glxy 7600GS/7300GT ZALMAN for a 17" crt

[cryptonx]

Hello ,

I 've been forced into an upgrade recently

My system used to be

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 754 ( 2.0 ghz )
Gigabyte K8NS PRO ( Nforce 3 250 )
XFX Geforce 6600 AGP8x 128 DDR
2x512 KINGSTON rams KVX8R
2x 80 Seagate Barracuda 7200 HDS
LiteON DVD-RW +w bla bla
SouldBlaster Live Value !
17" Samsung Syncmaster 753DFX CRT


the pc is about one Year old and has reall given me alot of pleasure at CAD/GRAPHICS word and OF COURSE gaming , I play all my games on 1024x768 resolution , with sometimes 2x/4x AA , OCED my gfx card as well and all was going near perfect.

Then all of a sudden my gigabyte MOBO DIED ! it didnt even recieve ELECTRICITY !

went to the shop , apparently its 1 year waranty has expired .. so I had to buy a new one ... with an AGP SLOT ( keep that in mind )

So the dealer gave me this MSI K8 Neo2 MOBO , which is a less featured Nforce3 250 board , but It didnt really matter.

after one day of usage ,the MOBO BIOS JUST LOCKED UP and wont even POST .... returned it to find that it was the only one left at the shop .

and it was the only NForce chipset with AGP available , there were alot of ASUS VIA chipset , but I never really liked VIA ( for no reasons ) .

so He offered me a MSI K8N NEO3-F , which is an Nforce4 -4x board with both PCI-Express and AGP ( AGR ) slot

so I was very happy , as I was able to run my current 6600 AGP and in the same time enjoy a PCI-E express upgrade int he future .

and its the only Nforce4 mobo for the Socket 753 Athlon 64.

So I bought it
everything was working fine

Until I ran a 3Dmark 2005 Benchmark , which used to score 2,800 Marks in my older system...

amazed ,shocked , pissed off and mad as hell to find it scoring ...

650 marks !!!!

with crappy gaming peformance all over ....
I couldnt return it ( has a policy of returning in 24 hours ) and it was 36 hours already .

so I saw the reviews .. and noticed that the AGR slot is almost half the speed of the regular AGP slot

but the PCI-E performance is very very good compared to other Nforce4 and of course better than all nforce3 250

so I decided to buy a PCI-E Card
and as I am low on money , I found these EXCELLENT GEMS :

GALAXY 7300 GT 256 GDDR3 ( FACTORY OCED ) + ZALMAN COOLING
GALAXY 7600 Gs 256 GDDR3 ( FACTORY OCED ) + ZALMAN COOLING

both scores more than 40 to 60 FPS in almost all games in 1024x768 with 4xAA - 8xAF .

which is all I need sinced thats the Only res i can run my monitor on , with a good refresh rate.

the 7600gs costs arround $230 ( here , I know its alot cheaper outside )
and the 7300GT costs ( $130 )

btw the 7300GT is not based on the 7300GS chipset , its based on the 7600GS chipset , thats why it even sometimes competes with the vanilla 7600GS ..

so what do you guys think I should get ? for the $$$ ?
Thanks alot , I know this is a very long post
sorry

plz excuse all grammar/english mistakes .

 

[cryptonx]

/\ BUMP !

pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase ?

 

[Track]

First off, are u sure u dont have the 6600 GT, because u cant really play many games with AA or AF with a simple 6600..
I liked ur story, its interesting, where are u from?

Well, u have a Low Mid-range card of the 6 series.. thats why its almost the same as a Low-range card of the 7 series.
You are right abt the 7300GT chip being the same as 7600GS chipset. That dosent mean much, except that in theory if u clocked them the same and unlocked the pipelines on the 7300GT (wich u cant do) then the 7300GT would be the same as a 7600GS, so that if u pay more for the 7600GS then ur paying for a higher clock and memory speed. The memory is actually worse off on the 7300GT then on the 7600GS, then the core clock wich is only 50Mhz less.
To cut it straight, every card u mentioned is crap.. and what u must do is save more money and buy a better card.. at the very least a 7600GT.

