Benchmark Analysis

The Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card demonstrated once again that its GPU is definitely at the top end of the mainstream performance market. The Gigabyte card keeps pace with, and even exceeds, the overall performance of a GeForce 6800 Ultra and Radeon X1800 XL, while making short work of the ATI Radeon X1600 XT. The GeForce 7800 GT and 7900 GT are still a bit too speedy, but in some cases, the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card can take a good run at these higher-end cards. Gigabyte certainly did a good job with the overall card design, and ensured it operates at rock-solid stability using standard clock speeds, and even has a bit in reserve for overclocking. This graphics card is also very flexible, and speeds through older games like Quake 3 or UT 2003, just as easily as a high-end SM 3.0 game.

Overclocking

In any video card review, the question of overclocking potential is an important one, as any extra juice you scan squeeze from it represents cash back in your pocket. For a fanless card like the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card, this is doubly important, as we need to determine how efficient the overall cooling system really is. We utilized the standard NVIDIA Forceware drivers with coolbits registry additions to enable the overclock settings tab, and ran the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card through a host of overclock speed and stability testing.

The first step is to let the NVIDIA drivers to determine the "optimal" clock speeds, which in the case of the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB, resulted in an extremely nice setting of 603 MHz core and 1.59 GHz memory speeds. This gives us a starting point for the high-end overclock testing, and when all was said and done, we settled in with top clock speeds of 625 MHz core and 1.61 GHz memory. This is an excellent overclock, and although the memory was on par with other GeForce 7600 GT cards, the core speed was just a bit lower than usual. Overall thermals were exceptional for a fanless card, and the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB outpaced the ASUS EN7600GT Silent by a few degrees, with overclocked temperatures ranging from 42 to 46 degrees C at idle and from 51 to 55 degrees C at load.

Value

The GeForce 7600 GT is potentially the top graphics value on the market, and it offers an excellent combination of price and performance. Usually, fanless card designs like the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB carry with them a slight price premium, but in the case of the Gigabyte card, that is almost non-existent. Name brand GeForce 7600 GT cards sell in the $165-$175 range, and the retail price of a Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB sits around the $166 level. This makes it a superb value for those seeking a low-noise mainstream gaming solution, but still don't want to break the bank.

* Please note that online prices reflect Retail models when possible, only OEM where noted. Prices are taken at the time of review, and are not intended to reflect long-term trends.

Conclusion

The Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB card is an intriguing option for low-noise/fanless system designs, as it offers all the performance of a standard GeForce 7600 GT, and even sports a similar price tag. This is a very fast mainstream video card, with features to spare, and a price-performance ratio that challenges the GeForce 7900 GT. In some ways, it's a no-brainer to go the Gigabyte Silent-Pipe route, but the extra width and 2-slot requirement are still troublesome. But for those with no issues with this design, the Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GT 256MB comes with our recommendation.

Pros:

• Exceptional Performance for its Class
• Fanless Silent Pipe II Cooling System
• No Price Premium

Cons:

• Takes 2 Slots

Ratings: