 7600 GT CO Superclocked, EVGA cranked the core up to 600 MHz and the memory up to 1560 MHz (effective). As a fan of factory overclocks, I think this card looks very promising. Let’s jump in to take a look at the card and then take a quick look at its performance. Features and SpecsFeatures

• NVIDIA® CineFX™ 4.0 Engine Delivers advanced visual effects at unimaginable speeds. Full support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 enables stunning and complex special effects. Next-generation shader architecture with new texture unit design streamlines texture processing for faster and smoother gameplay.
• NVIDIA® Intellisample™ 4.0 Technology The industry’s fastest antialiasing delivers ultra-realistic visuals, with no jagged edges, at lightning-fast speeds. Visual quality is taken to new heights through a new rotated grid sampling pattern, advanced 128 Tap sample coverage, 16x anisotropic filtering, and support for transparent supersampling and multisampling.
• Next-Generation Superscalar GPU Architecture Delivers up to 2x the shading power of previous generation products, taking gaming performance to extreme levels.
• PCI Express Certified Designed to run perfectly with the next-generation PCI Express bus architecture. This new bus doubles the bandwidth of AGP 8X delivering over 4GB/s in both upstream and downstream data transfers.
• NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology Dramatically scales performance by allowing two graphics cards to be run in parallel. Only available on select PCI-Express models.
• 64-Bit Floating Point Texture Filtering and Blending Based on the OpenEXR technology from Industrial Light & Magic (http://www.openexr.com/), NVIDIA’s 64-bit texture implementation delivers state-of-the-art high dynamic-range (HDR) visual effects through floating point capabilities in shading, filtering, texturing, and blending.
• NVIDIA® PureVideo™ Technology The combination of high-definition video processors and software delivers unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video, accurate color, and precise image scaling for all video content to turn your PC into a high-end home theater.
• OpenGL 2.0 Optimizations and Support Ensures top-notch compatibility and performance for all OpenGL applications
• NVIDIA UltraShadow II Technology Enhances the performance of bleeding-edge games like id Software’s DOOM 3, that feature complex scenes with multiple light sources and objects.
• Single Dual-Link TMDS Connector For a dual link TMDS, which is in essence two TMDS links bonded together, can display at resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 - and is the connector of choice for users of extremely large digital flat panels.
• Lifetime Warranty (upon registration)
• 24/7 Technical Phone Support
• 90-day Step-Up Program

Specifications

• Performance
  • NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
  • 600 MHz GPU
  • 12 Pixel Pipelines
  • 400 MHz RAMDAC
• Memory
  • 256 MB, 128 bit DDR3
  • 1560 MHz (effective)
  • 24.96 GB/s Memory Bandwidth
• Interface
  • PCI-E 16X
  • DVI-I, DVI-I, HDTV
  • SLI Capable
• Resolution & Refresh
  • 240 Hz Max Refresh Rate
  • 2048 x 1536 x 32bit x85Hz Max Analog
  • 2048 x 1536 / 1600 x 1200 Max Digital
• Requirements
  • Minimum of a 350 Watt power supply.

The Card and Package ContentsThe CardThe e-GeForce 7600 GT CO Superclocked of course features a heatsink and cooler combo. The design only differs from NVIDIA’s reference design in one way - the sticker on the cooler. The heatsink is copper and is cooled off by a small yellow fan. 7600 GTs do not require connection to the power supply, and they are relatively small (or short) cards. You shouldn’t have any problem fitting one into almost any system. Since the 7600 GT is SLI capable, you could actually go with two if you wanted. The card features two DVI connectors and an HDTV-out connector. “Extreme HD Gaming” appears to be the next big thing, and NVIDIA, along with its board partners, is really pushing it hard with this launch. Package ContentsYou of course get more than just the card itself when you open up the box. EVGA’s bundle is very practical and not very fun. Here’s a list of the package contents:

• EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT graphics card
• EVGA driver installation CD with Trial Software
• 2 DVD to VGA adapters
• HDTV Output (component out cable)
• 6 pin PCI-E power cable
• S-Video cable
• User’s guide
• EVGA sticker pack

Test System and Benchmark ResultsTest SystemMotherboard: DFI LP NF4 SLI-DRProcessor: AMD Athlon 64 3800+Memory: 2GB Corsair PC3200Hard Drive: 80GB Hitachi SATA IIOS: Windows XP Pro SP2Drivers: ForceWare 84.17 Benchmark ResultsI’ve only had this card for a couple days, so I ran some quick benchmarks to let you all know how it performs in case you can’t wait to get your hands on one or two. For comparison, I also tested an overclocked EVGA 7800 GT. Check out the results below; I think you’ll be pretty impressed by the 7600 GT. ConclusionAfter benchmarking and playing games with the EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT CO Superclocked, there is no doubt in my mind that it’s probably already in very high demand. Newegg has it in stock at the time of this writing for $229, which is a fair $30 bump over a non-overclocked version of the card. I like factory overclocks as they provide a nice boost in performance for users who don’t want to overclock for whatever reason. Plus, the overclock is under warranty in this case, which is great.Although I didn’t do extensive benchmarks, it’s pretty easy to tell that the 7600 GT is a very capable card, especially when a company like EVGA puts its nice overclocking twist on it. Just look how it performs in F.E.A.R., one of the most graphically intense games out, and compare it to the 7800 GT’s performance. I expected the 7600 GT to be good, but I didn’t expect it to post numbers so close to the 7800 GT’s performance level. If you have a $200-230 budget for a video card, I highly recommend that you check out the EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT CO Superclocked. It’s worth your consideration, especially since EVGA offers a lifetime warranty, 24/7 technical phone support and a 90-day Step-Up program (check out EVGA.com for more info). You can’t get a better card than the 7600 GT for around $200 right now…plain and simple. I award the EVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT CO Superclocked a 9.4 out of 10 and our Gold Award. Product Link: EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT CO