The 7600GS priced at 230$ is a crime to humanity (kind of reminds me of prices in my country) so get the 7300GT wich is as much better then ur card then the 7600GS is better then it. (6600 + x = 7300GT, 7300GT + x = 7600 GS).

 

[Anoobis]

Where are you located cryptonx? I only ask because I think you might be able to find some better deals. You might even be able to find one of Inno3D's 7300GTs that came equipped with GDDR3 instead of slower GDDR2, but the price might not fit your budget.

The 7600GS has a decent core that some have noted for it's overclockability but it's memory is very lacking in the OC area.

 

[cryptonx]

Thanks alot for both of your replies ,

I live in Cairo , Egypt ( I am Egyptian as well )

Well the problem is , graphics card market here is very stupid and pre-historic , I mean really even before the flintstones

Ie , if you ask someone what gfx card you bought for your new pc , he simply says " I bought a XFX 256DDR2 graphics card ! its awesome "

so trying to suggest or complain of prices or whatever is utterly USELESS .

Anyways the reason why i Ask about the 7300GT and the 7600GS

is because ( i am sure i own the 6600 not the 6600GT , its oced to 550 CPU / 610 Memory ) and it runs doom3 / half-life 2 / most wanted / Prey at 1024x768 ( 2X AA and 8X AF ) with 35 fps minium which is fine by me and my 17" monitor ,

So I find it very VALUE for money when I bought my 6600 ( which was also a rip off , last year when I bought it , the AGP version was for $164

anyways I never wanted to buy a gfx card now , but thanks to this stupid AGR port , I cant even play World Cup 2006 properly !

so money wise / 17" wise and only 1024x768 I just need a card like the 7600GS or the 7300GT , as I will never go beyond 1024x768 , which from I saw from the reviews they both score excellent or shall i say very Playable framerates at these resolutions even with AA/AF is turned on .

I Don't have a problem if I should upgrade it next year or upgrade the whole system . thats why I dont wanna pay for something as the 7600GT which costs arround $300 here !!!!

Sorry Anoobis , the Inno3D brand is not even for sale here

here's the list of known / popular ones here :

MSI
Gigabyte
XFX ( most popular )
Galaxy
eVga ( rare )
Leadtek ( only old models )
Gainward
ASUS
Chaintech
Saphire ( very rare )

the problem with pricing , is $1 = 5.7 LE , and then thiers 30% taxes on Electronics imported from outside the country , not to mention that the average ( dunno how to call this ) SALARY for a normal person here is less than $800 a month . so u do the calculations

Anyways I hope I am not turning this into political crap

So after all been said about my 1024 and my 17" , do you still think a 7600GT would be a better choise ? resolution and money wise ? as I think it will be a ... SILENT horse , who wants to RUN while I am only limiting it ( again excuse my bad english and grammar )

thanks alot guys .

 

[Track]

Gee, and i thought i had it bad.. living in Israel and all. Why dont u just move to the US?

Well, at least now i know that u have the 6600GT, cause there is no chance in hell that u can play doom on 10x7 and 2xAA and 8xAF with the 6600. I actually dont think u can run that without anything higher then a 7800GS, but i dont know.

It really personally hurts me to see someone buying such a shity card. I mean even the 7600GT sucks. Cant u just save enough money to buy the 7900GT? I have the same 30% tax and i even have the X1900XT.

The difference beetween the 7300GT and the 7600GS is worth less then 25$, so if the 7600GS is priced over 25$ higher then the 7300GT, then get it, and start saving right away for a DX10 card.

 

[Anoobis]

It looks like the Galaxy 7300GT might be your best bet since you sound more interested in keeping the cost down as opposed to upgrading.. It should have the 128-bit memory. Make sure it's not 64-bit memory. I'm not talking about the amount of RAM the card has. I'm talking about the card's memory interface.

