Posted:2006-05-02 By hardware review Number of View:379779
7600GT REVIEW - 7600GT BENCHMARK
OVERCLOCK - SLI ASUS GIGABYTE
INNO3D LEADTEK XFX
By :hardware review
Posted:2006-05-02
xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source
The 7600GT benchamrk - 7600gt review overclock - sli asus gigabyte inno3d leadtek xfx
Today, we will be taking a look at seven different 7600GT graphics cards from six different manufacturers. The
7600GT will be the next card majority of the consumers will be looking to buy
because it has a very affordable price tag. In effect, the 7600GT fills in the
shoes of "6600GT" of the last Gen.
As you can see, almost all the cards we have here are based
completely on the reference design from NVIDIA, right down to the PCB.
This is the list of manufacturers our 7600GT cards come
from:
Asus
Gigabyte
Inno3D
Leadtek
XFX
XpertVision
Here is a brief table listing the specifications for the
7600GT:
As you can see, almost all the cards we have here are based
completely on the reference design from NVIDIA, right down to the PCB.
This is the list of manufacturers our 7600GT cards come
from:
Asus
Gigabyte
Inno3D
Leadtek
XFX
XpertVision
Here is a brief table listing the specifications for the
7600GT:
GeForce 7600 GT
Graphics Bus Technology
PCI Express
Memory
256MB
Memory
Interface
128-bit
Memory
Bandwidth (GB/sec)
22.4
Fill
Rate (Billion pixels/sec)
6.7
Vertices/Second (Millions)
700
Pixels
per clock (peak
12
RAMDACs (MHz)
400
The default clocks of the 7600GT is 560MHz for the core
and 700MHz for the memory. However, some manufacturers have already
pre-overclocked their cards. These cards come from namely XFX and XpertVision.
Their cards have speeds of 580/750 and 575/750 respectively.
All the 7600GT cards we have come with dual DVI ports, with the exception of the XpertVision
7600GT.
7600GT review.
Processor
Intel Pentium D 950 ES @ 3.40GHz
stock
Motherboard
Asus P5LD2 Deluxe
Memory
Corsair CM2X512-4200 512MB x 2 in dual channel @ 266MHz 5.0-5-5-15
Hard
Disk
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB
SATA
Optical Storage
Iomega 24/10/40 CD-RW (Plextor
OEM)
Cooling
Intel stock heatsink (Sanyo Denki
0.28A)
Graphics Cards
Asus EN7600GT Asus EN7600GT
SILENT Gigabyte 7600GT Inno3D 7600GT Leadtek WinFast 7600GT TDH XFX
7600GT XpertVision 7600GT
Power
Supply
Topower TOP-600P7 600W
Display
Philips 170B4 17"
LCD
Benchmarks are done using the whole 3DMark series.
They would be able to give a good gauge of the performance from the cards.
3DMark2001 SE
3DMark05 120
3DMark06 102 3DMark03 360
ASUS EN7600GT benchmark review
First, we shall take a look at what ASUS has to offer.
The ASUS EN7600GT comes in a simple box and goes for a retail
price of around USD$225 (SGD$370).
Upon opening the box, we discover that the EN7600GT is based on the reference
design. The fan has an ASUS label, but other than that, it looks every single
bit like nVidia's own
If you were to look at the card from the back, we don't think
one would be able to distinguish it from a nVidia sample, minus the stickers
stuck on by ASUS themselves.
Upon powering up, the fan produces an audible whirr for a few
seconds before the RPM drops. The fan noise is kept to a minimum level, until
you fire up the Coolbits overclocking utility, or you run 3D applications.
When these applications were ran, the RPM moves one step up. You can hear the
fan, but it is still not yet at the level when you first power up your
system.
The BGA RAM chips used are produced by Samsung, and they are a 1.4ns part. The same Memory
is used on all the other 7600GT cards in this shootout, except the Xpertvision
7600GT which uses Samsung 1.2ns chips. An image of the 1.4ns part can be found
later in this review.
As mentioned in the previous pages, we will be using a single
set of scores for all the default-clocked 7600GT cards.
Stock
Overclocked
Core
560MHz
625MHz
Memory
700MHz
725MHz
Somehow, this card we have here does not seem to perform well
when it comes to memory overclocking. We could only raise the memory speed a
little, but the core could scale quite well to 625MHz, up from the default
560MHz.
