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ASUS Extreme N7600 GT 256MB PCI-E Review |
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Written by Mavke
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Tuesday, 11 April 2006 |
Legion Hardware comes
with a review on the ASUS Extreme
N7600 GT 256MB PCIe graphics card. The GeForce 6600 GT is certainly one of
the most successful graphics card series in history. About 18 months since the
release of the very first GeForce 6600 GT cards they are still selling quite
well. However, sales are now starting to slow as the NV43 replacement begins to
hit shelves. The new GeForce 7600 GT is based on the G73 core which boasts
several key advantages over the older GeForce 6600 GT. Advantages that make the
GeForce 7600 GT more powerful in today's latest 3D games. The GeForce 7600 GT
has been a long time coming as the GeForce 7 series consisted of just two
products for so long.
 ASUS
Extreme N7600 GT 256MB PCI-E Review
Initially the GeForce 7 series was just an addition to the pre-existing GeForce 6 series, consisting of the GeForce 7800 GT and GTX. Later the low-end GeForce 7300 GS followed, while the mainstream segment was being filled by the GeForce 6800 GS and GeForce 6600 GT. Both of these mainstream products will now be replaced by the GeForce 7600 GT. The G73 core of the GeForce 7600 GT is quite small, opposed to the original G70 core. The die shrinkage has been made possible due to the new 90nm process. The smaller die of course brings a number of advantages to the table for the G73.
Of course NVIDIA are hoping the GeForce 7600 GT can evolve into the successor of the GeForce 6600 GT and realistically it should. Given that the GeForce 7600 GT has been designed to out perform the GeForce 6800 GS, you can only assume that it is going to be a Radeon X1600 XT killer. This is most likely the primary reason for ATI's recent announcement of the Radeon X1700 series. In order to make the GeForce 7600 GT as successful as the GeForce 6600 GT, NVIDIA will need to be tight with their pricing and they have been. Already GeForce 7600 GT cards can be purchased online for under $200.
The NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT is an impressive product and although the ASUS Extreme AX1600 XT graphics card does retail for $10 less, the GeForce 7600 GT is far superior. Based on the results the GeForce 7600 GT has roughly twice as much grunt under the hood when compared to the older GeForce 6600 GT, making it a very impressive graphics card. The performance aspect of this ASUS graphics card was very impressive, though there was one negative aspect of this card which I must discuss. Before I do, let’s just summarize a few aspects of the ASUS Extreme N7600 GT.
Firstly and most importantly, it is competitively priced which is crucial for a mainstream product. The card is based on the NVIDIA reference design and thus sports the reference cooling solution. This is where everything goes a little wrong for the Extreme N7600 GT. The green PCB is not really an issue, nor is the lack of cooling for the memory chips. What did bother me was the operating volume of this graphics card. When powering up the test rig for the first time with the ASUS Extreme N7600 GT installed, I was amazed at how loud that little fan was.
Thankfully, ASUS has another ace up their sleeve and they are calling it the Extreme N7600 GT Silent. I was not the least bit surprised when I learnt that the only difference between the two versions is the cooling design. The Silent version as the name suggests, is completely silent thanks to an improved cooling design featuring a very large heatsink along with a single heatpipe. Obviously, the silent version will come at a slight price premium, right now I cannot find anyone selling the card so its true retail value is yet to be determined.
Overall, despite the operating volume the ASUS Extreme N7600 GT is still an exceptional graphics card boasting excellent performance and rock solid stability. The GeForce 7600 GT is a first class product. Not only has the frame rate performance dazzled me, but so too has the stunning visual quality and highly stable performance. The current generation mid-range graphics cards are certainly amongst the best value solutions ever released.
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