I'm not sure this card will be a clear upgrade from your 6600, but you weren't asking for that. It should equal if not better your 6600 in some areas though. Good luck.

 

[Track]

It looks like the Galaxy 7300GT might be your best bet since you sound more interested in keeping the cost down as opposed to upgrading.. It should have the 128-bit memory. Make sure it's not 64-bit memory. I'm not talking about the amount of RAM the card has. I'm talking about the card's memory interface.

I'm not sure this card will be a clear upgrade from your 6600, but you weren't asking for that. It should equal if not better your 6600 in some areas though. Good luck.

The 6600 is actually a low-end card, so actually whatever he chooses will be an upgrade.

 

[Anoobis]

Based on the core and memory speeds he posted, I think you might be correct in your assumption that he has a 6600GT. This was not a low-end card. It was a very well-performaing mainstream card. It may be outdated now, but it wasn't low-end. I know because I still use one in one of my machines. I've never played Doom 3 on it, but it easily handles the Source engine at 10x7, 2AA & 4AF (those could be higher, don't remember correctly).

cryptonx I forgot to mention, you could also go with the 7600GS and then sell the 6600 to re-cap some of the cost. You might get enough from the sell to even out the extra cost of the 7600GS.

 

[cryptonx]

lol , for the love of god , dudes i have the 6600 128DDR AGP8X not the 6600GT ,

here's a screenshot from the nvidia control panel (CLASSIC ONE ) of the current CPU/MEMORY speeds , and the name of the card

I am sure of What I was talkin about , at Doom3

at Track ,

No thanks I like my country anyways , I am not that rich , the 7900GT costs $438 , and there's no logical reason for me to spend that to just play games .. I am 23 years old , but I have other intrestes to spend money on .


at Anoobis , well
I can't find the 7300GT anymore here , I only found 2 7600s now
a 7600GS with GDDR3 ( 128-bit - 256 mb )and Zalman cooling from GALAXY , costs : $235

a Gigabyte 7600GS 128-bit 256 DDR"2" with a SILENT BLA BLA heatsink
costs $165 , which is exactly the same amount i paid for my old 6600 .

My 6600 and my old and empty p3 PC got me arround $150 , so I think i will get either save some more and get the galaxy one ( comes with a nice 3 years waranty ) if I couldnt save , I will just take the Gigabyte one for now .


it really doesnt concern me if I am getting a low end card , a mid ranged one or a super duper high end one , if it can play the games I like to play at 1024x768 on my Samsung 17" monitor , and if it can play it well ( ie 40 fps and more ) that's all I need from it

yes I wont be so FUTURE proofed , yet my last gfx card only laster 11 months ( the 6600 ) and it was reviewed at THG here getting more FPS then a HIGH end fx5900 and a fx5800 ... which used to be the BLAST of the universe back at thier ages .

so I think the mid range series or a HIGH lowend card ( if that is correct to say ) is very suitable for 1024 gaming and 17" monitors

but yet again If I had some extra unused money I would for sure get a better one

btw since I didnt come to that question , is there an ATI card better than a 7600GS or so and in the same price tag ? personaly I never liked ATi , all the graphics cards I owned were : an S3 Trident , S3 Savage 4 , Creative Blaster Voodoo Banshee , Riva TNT , Geforce 1 , Geforce 2 MX , Geforce 6600 AGP .

thanks again for your time

 

[Anoobis]

Alright, alright, just calm down. It's just that those OCs seemed kinda high but after a little research they seem in line with the 6600.

According to Viperlair the frames you noted about Doom 3 seem right, although Viperlair's card was a DDR2 version.

Tough news about the 7300GT as I think it might have been your best bet. Either wait for them to resurface again, or go with the 7600GS.

