Board analysis

Top of the card

Back of the card

Like the GeForce 6600 GT, the GeForce 7600 GT features a single-slot cooler and is built on a rather small PCB. No external power connector is necessary, G73 gets all the juice it needs from the PCI Express interface, while the reference board design gets by with fairly mundane power circuitry. As we mentioned on the previous page, NVIDIA equips the GeForce 7600 GT with one dual-link DVI connector, that dual-link connector is the connector closest to the motherboard when plugged into the PCI Express slot. NVIDIA also integrates their new 7-pin HDTV-out mini-din connector on the back plate of the GeForce 7600 GT.

While our reference board shipped with dual DVIs, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some GeForce 7600 GT boards eventually ship with the more traditional DVI/VGA combination, despite the fact that the GPU’s got native support for dual DVIs. After all, ATI’s own X1600 XT reference board was also outfitted with dual DVI connections but we’ve already seen ATI board partners integrate VGA connections onto their boards. Fortunately for LCD users though it looks like the first wave of GeForce 7600 GT boards are all shipping with dual DVIs.

For keeping the graphics core cool, NVIDIA has elected to use a copper heatsink/fan unit. The cooler’s fan has a very high pitch to it, although fortunately it really only spins up when you first boot up your PC. For the most part the card runs fairly quietly, although the GeForce 7600 GT doesn’t run as quiet as the near silent fan on the GeForce 7900 GTX.

Home theater PC use

One segment where the GeForce 6600 line saw lots of use was in home theater/media PCs. Thanks to NVIDIA’s PureVideo technology, the GeForce 6600 had good DVD/video playback, while most cards ran fairly quietly and didn’t require an elaborate cooling setup as 6600 boards didn’t generate much heat. Fortunately NVIDIA didn’t mess this formula up with the GeForce 7600 GT, while it runs at higher clocks and has more shaders inside, the thermal of our 7600 GT reference board were pretty similar to other GeForce 6600 GT cards we’ve tested in the past. Temps hovered in the upper fifties to low sixties for the most part, so the card’s fan never had to crank up to full tilt to keep the GPU cool (even when running with two cards in an SLI setup).

As far as we can tell, the only real setback that may slow the GeForce 7600 GT’s adoption in home theater PC’s is the continuing lack of support for HDCP among NVIDIA’s board partners. We’ve been told to expect cards that are ready to fully playback the next-gen DVD goodies shortly though.

Pricing

Pricing for retail, shipping GeForce 7600 GT cards should start right at $199.99, with the more exotic 7600 GT boards with higher clocks going up in price from there. XFX and EVGA’s plans for the GeForce 7600 GT can be found in the following table:

GeForce 7600 GT Board Pricing
XFX GeForce 7600 GT XXX (590MHz) 256MB	$219.99
XFX GeForce 7600 GT EXTREME (580MHz)256MB	$209.99
XFX GeForce 7600 GT (570MHz) 256MB	$199.99
EVGA e-GeForce 7600GT CO SUPERCLOCKED	$239.99
EVGA e-GeForce 7600GT CO	$219.99
EVGA e-GeForce 7600GT	$199.99

While we don’t have the final clocks for the EVGA boards, XFX did tell us that their $200 board would be clocked at 570MHz core/725MHz memory, so you’re effectively getting a slight overclock from factory specs out-of-the-box with no price premium with that card. From there their GeForce 7600 GT Extreme board will ship at speeds of 580MHz core/750MHz memory, and their flagship board, the GeForce 7600 GT XXX Edition will run at 590MHz core/800MHz memory and retail for $219.99. All of XFX and EVGA’s boards will ship with dual DVIs as well.