Any other gamers let down with 7600gs performance
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Any other gamers let down with 7600gs performance
Let me set the record straight from the start and say that this is more of a rant - not about a product but about my own stupidity. Normally I research for days or weeks before making the most simple purchase but I recently made a quick decision on my video card that has me upset. Having said that, on to the point ...
My latest configuration in my game rig is pretty silent by my standards so on that front I'm happy. It also appears pretty stable too. But I'm very disappointed with the game performance. I replaced a single BFG 6800GT with twin passively cooled ASUS 7600GS cards in SLI. I knew the 7600GS was a budget card of sorts but I thought it would come close to the 6800GT with just a 1 on 1 let alone a 1 vs SLI comparison.
But from what I see now it looks like the twin 7600GS cards are barely keeping up. My primary games at the moment are City of Heroes, BF2, and Company of Heroes. I'm seeing more stuttering using the same settings that I did with my 6800GT card. Needless to say I'm kicking myself for making a hasty decision and not checking here first.
So, any 7600GS gamers out there happy with their performance? If so, I'd also like to know what you upgraded from.
My latest configuration in my game rig is pretty silent by my standards so on that front I'm happy. It also appears pretty stable too. But I'm very disappointed with the game performance. I replaced a single BFG 6800GT with twin passively cooled ASUS 7600GS cards in SLI. I knew the 7600GS was a budget card of sorts but I thought it would come close to the 6800GT with just a 1 on 1 let alone a 1 vs SLI comparison.
But from what I see now it looks like the twin 7600GS cards are barely keeping up. My primary games at the moment are City of Heroes, BF2, and Company of Heroes. I'm seeing more stuttering using the same settings that I did with my 6800GT card. Needless to say I'm kicking myself for making a hasty decision and not checking here first.
So, any 7600GS gamers out there happy with their performance? If so, I'd also like to know what you upgraded from.
I recently went from a 7900GT to a 7600GS and couldn't be more happy. But I don't play that much anymore and when I do it's mostly older games like Q3A. The reason I downgraded was the money I made by switching and the lower power consumption of the 7600GS.
The 6800GT has more than double the memory bandwidth of a 7600GS. Maybe that is why your current setup is slower. I also wonder why you choose to go with a SLI setup. Why not a single 7900GT or 7950GT? About the same cost and power consumption, same noice level (none - since both setups can be passively cooled), and better performance.
The 6800GT has more than double the memory bandwidth of a 7600GS. Maybe that is why your current setup is slower. I also wonder why you choose to go with a SLI setup. Why not a single 7900GT or 7950GT? About the same cost and power consumption, same noice level (none - since both setups can be passively cooled), and better performance.
Re: Any other gamers let down with 7600gs performance
That really doesn't look like a good choice for an upgrade actually, like you've ranted. Going from a high end card of the previous generation to a low-mid range card of the next generation is usually going to drop you backwards.PretzelB wrote:Let me set the record straight from the start and say that this is more of a rant - not about a product but about my own stupidity. Normally I research for days or weeks before making the most simple purchase but I recently made a quick decision on my video card that has me upset. Having said that, on to the point ...
My latest configuration in my game rig is pretty silent by my standards so on that front I'm happy. It also appears pretty stable too. But I'm very disappointed with the game performance. I replaced a single BFG 6800GT with twin passively cooled ASUS 7600GS cards in SLI. I knew the 7600GS was a budget card of sorts but I thought it would come close to the 6800GT with just a 1 on 1 let alone a 1 vs SLI comparison.
But from what I see now it looks like the twin 7600GS cards are barely keeping up. My primary games at the moment are City of Heroes, BF2, and Company of Heroes. I'm seeing more stuttering using the same settings that I did with my 6800GT card. Needless to say I'm kicking myself for making a hasty decision and not checking here first.
So, any 7600GS gamers out there happy with their performance? If so, I'd also like to know what you upgraded from.
You're losing more than half your memory bandwidth for a single card, and SLI is inefficient at best.(nowhere near double performance) Not to mention the 7600GS is far slower than the 7600GT. I think you would have gotten much better results from the 7600GT or 7900GS. Even a single 7900GS would be a pretty good upgrade over the 6800GT...and would cost you probably the same amount or less than 2 7600GS's. I'd return the cards and get a 7900GS or 7900GT.
Last edited by merlin on Thu Sep 28, 2006 2:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Well, as I said, it was s stupid move on my part and I'm kicking myself. I really didn't think the 7600gs would be this inferior. I did look at some reviews on the 7600gs but nothing would compare it to a 6800gt. But, I can't really blame anyone but myself.
I didn't look into a 7800 or 7900 series because I didn't want to look into having to install a passive cooler. But that would have probably been the way to go.
The bright side may be this will finally get me motivated to sell my old junk on eBay and work up some cash to do it right. I just hate the idea of eBay though.
Excuse me while I wander off mumbling and kicking myself more.
I didn't look into a 7800 or 7900 series because I didn't want to look into having to install a passive cooler. But that would have probably been the way to go.
