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XFX GeForce 7600 GT 256MB PCI-E XXX Edition

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Kurtis Kronk
Brian
XFX
May. 23, 2006

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Introduction

A couple of months ago, NVIDIA launched three new video cards, the 7900 GTX 512MB, 7900 GT 256MB, and the 7600 GT 256MB. The GTX, of course, is the highest-end card, priced at around the $500 mark. The 7900 GT is what you could call an "affordable" high-end card, priced at about $350. The 7600 GT is the new mid-range card, and you can buy it for around $200.

As you may recall, we took a look at XFX's 7900 GT XXX Edition video card last month, and I highly recommended it - you simply can't beat it for the money. The XXX Edition in the name means that it is the most overclocked version of the card. Today we'll be taking a look at a 7600 GT from XFX. You'll see why I say "a" 7600 GT in a moment!

If you look for an XFX 7600 GT online, you'll find 4 different models, with the only difference being the clock speeds of the core and memory. It's actually a little confusing, and when I asked XFX why they have so many versions, I was told they are experimenting with various price points and clock speeds to see what the consumer really wants. My personal opinion is that the company should just have a standard version and an overclocked version, because paying a little extra for a tiny overclock doesn't make much sense to me. It should either be all or none; but I digress. Here's a breakdown of XFX's various cards:

The specific model we'll be looking at today is the XXX Edition - the most overclocked version they offer. This card has a core clock speed of 590MHz and a memory clock of 800MHz (1.6GHz DDR), whereas NVIDIA's reference 7600 GT has a core clock speed of 560MHz and a memory clock of 700MHz (1.4GHz DDR). You'll pay $30 extra over the standard 7600 GT, but if you want to squeeze every last bit of performance out of the card without any extra hassle or worry, it could be a worthwhile upgrade for you. The fact that you get a guaranteed overclock out of the box without voiding your warranty certainly has some appeal. Of course, more adventurous buyers might go for the standard edition and then attempt to overclock to XXX speeds.

An interesting thing to note is that ATI launched their X1800 GTO the same day that NVIDIA launched 7600 GT, attempting to keep the 7600 GT from gaining too much of the mid-range market share. What's interesting about the X1800 GTO is that it felt like a very rushed launch - simply disabling some pipelines on the X1800 XL to make the X1800 GTO. Rushed or not, it was a smart move and it looks like the 7600 GT definitely has some tough competition.

I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see how this bad boy performs! We've gathered 11 other cards for this review, so let's see how XFX's 7600 GT XXX Edition stacks up to the competition.

We'd like to thank Directron.com for donating the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 Motherboard which we used for testing.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: The Card & Bundle
Page 3: Test Setup
Page 4: Benchmarks: Half-Life 2
Page 5: Benchmarks: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
Page 6: Benchmarks: Quake 4
Page 7: Benchmarks: X3 Reunion Demo
Page 8: Benchmarks: Chronicles of Riddick
Page 9: Benchmarks: F.E.A.R.
Page 10: Benchmarks: Need for Speed Most Wanted
Page 11: Benchmarks: Black & White 2
Page 12: Benchmarks: 3DMark '06
Page 13: Performance Summary
Page 14: Conclusion

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