X-bit labs

XFX GeForce 7600 GT XXX Edition Graphics Card Review (page 13)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin

[ 07/27/2006 | 11:49 AM ]

Prey

Prey runs on a modernized version of the Doom 3 engine and has quite a lot of features of the latter like the use of OpenGL and the preference for graphics cards with an accelerated Z-buffer. This explains the behavior of the GeForce 7600 GT, a product with moderate characteristics, which is slower only than the Radeon X1900 GT in 1600x1200. This is the standard version of the card, while the pre-overclocked XFX GeForce 7600 GT XXX Edition is a mere 2fps behind the ATI solution that boasts 36 pixel processors. This has little practical value, though, due to the low average frame rate. It’s only comfortable to run this game in 1280x1024 resolution on the GeForce 7600 GT.

The 128-bit memory bus doesn’t impede the XFX card in the “eye candy” mode, either. In the resolution of 1024x768 pixels – the single playable resolution in this mode – the XFX is no slower than the Radeon X1900 GT. The results of the Radeon X1800 GTO are more humble since this card has only 12 pixel processors, works at lower frequencies than the Radeon X1900 GT, and does not support any technology equivalent to Nvidia’s UltraShadow II.

Quake 4

Although Quake 4 traces its origin to Doom 3 , there’s little, if any, initial advantage in this test for Nvidia’s GeForce 7 series cards. But in this test session, the XFX GeForce 7600 GT XXX Edition is only second to the GeForce 7600 GT in the “pure speed” mode.

The XFX card is not that successful in the “eye candy” mode where it is a competitor to the Radeon X1800 XL rather than to the Radeon X1800 GTO. In this case the player had better limit himself to 1024x768 since the mainstream solutions do not have any speed reserve in 1280x1024 and slowdowns are inevitable in action-heavy scenes.