The bright side may be this will finally get me motivated to sell my old junk on eBay and work up some cash to do it right. I just hate the idea of eBay though.
Excuse me while I wander off mumbling and kicking myself more.
Mmm, another reason to kick self, there's a few passive 7900's out there too...and a 7950gt too.PretzelB wrote:Well, as I said, it was s stupid move on my part and I'm kicking myself. I really didn't think the 7600gs would be this inferior. I did look at some reviews on the 7600gs but nothing would compare it to a 6800gt. But, I can't really blame anyone but myself.
I didn't look into a 7800 or 7900 series because I didn't want to look into having to install a passive cooler. But that would have probably been the way to go.
The bright side may be this will finally get me motivated to sell my old junk on eBay and work up some cash to do it right. I just hate the idea of eBay though.
Excuse me while I wander off mumbling and kicking myself more.
-
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:58 am
- Location: Budapest, Hungary
I don't have any experience with SLI setups, but as part of looking for an answer to another issue I dropped in at NVIDIA Forums. I noticed a lot of people have discussed slow performance of SLI, so maybe this helps.
As far as I can see most of the problems come back to two issues; either the two (identical) VGA cards have different firmware versions or there is a driver confusion/conflict between the different parts of the SLI setup. To fix the second issue you have to follow a specific sequence of uninstalling, reinstalling, activating etc. Maybe it will help if you open your bedroom window, turn on a toaster in the kitchen, and let the light burn in the bathroom as well - just to be on the safe side
Take a look at: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?s=60 ... opic=19018
As far as I can see most of the problems come back to two issues; either the two (identical) VGA cards have different firmware versions or there is a driver confusion/conflict between the different parts of the SLI setup. To fix the second issue you have to follow a specific sequence of uninstalling, reinstalling, activating etc. Maybe it will help if you open your bedroom window, turn on a toaster in the kitchen, and let the light burn in the bathroom as well - just to be on the safe side
Take a look at: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?s=60 ... opic=19018
I may need to look into that. Part of the problem is that this kind of started because I had to reinstall windows. I decided to benchmark with the Futuremark tests before I started but the tests don't work with the 7600gs yet, so the scores are very low. Plus, after I got everything clean and installed, I tried to install 3dMark06 and it's trying to overwrite a DLL - which I don't like since my drivers are all up to date. So I'm stuck without a good benchmark.Thomas-BP2 wrote:I don't have any experience with SLI setups, but as part of looking for an answer to another issue I dropped in at NVIDIA Forums. I noticed a lot of people have discussed slow performance of SLI, so maybe this helps.
As far as I can see most of the problems come back to two issues; either the two (identical) VGA cards have different firmware versions or there is a driver confusion/conflict between the different parts of the SLI setup. To fix the second issue you have to follow a specific sequence of uninstalling, reinstalling, activating etc. Maybe it will help if you open your bedroom window, turn on a toaster in the kitchen, and let the light burn in the bathroom as well - just to be on the safe side
Take a look at: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?s=60 ... opic=19018
I'm kind of wondering what to do for a benchmark now. It could be I need to do that SLI juggle but I have no way of knowing really.
Actually this all depends on the 7600gs card one is using. For instance I own a palit 7600gs sonic, which comes clocked at 450/1000 and has gddr3 memory.
With "detect optimal frequency", I was able to o.c the card to 550/1450 and squeeze 6200 3d mark 2005 points out of the card.
With a price of 122$ + tax (%18 percent in my country, way overkill) this card is a bargain. (consider that a typical 7600gt costs 160 + tax here)
Here is a review of the card:
http://xtreview.com/review114.htm
I must say that I am quite satisfied with the performance.
With "detect optimal frequency", I was able to o.c the card to 550/1450 and squeeze 6200 3d mark 2005 points out of the card.
With a price of 122$ + tax (%18 percent in my country, way overkill) this card is a bargain. (consider that a typical 7600gt costs 160 + tax here)
Here is a review of the card:
http://xtreview.com/review114.htm
I must say that I am quite satisfied with the performance.
I've been having problems with my 6600GT, so I installed a 7600GS on my AGP based mobo with 2800+ Barton. 3D2006 score goes from 1500-1800 to 2100+. 10-20% improvement - about what was seen on Anandtech. Not a monster performer, but good enough until I can afford to build a new system.
This new Gigabyte passive has a lot less heatsink than the 6600GT.
7600GS: 62C 2D/idling and 70C while gaming. No sandwiched heatsink on back with heatpipes - so no cooling from my Sonata exhaust fan.
6600GT: 50C idle and 80C+ gaming.
This new Gigabyte passive has a lot less heatsink than the 6600GT.
7600GS: 62C 2D/idling and 70C while gaming. No sandwiched heatsink on back with heatpipes - so no cooling from my Sonata exhaust fan.
6600GT: 50C idle and 80C+ gaming.
Yes I was disappointed.
Coming from a 6600GT the 7600GS was no big improvement, so I took it back immediately and upgraded to a 7600GT - Much better!