PNY Geforce 7600GS for $100 - good card / good deal?

[QueHuong]

I'm not much of a gamer, but I have an integrated video card and am looking to upgrade. I do a lot of work with Photoshop and Lightroom.

CompUSA is having a sale on this card.

Is this a good card and at $100, a good value?

Will my work with photo editing and watching DVDs benefit from having this card?

What are other good cards in the $100 price range?

 

[Laminator]

Bad deal. In the $100 range, the best cards to get are the 7900GS and X1900/X1950 GT/Pro cards. I don't know what effect these cards will have on your photo-editing abilities but they can accelerate DVD video if you purchase PureVideo (nVidia) or AVIVO (ATI) and can perform all sorts of enhancement effects that can really make your DVD's look better, especially if you use an LCD monitor. Of course, you can also do this for free with FFDShow.

The main benefit you will get is a huge increase in playing 3D games.

But $100 for a PCI-Express 7600GS is a horrible deal.

 

[sisq0kidd]

Used 7800GTX

Great price, great performance.

 

[Laminator]

Originally posted by: sisq0kidd
Used 7800GTX

Great price, great performance.

QFT

 

[Arkaign]

Look for at least an Nvidia 7800 or ATI 1800 series. Avoid the 8400-8700 and 2400-2600 cards like the plague.

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: QueHuong
I'm not much of a gamer, but I have an integrated video card and am looking to upgrade. I do a lot of work with Photoshop and Lightroom.

CompUSA is having a sale on this card.

Is this a good card and at $100, a good value?

Will my work with photo editing and watching DVDs benefit from having this card?

What are other good cards in the $100 price range?

Everyone in here is missing the point, he is NOT much of a gamer. Every thread lately where someone asks an opinion on something breaks out into a 'that card sucks, get this faster card'. Faster for what?? Games only.

He would benefit more from an Nvidai 8600GT for around $115-$120 new. That way he can get decent gaming performance (much better than your onboard graphics) and he gets full HD playback decoding built into the card. That would benefit his watching dvd's or HD dvd's in the future.

My .02

 

[Rockhound1]

You can get a better price for a 7600GS if you shop around on the Web. Check Newegg for some good deals.

The 7600GS will be much better than your integrated video.

 

[daveybrat]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130085

Here's a much better solution for $99 AR than the 7600GS. A much faster card with HD decoding from a good solid brand. :thumbsup:

 

[QueHuong]

I just checked, my integrated video card is a 128MB Geforce 6150SE. Rockhound said the 7600GS is much better than my current video card, so do you guys have a recommendation for a much better video card that falls under $75, considering I do mostly photo editing/viewing and movies on my computer?

 

[hans007]

thats a terrible deal.

for $99 , at least get a 8600gt after rebate, or a 7900GS on a deal.

 

[daveybrat]

Originally posted by: hans007
thats a terrible deal.

for $99 , at least get a 8600gt after rebate, or a 7900GS on a deal.

Agreed, for $25 more than the 7600GS, the 8600GT is a much faster card with HD hardware decoding. Unless you're extremely strapped for cash, the 7600GS is just too old for that amount of money.

 

[Laminator]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Everyone in here is missing the point, he is NOT much of a gamer. Every thread lately where someone asks an opinion on something breaks out into a 'that card sucks, get this faster card'. Faster for what?? Games only.

Actually, I think most everyone was just telling him not to get the 7600GS for $100. It's a crappy card regardless.

More importantly, it's a bad deal. Period.

 

[webadala98]

While it will be a much improvement on your current onboard integrated card, for $100 it is a not a good deal. I think the majority of consensus are as such.

I would agree that 7900GS or the 8600GT/S would be more of bang for the buck, you can find those around the $130-$160 range. There is a big gap in turns of performance of photoshop between the 7600gs to those two cards.

 

[osage]

for what you want to do this X1650 Pro will be just fine..
$69.99 - $10. MIR + $5.84 s&h =$65.83

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: osage
for what you want to do this X1650 Pro will be just fine..
$69.99 - $10. MIR + $5.84 s&h =$65.83

Yep, same performance as 7600GS as well, for all practical purposes.

 

[QueHuong]

I noticed the card has only DVI plugs, but I have a CRT with a VGA connection. Will using the DVI-VGA adapter reduce the image quality of my pictures at all?

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: QueHuong
I noticed the card has only DVI plugs, but I have a CRT with a VGA connection. Will using the DVI-VGA adapter reduce the image quality of my pictures at all?

Not that I've ever seen. AFAIK, the DVI port has all of the same analog lines in it as well, so it's really no different when using the adapter vs an analog port.

 

[Rockhound1]

I centered my original response around the 7600GS because that is the specific GPU that the OP asked about.

As stated by Osage, the 1650 Pro will give you about the same performance.

It is a matter of personal taste, but if I were to select between the 7600GS and the 1650 Pro, I would go for the 7600GS because in my opinion, the nVidia drivers are better than the AMD drivers. I do not consider myself an nVidia fanboy since I have multiple computers using both nVidia and AMD GPUs - just my opinion based on my experience.

In the end, go for the card that meets your needs at the price you are willing to pay. Either will give you a significant increase in performance compared to the integrated video you are currently using.

:beer: