We saw ATI’s first HDMI graphics card, Sapphire’s $249 X1600 Pro, back in September. The 7600 GT is Nvidia’s first offering and it too brings with it HDCP compatibility for playing back encrypted HD films. It has 256MB of memory running at 700MHz and a core clock speed of 560MHz.
The 7600 GT chip is certainly more potent at 3D games than the Sapphire, averaging 35.6fps in Far Cry and 30.4fps in Call of Duty 2 in our medium, 1280 x 1024 game tests. But, it’s a larger form factor graphics card than the Sapphire and the fan is a bit noisier – making the Sapphire better for living room media centres.
The package comes with an HDMI-to-DVI converter. It sports an optical S/PDIF-in port and cable for plugging externally into your soundcard. However, there’s also an internal coaxial S/PDIF cable for connecting internally (though the header on our test sample was missing). With these sound can pass up the supplied HDMI cable with the graphics signal.
Nvidia has made much of its ‘PureVideo HD’ high-definition image enhancement and hardware decryption system but there was no sign of it in the driver or in Asus’ software or on Nvidia’s website when we tested. All we can say is it will take some of the burden off the processor when processing HD video.
At $339, there’s a hefty premium over our A-Listed 7600 GT ($243). As such, it’s worth waiting before HD films are widely available (and the price lowers) before plumping for one.
