7600 gt vs 7900gs

[nightscope]

I'm looking for a card to last me till early next year, so I'm between getting a 7600gt or a 7900 gs, the evga 7600 gt (used) is around $40 and the pny 7900gs (new) is around $80. Which do you think I should get? The 7600 gt has the 128 bit memory and the 7900 gs has the 256 bit, plus the 7900 gs is known for being a very good overclocker. What do you guys think? This is for a budget build. (If you're gonna say buy an 8800 just don't post at all lol)

Thanks in advance!

 

[zenmaster]

7900GS clearly.

However, where can you find that card for $80?
Best I see on NewEgg is $99 after rebate.
$80 would be an outstanding deal.

Do you have a link?

 

[dicobalt]

definitely the 7900gs, i use a 7900gs 256mb in vista now and im ok with it till the 8950gx2 comes blazing in

 

[Slippers]

I have a 7900gs and my friend has a 7600gt. Mine will do more AA and gets more fps.

 

[nightscope]

Well actually I found an eVga one that's $90 + $7 shipping so $97 total, new. OEM though, comes with two adapters + drivers (even though I don't need them). Still a good deal?

 

[vip3569]

Yea thats a very good deal. I have the evga 7900gs overclocked to 600/1620 (450/1320 standard)!

 

[pauldh]

It just depends on what you plan to do with it. Gaming? If so what games and at what resolution. At $40 for a 7600GT and $97 for a 7900GS, I'd have to say th 7600GT is a much better bargain. Shoot, if it were new for $40 I'd buy 3 right now.

$97 AR for a 7900GS is good, but only really a current expected sale price IMO. Plus at $100 with the valve black box bundled for free, the HD2600XT can easily beat it in many new games (without FSAA). Nothing new for $40 would beat a 7600GT though.

 

[nightscope]

Well, here's the deal, I can get the 7600 gt for 40 bucks, or, I can get a pny 7900gs for $70...but it's used but in perfect condition. So what do you guys think? $90 for an evga NEW 7900 gs or $70 for a used pny? I'd rather save the $20, but if one's better than the other I would pay the extra.

 

[mactronix]

If you get the EVGA then you have 90 days to use the step up programe so if that fits your time frame then thats the way to go.
http://www.evga.com/stepup/
Mactronix

 

[nightscope]

Doesn't come with the papers for the step-up program though.

 

[pauldh]

What will you do with it? What games if any do you play? what resolution would you be running, and what are your system specs? CPU? Mobo? Power Supply? That will all matter as to if the 7900GS is worth the extra money. Is the 7600GT used too for $40? I'd have to assume yes it's used at that price.

Anyway, they are all fine at those prices and the 7900GS has more power for gaming. If you run a decent resolution and hope to play newer games, (and your system is up to it), the 7900GS is better. But it's the same technology with more power and while both should play any game out over the next year, neither is all that future-proof. Don't expect to play newer GPU demanding games at high details levels with either card.

 

[nightscope]

I will be using it mostly for gaming (games like cs:s, and some others). It will be basically a budget system that will last me for the next year or so. It will consist of e2180, 2 gigs ddr2-800 ram, gigabyte p35 motherboard, and a Thermaltake Purepower 500 watt power supply. I'll be overclocking the video card, and from what I've heard, the 7900gs has shown high success in that area.

 

[smokedyou911]

What res? if its liek 1024x568 the 7600gt is the best bet.

 

[nightscope]

What's this have to be with resolution? They both have the same amount of memory...

 

[kpo6969]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814186013

 

[pauldh]

OK, just wanted to make sure. Yeah, it's a good overclocker in general and a very attractive option for those willing to OC. Personally I would spend the extra $20 on the new card, unless the used one is from a friend you can trust.

One other option for you in the $100 range. If you don't use FSAA and want the Valve Black box, the HD2600 comes with it for $100 and actually is a good performing orange box card. $40-50 game bundle if you didn't buy it already and you are a HL2 fan.
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=691&p=2
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3122&p=3
See combo deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131059

edit: Wow, I just refrehed this and although 15 minutes ago the black box combo was listed, it's gone now. Seems the HD2600XT black box cards may be gone. That sux.

 

[pauldh]

What he means is, The more pixels you want to push the more GPU power you need. 1280x1024 or above the 7900GS is the better option.

 

[colonelblake]

*sigh* i payed 275$ CND 6 months ago for my msi 7900gs.

go for the 7900gs, you wont be sorry. i can play dx9 bioshock on everything high at 1024x768.

 

[nightscope]

What's the difference between an orange box and a black box 2600xt?

 

[pauldh]

Sorry, I can see that is confusing the way I worded it. The only way to buy HL2 episode 2 in retail is the orange box, which is episode 2, portal, and team fortress 2 as well as the original HL2 and episode 1 (5 games). The black box was cancelled in retail and only comes with the HD2600XT (gone now it looks like) and it was just the new 3 games. But for people who had HL2 and episode 1 already, the HD2600XT + Black box (the three new games) was a bargain, espesially seeing just how good the HD2600XT shine in that game (with fsaa off of course).

 

[nightscope]

Don't really care about the games, just the card itself. I'm back to leaning to the 7600gt...ugh I hate making decisions like this. It comes down to this basically: How much fps difference would I get from a max overclocked 7600gt to a max overclocked 7900gs?

 

[homerdog]

I would recommend an HD2600xt (Newegg has them for under $100), but it sounds like you're on a seriously tight budget.

Don't really care about the games, just the card itself. I'm back to leaning to the 7600gt...ugh I hate making decisions like this. It comes down to this basically: How much fps difference would I get from a max overclocked 7600gt to a max overclocked 7900gs?

This one's easy: 7900gs would be waaaaay faster

*edits in bold

 

[Canuck1]

I wish I could find such cards for those prices. Nightscope, if I were you, I'd pay a bit more for the used 7900GS card. It's 256 bit and like people have said here, it seems to have a few more advantages over the 7600GT but $40 is a nice low price for one.

 

[soloman02]

you should go with the 7900GS. In HL2 at 1280x1024 with everything maxed, including AA and AF, I get between 60 and 100 fps. 60 is the minimum, and usually it happens when I am near water. I usually get 100 fps inside, fire fights bring it down but not much. same with outside firefights bring it down some, but not even near 30fps.

For reference, my specs with the 7900GS:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ "San Diego" @ 2.49Ghz (225x11)
2GB PC3200 G.Skill in dual channel @DDR450
EVGA Nvidia 7900GS 256MB @ stock
160GB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm 8MB cache SATA 3.0
ThermalTake Purepower 420 Watt
NEC DVD Burner
Toshiba DVD Burner
Onboard sound (not used as my headset is USB)
Onboard LAN
Windows XP Pro 32bit sp2
1 80mm front fan intake, 1 80mm back fan exaust
1 120mm fan on side intake, 1 120mm fan on top intake
both 120mm fans are ducted to an AC unit in summer, and the outside in winter.

 

[oswold]

My 7600GT will play FEAR, COH and Source games at near full (minus AA for COH) 1280x1024 with ease. For games such as Bioshock and Oblivion I have to lower the res to 1024x768 in order to keep the detail settings.

And my 7600GT overclocked very well @ 670/830 before getting artifacts. I dont keep it there though as it cant be good for it!

Damn I wish my DOA 7900GT sitting on my table worked. Need to post it off again.