Don't knock ATI. They make solid cards. It's just that in your price range you might be hard to find the right ones in your area. If you can find one, you might get an X800GTO 128MB, 256-bit version but they are scarce. They also don't support ShaderModel 3.0, but in this card range that's more of a moot point. The other ATI options would be an X1600Pro (about $100 U.S.), or possibly an X1600XT (about $140 U.S.). The XT version will trade blows with a 7600GS but usually costs more which doesn't really make it worth it.

If you cannot find another 7300GT, then you might have to go with the 7600GS. That Galaxy with DDR3 will most likely OC to 7600GT speeds (core and memory) because of the better memory. However the Gigabyte will sufficiently replace your 6600 as well so it would be a valid option without spending too much.

 

[cryptonx]

excellent , thanks alot
I will go find the best price for the GALAXY one , and I found a review of thegigabyte one , I will compare the performance , if its worth the money I will get the galaxy one , if not , then i willget the ultra silent GIGABYTEone

Thanks alot Annobis , ( btw Anoobis is Ancient Egyptian name , or is it not ? ) ahh its Anubis

http://ecs.lewisham.gov.uk/youthspace/ca/gods/anubis.GIF
nevermind me , Thanks again .

 

[Anoobis]

Thanks alot Annobis , ( btw Anoobis is Ancient Egyptian name , or is it not ? ) ahh its Anubis

http://ecs.lewisham.gov.uk/youthspace/ca/gods/anubis.GIF
nevermind me , Thanks again .

I know. IIRC he was the God who ferried the dead through the underworld to have their heart judged, to put it in laymens terms. Actually I think there are several interpretations as to what Anubis did. I don't know them all.

I just did it as a play at his name. He's also a cool looking God.

I meant no disrespect.

 

[cryptonx]

lol not at all , these things are not even sacred here , we talk about it like its a video game ! hey check this cool pharoh ,, he can fire lightnings and stuff

 

[pauldh]

What are the clock speeds on the 7300GT? That Zalman version is the 500/1400 GDDR3 beast isn't it? At those prices, it looks like the 7300GT will offer more for the money, especially if it is that 500/1400 clocked gem.

 

[Anoobis]

According to www.galaxytech.com the core is overclocked to 500 Mhz. It doesn't list the memory speeds, but it is GDDR3 as opposed to GDDR2 so I imagine the memory either is or can have a decent OC as well. Unfortunately the website is a little vague. However, Elite Bastards has a nice review of it thoroughly slapping the X1300Pro around quite easily and they post the memory speeds at 1400.

I too thought the 7300GT would have been the best bet (price/performance/what the OP is looking for, etc..), unfortunately the OP says he can no longer find it and is now stuck with the 7600GS flavors.

It appears Galaxy likes to OC and add better memory than what the reference design calls for. They offer a 7600GS with GDDR3 instead of the standard GDDR2. IIRC, the slow memory was the 7600GS's achilles heal but with the faster GDDR3 and an already OC friendly core this version might reach 7600GT speeds. The OP's in Egypt where the 7600GT costs about $300 whereas this OC 7600GS runs about $235 and I suspect he can reach nearly the same performance. Elite Bastards also did a review on the Galaxy 7600GS GDDR3 that backs up my suspicions. I think cryptonx would do well to spend the extra cash for the GDDR3 model.

What do you think Pauldh?

 

[cryptonx]

ok fellas , I got more prices today

Gigabyte 7600GS - 256DDR2 - 128bit >> $164
XFX 7600GS XTREME EDITION - 256 DDR2 - 128 bit >> $175
GALAXY 7600GS - 256GDDR3 - 128BIT >> $230
MSI 7600GS - 256DDR2 BLA BLA > $160

GIGABYTE 7900GT GDDR3 > $350

GIGABYTE 7600GT GDDR3 ( OUT OF STOCK ) $290

GALAXY 7300GT 256GDDR3 ( OUT OF STOCK ) $130

GIGABYTE ATI X1600 HEATPIPE CRAP >> $180

AMD ATHLON 64 X2 3800+ ( I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I ASKED ) $325

 

[Anoobis]

