GeForce 7600GS 256 or 512 MB
Today, we continue getting familiarized with the features of NVIDIA GeForce 7600GS under various capacities and operating speeds of the video memory. Tasting another inexpensive 512 MB since it's become a fashionable offering. In so doing, we'll be using ASUS Point of View video cards.
ASUS of View EN7600GS SILENT 256 MB
The video card is most likely to come across in this nice-looking and large enough package box. The setting is quite informative. At first glance you know what is inside the box and which features the product offers.
The package bundle is quite modest, which is traditional for mass video cards. The "hardware" part of the bundle includes, apart from the video card itself, 15-pin VGA D-Sub -> DVI, and TV-out -> component HDTV adapters. The more necessary adapters and cables for S-Video and Composite are missing.
On the other hand, the software and paper parts of the bundle have always been fine with ASUS: ASUS Bonus GAMEPACK (Savage, BillyBlade, Mashed), a CD with drivers and utilities, a CD with documentation, and a hard copy of the user's guide.
The video card is made on a blue textolyte board, with most part of it closed by a large aluminum radiator of the passive cooling system. Of note are the empty contact pads in the power supply scheme, but to all appearances this reduction is related to a lack of VIVO chip and does not affect the stability and overclocking at all. We also note the lack of a connector for plugging in a fan since the cooling system does not need power, which is logical but may cause issues on attempts to install one more cooler.
To plug in monitors and other devices, the video card is equipped with the following connectors: DVI, 15-pin D-Sub, and TV-out.
Under the cooling system, there are memory chips and the GPU itself. At the same time, the video memory has no contact with the radiator, which is no good for its cooling.
The aluminum radiator due to its shape is of a rather large heat dissipation area. Inside, there are three washers to keep everything intact during installation.
The G73 runs at the nominal 400 MHz. At the same time, the cooling system does its job well and does not let the temperature rise above 69°Ñ. We succeeded in overclocking the GPU of the video card to 470 MHz, and the temperature in these conditions did not go up over 74°Ñ. Through blowing about the 90 mm fan we were able reducing the temperature of the chip to the acceptable 60°Ñ.
The video card uses 256 MB of DDR2 video memory made by Infineon of 2.5 ns access time running at 800 MHz. We were able to overclock the memory to 900 MHz.
ASUS EN7600GS SILENT 512 MB
Externally and by the package bundle, ASUS EN7600GS SILENT with 512 MB of video memory is very similar to the above 256 MB version. Absolutely the same box has only one distinction - instead of the "256" label, it now shows "512".
The package bundle hasn't undergone changes.
While holding the video card in your hands, it is difficult to tell it apart from the 256 MB version - only by the sticker on the reverse side.
Although the video card uses the same GPU running at 400 MHz and the same cooling system, some overheating was noted. Even without overclocking, the temperature rose above 80 C which caused artifacts and resulted in a couple of hangs. We were not able to clean the GPU off the baked thermal interface. On renewal of the thermal paste and installation of additional cooling, we were able to overclock the GPU to 510 MHz, and the temperature did not exceed 61°Ñ.
The video card uses 512 MB DDR2 memory. For that, eight Hynix (ÐÍ5PS121621 FP-E3) chips running at 540 MHz were used. Again we see an annoying situation when slow chips are installed on video cards of greater memory capacity. We were able to overclock the Hynix chips to no more than 608 MHz.
Point of View GF7600GS 256 MB (VGA 150813)
Point of View video cards are put into boxes of smaller size as compared to ASUS produce, but they feel as comfortable in there. The color and style setting of the box itself is traditional for the manufacturer.
With smaller size of the box, the package bundle is more balanced: a user's guide, a CD with drivers, a 15-pin VGA D-Sub -> DVI adapter, a TV-Out -> S-Video/HDTV adapter, an S-Video -> Composite adapter, and a coaxial cable.
The video card is made on a green textolyte PCB of original design which does not provide an additional VIVO chip. Half of the front side is closed by the already familiar copper-aluminum cooling system with a heat pipe.
Communications are performed through a standard set of ports: VGA D-Sub, DVI, and TV-out.
There is nothing unexpected under the cooling system. A KPT-like thermo paste is used as the thermal interface for the GPU, with the video memory chips having no contact to the radiator.
Remember that some Point of View video cards use a cooling system just like that which comprises a large copper-styled aluminum radiator and a copper heat pipe which provides uniformity of the heat spreader. This structure is blown about by a rather quiet fan.
The graphic processor G73 runs at 430 MHz. It is cooled quite efficiently, so the operating temperature did not exceed 59°Ñ and after overclocking to 490 MHz it stayed at 65°Ñ.
The 256 MB video memory is made up by two Hynix DDR2 chips of 2.5 ns access time. The memory runs at 800 MHz. We were able to overclock these chips to no more than 856 MHz.
Point of View GF7600GS 512 MB (VGA 150821-1)
The box for the 512 MB GeForce 7600GS video card by Point of View looks absolutely the same as that of the 256 MB version but the "256" has been replaced with the "512". Nor has the package bundle undergone any changes.
But the exterior of the video cards has turned absolutely different. From the color of the textolyte and complete redesign of the PCB up to using a passive cooling system on a heat pipe. This video card resembles the MSI NX7600GS, but only having 512 MB memory - the same PCB, although of different color and absolutely the same cooling system.
On the other hand, the similarity to the MSI product is more due to the cooling system. If it is removed, the PCB can't be told apart from the above ASUS solutions.
To output image, 15-pin VGA D-Sub, DVI, and TV-out connectors can be used.
The video card uses a very efficient passive cooling system - an aluminum radiator with a copper heat pipe inside. This structure is firmly fixed with 4 spring-loaded screws.
The onboard GPU runs at 400 MHz but due to the cooling system is was overclocked to 515 MHz, and its temperature never rose above 58°Ñ.
The 512 MB of video memory is made up of eight DDR2 chips by V-Data of 3.7 ns access time runs at 533 MHz. The overclocking capability of the video memory amounted to 652 MHz.
Benchmarking
We ran the tests on the following test bench:
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Motherboard
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ECS KN1SLI Extreme (nForce4 SLI )
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Processor
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AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.00 GHz, 512 K, Socket 939)
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Memory
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2õ DDR400 512 MB PQI PC3200
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HDD
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Samsung HD080HJ (80 GB, 7200 rpm, 8 MB, SATA-300)
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PSU
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SuperPower 480X, 480 W
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Operating system
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Microsoft Windows XP SP2
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Drivers
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ATI Catalyst 6.4 WHQL
NVIDIA ForceWare 84.21 WHQL
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MoBo:
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VGA Card:
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CPU & Memory:
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