When clocked to 650MHz on the core, benchmarking would freeze
immediately after the loading screen for quite a while before continuing to run.
However, major artifact sets in, so we had to reduce the overclock.
Stock
Overclocked
3DMark2001 SE
23500
23721
3DMark03
13600
14361
3DMark05
6100
6520
3DMark06
3300
3532
ASUS EN7600GT Silent benchmark review
We also have the EN7600GT SILENT from ASUS. This card can be had for USD$245 (SGD$404),
thereabouts. This si the most expensive card among the pack of 7, but
understandably so when you factor in the high cost of it's heatsink.
The box is definitely very attention grabbing since it is so
huge. It even comes with a handle, so you can carry it home without a plastic
carrier
What's special about this card is that it is passive cooled. This means that
there is totally no fans on the card for complete silence. Opening the flap on
the box, you will see a section explaining what SilentCool 2 Technology is all about. SilentCool is a term used by
ASUS to describe their unique heatsink design.
This is the card itself. As you can see, only the core is being
cooled. The BGA RAM chips are naked. This card is also using the
reference PCB design.
Heat is transferred by the use of heatpipes to the suspending fins, as well as
the fins behind the card. It gets rather warm to the touch after prolonged use
in 3D mode. You can twist the suspended unit 90 degrees depending on your system
setup, to get slightly better cooling performance, though we feel that leaving
the heatsink in either position is still fine
Stock
Overclocked
Core
560MHz
600MHz
Memory
700MHz
775MHz
The core would only run up to 600MHz. Clocking higher can cause
random pauses during the course of benchmarking. However, the memory chips could
go pretty high, up to 775MHz, not bad for a 1.4ns part.
Stock
Overclocked
3DMark2001 SE
23500
23921
3DMark03
13600
14602
3DMark05
6100
6585
3DMark06
3300
3545
Gigabyte 7600GT overlcok review
Gigabyte's 7600GT comes in a really nice looking box. This card
goes around for USD$210 (SGD$348).
The label on the box, stating what the card has and what is in the package.
Stock
Overclocked
Core
560MHz
600MHz
Memory
700MHz
750MHz
When overclocking with Coolbits, we attempted a first try
of 650MHz on the core. However, upon clicking the button to test changes, the
whole system froze and we had to do a hard reset. We
clocked the core down to 625MHz then. However, our 3D benchmarks refused to load, stopping with a black
screen. We further clocked it down to 600MHz before the card would bench nicely.
Memory overclocking wasn't bad, with the memory
topping out at 750MHz.
Stock
Overclocked
3DMark2001 SE
23500
23602
3DMark03
13600
14110
3DMark05
6100
6330
3DMark06
3300
3444
Inno3D 7600GT overlcok benchmark
A simple looking box to go with the card which goes for a low
price of USD$200 (SGD$330).
The card looks exactly like the Asus EN7600GT except for the label
The back of the card.
Stock
Overclocked
Core
560MHz
600MHz
Memory
700MHz
800MHz
Poor performance from the core, only managing 600MHz. However,
the memory could clock to 800MHz. Impressive for a 1.4ns RAM part. Clocking anything higher than 600MHz causes
the benchmarks to freeze momentarily now and then.
Stock
Overclocked
3DMark2001 SE
23500
24101
3DMark03
13600
14772
3DMark05
6100
6677
3DMark06
3300
3560
Leadtek 7600GT overclock benchamrk
Now let us take a look at the Leadtek 7600GT going for a low
price tag of USD$200 (SGD$330).
Leadtek boxes always have nice designs and are pretty
eye-catching, this one is not an exception either
Yet another reference card, but Leadtek has replaced the whole
front of the heatsink with their own label cover, customizing the
sticker on the fan hub as well.
However, one thing to note is that there is no fan speed
control on this card. The fan runs at full blast right from the start. As
with all reference heatsinks, the whirr produced by the fan is quite audible, so
do keep this in mind. Also, there is no temperature readout when using the
nVidia control panel. As a result, there is no auto overclocking option with
Coolbits. I guess this has to do with Leadtek's Home-brewed BIOS which is quite
different from the others.