Gigabyte 7600GS - 256DDR2 - 128bit >> $164
GALAXY 7600GS - 256GDDR3 - 128BIT >> $230
GIGABYTE 7900GT GDDR3 > $350
GALAXY 7300GT 256GDDR3 ( OUT OF STOCK ) $130

GALAXY 7300GT 256GDDR3 ( OUT OF STOCK ) $130
GALAXY 7600GS - 256GDDR3 - 128BIT >> $230
GIGABYTE 7900GT GDDR3 > $350

In that order. The 7300GT with GDDR3 will give you the same if not better performance than your current 6600 based on the information you provided. The 7600GS with GDDR3 sits right in the middle and is my recommendation because it's available now and will give near if not the same performance of a 7600GT. That's good. I've got a 7600GT currently and I am very please with the performance. The 7900GT is an outstanding card but it is very expensive compared to the other 2 choices and you were considering possibly upgrading the entire system in a year or so.

Galaxy 7600GS with GDDR3, accept no other 7600GS. You want the Galaxy GDDR3 model. Elite Bastards also rated it a better value than the Galaxy 7300GT GDDR3 card.

 

[cryptonx]

Thanks alot
I will go to the galaxy dealer today and see how things go , If I could get a discount or so , Or If I were able to sell this 6600AGP , I might be able to purcahse the 7600GS GDDR3 comfortably .

Altho I know I've asked alot , but whats up with a 6800XT ?? altho I will hate to get another 6 series card ( 7 sounds 6-ier )

its for the same as a 7600gs , But I've seen the 7600gs blowing a 6800gs so is the XT the same ?

I also found a An ATi Radoen x1600 for $149
and an ATI X800 for $200 256
and finaly

Gigabyte 7300GT 256DDR2 ( claims of scoring 3,700 mark in 3dmark2005 ) for $90


altho among all of these I love the Galaxy 7600GS gddr3 and the Gigabyte 7600gs GDDR2 ( the first cuz of the performance, the 2nd cuz of the price/silence )

oh and I am really sorry , for going out of topic but heres a CPU question
since I am considering an upgrade next year

and its going to be AMD again for sure , I found a package today that consists of
AMD Athlon X2 3800+ + Foxconn Nforce4 mobo ( pacakged ) = $438

thanks alot ,Again [/quote]

 

[Anoobis]

Fear the 6800XT like the plague. It's worse than a 6800GS.

I pretty sure any 7600GS will beat an X1600 and I'm positive the GDDR3 7600GS will beat an X800.

I'd stay away from the plain jane 7300GT (DDR2 version) and stick with the a plain jane 7600GS if you decide to go that route.

Since the Galaxy 7300GT with GDDR3 isn't available anymore, your best value is the Galaxy 7600GS with GDDR3.

Right now it looks as the new Intel Conroe CPUs are the best option for upgrades. Your current CPU is still decent and I really woudn't recommend upgrading to another platform that requires DDR memory at this point. Worry about upgrading the CPU when you're ready to do it. Don't worry about it now if you don't plan on doing for another year. Just stay abreast of what's out there and how it performs. Make a decision when you're ready to buy.

 

[pauldh]

The low clocked 6800XT's are slower than the 6600GT even. The ones with the higher clocked 1000MHz DDR can keep up with a vanilla 350/700 12-pipe 6800, but not close to the AGP 6800GS.

 

[cryptonx]

Aright , thanks for both your information and your time

I think its gonna be a

Galaxy 7600GS GDDR3 vs Gigabyte 7600GS GDDR2

its just a money issue , If all goes well i will get the DDR3
if it didnt I will get the DDR2 , after all its still gonna be better than my 6600 .

Nah , I still prefer AMD but I will delay that for now , I just asked cuz I saw this intresting package and a manufactre ( FOXCONN ) I never heard about before .

 

[pauldh]

If that Galaxy 7300GT Zalman comes back in stock, I'd save the $100 and grab that one. Otherwise the 7600GS is you have the cash.