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Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST 256MB PCI-E Review |
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Written by Mavke
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Monday, 29 May 2006 |
Legion Hardware reports about a review on the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST 256MB PCIe graphics card. Recently I have checked numerous new graphics cards based on affordable NVIDIA GPU's, such as the GeForce 7600 GT and GS. The GeForce 7600 GT is an impressive performer in the sub $200 market, delivering what is possibly the best bang for your buck. Then there is the GeForce 7600 GS version which retails closer to the $100 mark. Despite being significantly cheaper, the GeForce 7600 GS still delivers very impressive performance and is capable to taking on the latest and greatest games with reasonably high quality settings enabled.
 Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST 256MB PCI-E Review
The GeForce 7600 series is a halfway point between the GeForce 7300 and 7900 series and it does successfully fill this huge void. As expected, the GeForce 7600 series is going to be the most popular current generation NVIDIA graphics series. With two flavors to choose from the segment is well covered, as it accommodates for anyone looking at spending roughly $100 up to $200. However, if you wanted something in-between a GeForce 7600 GT and a GS, what would it be? Since NVIDIA makes no such solution an overclocked GeForce 7600 GS is going to be the obvious choice here.
Inno3D has just the solution and they call it the GeForce 7600 GST, using the GeForce 7600 GS GPU. However, rather than just doing a simple overclock on both the core and memory, Inno3D have been a little more creative with their GeForce 7600 GS product. While the core has been boosted by 100MHz the memory is actually clocked at 1.4GHz! Now typically the GeForce 7600 GS is paired with 800MHz DDR2 memory where as the GT gets GDDR3 memory clocked at 1.4GHz. Therefore, Inno3D has taken the standard GeForce 7600 GS core, overclocked it 100MHz and then added GT memory to the equation.
The Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST is a difficult product to recommend as it's not going to be for everyone. The fact of the matter is this GeForce 7600 GS graphics card performs much like a GeForce 7600 GT and it is also priced much like a GeForce 7600 GT. The average GeForce 7600 GT card retails for about $180 and this is what the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST is said to cost. Compare this to a typical GeForce 7600 GS that costs upward of $120. For this reason I do not know where the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST really belongs and to be honest I don't think it does either.
Therefore, if you were to purchase the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST for $180, why not just buy a real GeForce 7600 GT card for the same money and get the faster core? There is of course no reason why you would not do this and this is why the price will either make or break the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST. Hypothetically let's just say the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST cost just $150 or even $160, it would now be an absolute bargain. With a little overclocking anyone could have GeForce 7600 GT performance or better for just a fraction of the price and that would be then a real advantage for the GeForce 7600 GST.
However, at the same price there is no logical explanation for purchasing the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST over a real GeForce 7600 GT card that I can see. Even if the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST featured an exotic cooler of some description or a few new gaming titles, the $180 price tag could be justified. On the plus side the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST is the first GeForce 7600 series graphics card I have seen that does not use the boring green PCB. The black PCB looks pretty cool, though appearances are let down by the plain reference cooler that comes with almost all reference GeForce 7600 series.
More importantly the reference cooler is disturbingly loud and just bench testing the card became annoying. Inno3D are not the only manufacturer using this extremely loud NVIDIA reference cooler. Thankfully, Leadtek were smart enough to tone the fan speed down, making it more bearable. Once again I find it hard to recommend the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST as it offers nothing over any of the already available GeForce 7600 GT cards. Unless, the Inno3D GeForce 7600 GST falls down into the $150 price bracket, my opinion is going to remain the same and to get a real GeForce 7600 GT graphics card.
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