Looking to spend ~$100 after rebate on a video card...suggestions?

[jaybert]

Is the 7600gt a good choice? I am a little worried about the heat that the card is going to produce. I already stuck a raptor HD in this mini-tower case and am afraid that the cooling will not be enough in the case. It has a 60mm fan in the back, but there is no room to add anything else.

Suggestions?

 

[saimike]

may i suggest this: The Best Video Cards for Your Money: November 2006

PCI-Express Interface
Best PCI-E Card For Under $100
Radeon X800 GTO 256mb

Best PCI-E Card For ~$130
Geforce 7600 GT

Best PCI-E Card For ~$180
Radeon X1950 PRO

AGP Interface
Best AGP Card For Under $100: Tie
Radeon X700
Geforce 6600

Best Agp Card For ~$140
Radeon X850 PRO

 

[BernardP]

Yes, the 7600GT is a good choice It is a low power card but will still generate heat inside your case.

The 7600GS is less powerful, less expensive, and generates less heat.

If system heat is a priority, you could consider going with an IceQ card from HIS, if you are ready to go ATI instead on NVidia.

These cards have a ducted fan system that expells heat outside the case.

Have a look at This review of the HIS IceQ X1650 Pro

The X1650 Pro is a bit faster than the GeForce 7600GS. HIS will also be selling the new X1650XT (performance on par with 7600GT) with their IceQ cooling system.

 

[beggerking]

Yes, 7600gt was the best choice until this morning, when this deal pops up.. 850xt for $89

 

[jaybert]

Originally posted by: beggerking
Yes, 7600gt was the best choice until this morning, when this deal pops up.. 850xt for $89

haha..i actually ordered that card earlier during the day. already got my cancellation email though! (which is why I am checking back in on this thread).

Thanks for the link w/ the anandtech reviews...I sometimes forget that anandtech is actually a hardware review website and not just forums.


I'll look into that IceQ card, thanks

 

[jaybert]

Originally posted by: BernardP
Yes, the 7600GT is a good choice It is a low power card but will still generate heat inside your case.

The 7600GS is less powerful, less expensive, and generates less heat.

If system heat is a priority, you could consider going with an IceQ card from HIS, if you are ready to go ATI instead on NVidia.

These cards have a ducted fan system that expells heat outside the case.

Have a look at This review of the HIS IceQ X1650 Pro

The X1650 Pro is a bit faster than the GeForce 7600GS. HIS will also be selling the new X1650XT (performance on par with 7600GT) with their IceQ cooling system.

looked at the card..I really like the design of the IceQ cards...one of the reasons I was going to pick up the ATI x850 XT that got canceled. There is a PCI-E 1x slot below my 16x PCI-E slot which I am not using anyways, so the fact it takes up 2 slots is no big deal.

Are there any 7600gt cards that have a similar design? I checked on newegg and did not see anything that fits the description.

 

[BernardP]

Originally posted by: jaybert

Are there any 7600gt cards that have a similar design? I checked on newegg and did not see anything that fits the description.

The IceQ cooler is exclusive to HIS. And HIS only sells ATI. I have been looking long and hard at all 7600 Series cards and have never seen any model that actively pumps hot air outside the case, like the IceQ cooler does. That is why I said that if you want the IceQ cooler, you would have to go with ATI.

The soon-to-be-available X1650XT by HIS has about the same power as the 7600GT

You can have a look at it HERE

 

[beggerking]

Originally posted by: jaybert

Originally posted by: beggerking
Yes, 7600gt was the best choice until this morning, when this deal pops up.. 850xt for $89

haha..i actually ordered that card earlier during the day. already got my cancellation email though! (which is why I am checking back in on this thread).

Thanks for the link w/ the anandtech reviews...I sometimes forget that anandtech is actually a hardware review website and not just forums.


I'll look into that IceQ card, thanks

crap! sorry man, didn't check back on that thread in FW lol...I know who you are on FW now

 

[jaybert]

Hey,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...o&Submit=ENE&N=0&Ntk=all&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

Those are the HIS x1650pros that are listed on newegg. How big of a difference am I going to see between the ddr2 and ddr3 ones?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161030 is 600mhz/800mhz

whereas

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161026 is 600mhz/1400mhz

The first one is GDDR2 and the 2nd is GDDR3.....what kind of performance differences will I see if I go w/ the cheaper one?

 

[BernardP]

The fast 600Mhz core will simply be choked by the 800 Mhz DDR2. The DDR3 version should be about 25% faster.

Here is the X1650 Pro Master Page on GPUReview.com

You will find some links to web reviews that will allow you to compare relative performance of the DDR2 and DDR3 versions, even if they are not HIS cards. Also these reviews generally include comparisons with the 7600GS and GT.

 

[jaybert]

Originally posted by: BernardP
The fast 600Mhz core will simply be choked by the 800 Mhz DDR2. The DDR3 version should be about 25% faster.

Here is the X1650 Pro Master Page on GPUReview.com

You will find some links to web reviews that will allow you to compare relative performance of the DDR2 and DDR3 versions, even if they are not HIS cards. Also these reviews generally include comparisons with the 7600GS and GT.

thanks. i think i am going to wait until black friday to purchase (or at least wait to see what are in the ads). I am in no hurry, so if nothing really good strikes me over black friday, I think I will order the HIS gddr3 one. Thanks!

 

[BernardP]

Just a little more info. This Page from the ASUS web site claims that the DDR3 version of the X1650 Pro is 24% faster than the DDR2 version.

But their claim that the X1650XT is 26% faster than the 7600GT has to be taken with a big boulder of salt, as the flurry of recent benchmarks on the X1650XT has shown that is has about the same power as the 7600GT.

Good hunting on Black Friday, jaybert.