The back of the card
The RAM chips used are Samsung 1.4ns, just like the ones used
on all the other brands except Xpertvision's
We understand that there is another 7600GT TDH from Leadtek
which has Leadtek's own heatsink design. It covers the core and also all the BGA
RAM chips. We believe this would bring down the noise
levels considerably considering the fact that the fan used on Leadtek's own
heatsink is much larger.
Anyway, let us take a look at the overclocked numbers.
Stock
Overclocked
Core
560MHz
640MHz
Memory
700MHz
800MHz
Leadtek has been known for creating cards with great
overclockability. Here, we see that the Leadtek is the highest clocked of the
pack. 650MHz on the core, but there were some random freezes during
benchmarking. No artifacting after the freezes occurred, unlike all the other
cards in this roundup. The memory could go all the way to 800MHz without any
sweat. Pretty amazing stuff here.
Stock
Overclocked
3DMark2001 SE
23500
24422
3DMark03
13600
15239
3DMark05
6100
6916
3DMark06
3300
3720
This card exhibits good overclocking potential. We believe that
the 7600GT TDH and the 7600GT TDH Extreme using Leadtek's own heatsink design
would be able to clock even further.
XFX 7600GT review
As usual, XFX's 7600GT comes in the unique X-shaped packaging
and goes for the price of USD$242 (SGD$400.
You can see the card itself through the plastic cover at the
back of the box.
The heatsink cover is reflective, and it looks pretty
cool. The heatsink used is reference.
Like the other reference cards, the fan RPM can be
distinguished to three different speeds. Highest speed upon powering on the sysem, lowest speed in 2D mode, and medium speed in
3D mode.
Interestingly, this card comes with a metal bar at the top, to
prevent the card from warping. However, we do not think there is a need for this
on the 7600GT because the card is short and the heatsink is light, but many of
us agree that this bar adds a cool factor to the card right?
Here is the back of the card. Nothing special, just like any
other reference card.
This card has been pre-overclocked already.
Stock (Factory Overclock)
Overclocked
Core
580MHz
600MHz
Memory
750MHz
775MHz
The core would go only up to 600MHz. The card locks up if we
clock higher. The memory could clock to 775MHz.
Stock
Overclocked
3DMark2001 SE
22260
22296
3DMark03
13738
14167
3DMark05
6183
6386
3DMark06
3424
3556
We note that the scores at the 'stock' speed of 580/750 are
somewhat lower as compared to the XpertVision card we reviewed on the following
page.
XpertVision 7600GT review
The box is pretty huge, but still nowhere the size of the Asus EN7600GT SILENT's box. This card goes for around
USD$206 (SGD$340).
We have the label, stating it's a 7600GT card with 256MB of
DDR3 memory. The card has already been factory clocked to a higher speed, but
nothing was mentioned on the box.
Xpertvision has chosen to go with their own PCB design for the 7600GT card. The heatsink unit used on the card is also different from
all the others in this 7600GT shootout. The heatsink is made of aluminium with
pretty thick fins and they are well spaced out. The RAM sinks are stuck on by white thermal tape and they
really hold well. However, during benchmark sessions, the RAM heatsinks did not
heat up much, so we guess placing RAM sinks on the chips have little effect on the maximum overclock.
But well, it does improve the card's aesthetics, subjectively. It's quite
refreshing to see a card that is different then go through repeats when we were
doing this shoot-out.
Now isn't that a sweet-looking card? The blower used on this
card is bigger than those used on other 7600GT cards. At full blast, this fan
produces comparatively lesser noise than the reference heatsink unit. This fan
moves quite a fair bit of air too.
The memory used on this card is Samsung 1.2ns. Some of the
markings have faded when we removed the RAM sink, which stuck like glue to the
chips.
The mounting for this card's heatsink is somewhat interesting.
Instead of screws, it uses a backplate with metal wires and hooks.
In addition, this is the only card in the 7600GT overclocking
shootout that has both analog and DVI outputs. All other 7600GT cards
have dual DVI outputs. To some users on LCDs with only analog connection or CRT
users, this might be good news as there is no need to use a converter.
This card has been factory overclocked to 575MHz for the core
and 750MHz for the memory. Let's take a look at some numbers.
