Board analysis

Top of the XFX GeForce 7600 GT 580M AGP

Bottom of the card

Since the GeForce 7600 GT AGP was a stealth launch from NVIDIA, we’re not exactly sure how closely XFX’s GeForce 7600 GT board follows the NVIDIA reference board design if one even exists. Clearly it’s not following NVIDIA’s reference GeForce 7600 GT PCI Express board design, as additional space must be created on the AGP board to make room for NVIDIA’s HSI (high speed interconnect) bridge chip, which rests directly underneath the GPU.

It’s possible that NVIDIA’s leaving the board design of this particular GPU solely up to the discretion of their board partners. Based on how wildly different the board designs of the various GeForce 7600 GT AGP cards are to one another, we have a strong feeling that the latter is probably the case, and that there is no reference board formula that NVIDIA’s board partners must adhere to. As a result, you’ll want to pay closer attention to what features the various GeForce 7600 GT AGP retail cards do and don’t support.

In the case of XFX’s board, there’s a lot to like here.

For starters, XFX’s board is equipped with two DVI outputs. To cut costs, some board partners are only outfitting their GeForce 7600 AGP boards with one DVI output, and a second VGA out. With dual DVIs onboard, the XFX GeForce 7600 GT 580M AGP is more flexible, providing support for both dual DVI displays, and dual VGAs (via adapter). If only one DVI output were provided, you’d be limited to supporting just one DVI display. Here we should note however that the board isn’t endowed with the crypto-ROM chip needed for HDCP support, so the XFX GeForce 7600 GT 580M AGP isn’t HDCP-compliant.

XFX’s GeForce 7600 GT AGP also lacks support for VIVO, although this isn’t too surprising considering that most PCI Express GeForce 7600 GT cards also lack VIVO support.

XFX decks their GeForce 7600 GT board out with a black PCB and fluorescent green DVI connections. This look is used on a lot of their high-end boards and we really like it, it gives the board a distinctive look that really stands out in comparison to the green PCBs most board manufacturers typically use. You’ll also notice that rather than using the copper heatsink/fan unit used on most stock PCI Express GeForce 7600 GT cards, XFX has brought back the cooler used on the GeForce 6600 GT. The 6600 GT fan is slightly quieter than the stock heatsink/fan used on the GeForce 7600 GT PCIe, but like the GeForce 7600 GT fan, the 6600 GT fan used on XFX’s AGP card isn’t a variable speed fan. This means that the fan operates at the same RPMs regardless of temperature/workload.

Variable speed fans are quickly becoming preferred as they can run at lower RPMs (and thus generate less noise) during less intensive operations, such as at the 2D desktop. Fortunately the GeForce 6600 GT fan XFX uses is by no means noisy, and it does a good job of keeping the graphics core cool. Sitting atop the card’s fan is an XFX sticker.

The GPU is rotated 45 degrees to save space

Dual DVIs

External power needed for the board

As we mentioned previously, to make room for the HSI chip that translates PCI Express signals from the GPU into AGP (and vice versa), the graphics processor and memory are rotated approximately 45 degrees. The HSI bridge chip is then placed directly beneath the graphics core, at an angle parallel with the edge of the board. A second heatsink is used to cool the bridge chip, this heatsink is rotated 45 degrees off-axis of the bridge chip in order to fit properly.

Besides the new orientation of the graphics core and memory, another difference you’ll notice between the PCI Express variant of the GeForce 7600 GT and its AGP sibling is the addition of a Molex power connector on the AGP board. The AGP interface just isn’t capable of supplying enough juice for the card. If you don’t plug up the board’s power connection, it won’t even boot up. (On some previous AGP cards the board would boot into Windows, but run at slower clock speeds.)

The final feature we should note about XFX’s GeForce 7600 GT AGP board is its clock speeds. XFX overclocks their board slightly, running the graphics core 20MHz higher than stock at 580MHz, while the board’s memory runs at 750MHz, an increase of 50MHz over stock. This boost in clock speed should give the XFX board a slight performance advantage over typical GeForce 7600 GT AGP cards.

Software and accessories

To keep costs down, the XFX GeForce 7600 GT ships without a software bundle, although the XFX driver CD is of course included inside the box. Also inside you’ll find an S-Video cable, DVI adapter, and power cable.