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ATI Radeon X1800 GTO vs Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT
Sub-£150 cards from Gecube and Gigabyte
Gigabyte GV NX76T256DB-RH 7600GT
Although its heritage is clear, the 7600 GT is not just a BIOS-downgraded version of an older product, but a new chip design taking advantage of the technology found in other Nvidia GPUs. The chip has 12 pixel pipelines, eight ROPs and five vertex shaders - fewer than the X1800 GTO. However, the clock speeds are higher, with the clocks coming in at 560MHz for the core and 700MHz (1.4GHz effective) for the RAM. These are higher than the X1800 GTO's clocks, but the 7600 GT is using a 128-bit memory bus, half the width of the X1800 GTO's bus, which means that although the memory is clocked faster, fewer data can be moved across the bus each cycle.
Personally, I wouldn't bother with the standard version of Gigabyte's 7600 GT as you can get a passively cooled version, the 7600 GS, for pretty much the same money. Sure, the fan noise doesn't come close to that of the X1800 GTO, but it's something I'd rather not have at all if possible.
Gigabyte bundles a small breakout box that adds component video output. Sadly, the cable is very short, so you can't place the breakout box on your desk or by your TV - it just ends up hanging behind your PC adding more clutter.
Most 7600 GT cards are highly overclockable, and some manufacturers sell pre-overclocked cards at a price premium.
Verdict
The Gigabyte 7600GT is a capable card and it comes at a reasonable price. If you already own an nForce 4 SLI motherboard, then this is the way to go for an affordable SLI set-up.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