Stock (Factory Overclock)
Overclocked
Core
575MHz
600MHz
Memory
750MHz
750MHz
Looks like the card is pretty much max-ed out already. 650MHz
on the core caused major artifact, while at 625MHz, the card was able to
complete benchmarks, but the scores were lower than at the factory overclocked
speeds! The memory could not go further though. We found it pretty weird because
technically a 1.2ns part should be able to clear 800MHz clock. Perhaps some
tweaking was done to the memory timings? We are unsure of this.
Stock (Factory Overclock)
Overclocked
3DMark2001 SE
23548
23609
3DMark03
13924
14119
3DMark05
6238
6356
3DMark06
3375
3453
Core Overclock Speed
Here is a summary of the overclocks managed on each card for
both the core and the memory.
Most of the cards here can manage a speed of 600MHz for the
core, except the ASUS EN7600GT and the Leadtek 7600GT TDH, with which both card cleared the
600MHz line by quite a bit.
Memory Overclock SPeed
A mixed bag of results for the memory clocks though. We see two
extreme ends here.
It is surprising that the Samsung 1.2ns BGA RAM chips on the XpertVision 7600GT did quite badly in
the overclocking department. We were unable to raise the clocks further. Minimal
clock increase was given on the ASUS EN7600GT card, with only a jump of 65MHz
speed. The Inno3D and Leadtek cards are the fastest lot here, both of them
hitting 800MHz
Here are the performance results from the 3DMark series, after
the cards have each been overclocked to their prime.
3d mark 2003 7600gt benchmark
3d mark 2005 7600gt benchmark
3d mark 2006 7600gt benchmark
3d mark 2001 7600gt benchmark
The Leadtek card pulls away from the rest of the
competition, mainly due to its superior clocks as compared to the rest of the
cards.
7600 gt Value For Money Scale
For users who are solely interested in performance and $(which is a large
percentage of the gaming crowd I'm quite sure), here is the Bang for
the Buck Scale for your reference. Take note that this ignores other factors
such as RMA Service, Package Bundle, Noise
Each card had it's 3D Mark 05 score divided by it's retail
price.
We can see that in terms of value-for-money, the Leadtek stands at the top of the pack. Inno3D 7600GT
comes in second for value and the XpertVision a third position. Cross comparing
these top 3 value cards, only the XpertVision features an improved cooler which
reduces noise and improves cooling. So that should put it's value a bit higher
than represented by the chart.
At the bottom of the chart is the XFX 7600GT which is
over-priced for the performance offered when you compare against the rest. The
ASUS EN7600GT Silent is priced rather high on the
price/performance scale as well, but it offers total silence with it's passive
cooler. The XFX gives nothing but the bare minimum reference
cooler.
Round up 7600gt conclusion
The 7600GT cards seem to be voltage limited on the core. The
cards all hit a barrier at 650MHz, where at this speed, major artifact come up
with the whole screen drawing only black and green objects and lines. With a
voltage mod, we are pretty confident these cards can go further. During the
operation of the cards, they ran at acceptable temperatures, thus we believe
that artifacting at 650MHz isn't really caused by heat issues.
The BGA RAM chips used on all the cards are Samsung 1.4ns. The average speed that they could
reach is about 775MHz, with the Inno3D and Leadtek cards surpassing the average levels clocking
in at 800MHz. As for the Samsung 1.2ns on the XpertVision card, they may be
running faster internal memory timings because we were unable to increase the
speed further, and were stuck at the factory overclocked speed of 750MHz.
The card that gave the most value is the Leadtek WinFast 7600GT
TDH. It managed to achieve a stable clockspeed of 640/800, up from the
default of 560/700. For the overclockability it offers and the low price
it goes for, no card in the pack of 7 can beat this.
If you're looking for a quiet solution and will probably not overclock, then the
XpertVision 7600GT makes a very good choice. It already comes higher clocked
than most of the other cards, has both analog and DVI outputs and the cooling
solution is both quiet and effective. It comes with a tough-to-beat price when
you think about the additional features it offers on top of the compared cards,
namely the special cooler and higher stock clocks. In fact, these seem to come
free when you check it's price tag.
The XFX 7600GT turned out to be the biggest letdown. It does
not offer any special cooler, nor is the overclockability up to par with the
rest of the pack (Probably because the overclockable cards get all binned to
retail as the XXX edition), but it clings onto a premium price tag which is not
really justified in comparision
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