Test Setup

To compare the MSI NX7600GS-T2D256EH, we used our trusty test system consisting of an ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard and an Athlon 64 3500+ CPU. 1GB of Corsair DDR400 memory was then installed in dual channel mode. The operating system was as usual Windows XP Professional and updated to the latest DirectX 9.0c and Service Pack 1.

You may have noticed our earlier table comparing the GeForce 7600 GS with a host of other cards, past and present. These are cards from the price bracket of US$100 to US$199 and are not too far from the expected retail price of the GeForce 7600 GS. Hence, we have also added them into our list of cards to be tested, in order to see where the new card stands in terms of price and performance. Realistically though, the nearest price competitor for the GeForce 7600 GS from ATI is likely to be the ATI Radeon X1600 PRO, while from NVIDIA's own stable, the GeForce 6600 GT looks to be the closest. We also included the more powerful GeForce 7600 GT so you could see what you have missed just by adding another US$50 to US$70 dollars.

Therefore, we have the following cards tested, along with the relevant drivers:

MSI NX7600GS-T2D256EH (ForceWare 84.21)

NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB (ForceWare 83.91)

NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB (ForceWare 83.91)

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GS 256MB (ForceWare 81.87 Beta)

ATI Radeon X1600 PRO 256MB (Catalyst 6.2)

ATI Radeon X1600 XT 256MB (Catalyst 6.2)

The benchmarks used are as follows:

Futuremark 3DMark05 Pro (version 120)

Futuremark 3DMark06 Pro (version 102)

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory (version 1.3)

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (version 1.1)

Quake 4