Help Choosing Graphics Card Part 2

[deadlychicken22]

Ok, I've decided I'm going with an Nvidia 7600gt of some sort. However, the evga line of that card has three different versions that all seem about the same and all cost about the same:

7600 gt (normal)
7600 gt co
7600 gt ko

So, which one should I get?

 

[Vollgasasi]

if you like to overclock for yourself, you can go with the normal one. if you like to have a pre oc'ed card under full warranty, go for the ko version.

 

[deadlychicken22]

Well, I would prefer not to overclock myself, but from what I understand reading their website the main difference between the models are the fans . . . does anyone here actually have any of these cards or know which ones perform better? I searched for benchmarks but couldn't find any . . .

EDIT: I also need this card to have GOOD support for linux with minimum hassle... these should all work with the normal 7600gt drivers, correct?

 

[Vollgasasi]

they all use the same drivers (nvidia forceware drivers are for all newer geforces out there)

and the main difference is the peformance 7600gt ko is the best, co second and vanilla in third place

 

[deadlychicken22]

Ok, thanks for the help!

 

[Twimfy]

Also consider trying the new Nvidia beta drivers with a stable card, it has a built in auto overclock function which constantly changes the frequency of the card within safe limits depending on the GPU load.

Pretty cool feature, I get about 10fps increase with it switched on.

 

[deadlychicken22]

Well, i was about to buy the one you recommended but then I read that there are a ton of reports of DOA 7600 gt ko's... should I get the 7600gt from another company? (PNY?XFX?)

EDIT: Here's a PNY one for the same price

EDIT2: After reading around, it sounds like the 7600gt co doesn't have the same problems, so a may get that... please tell me what you think

 

[Vollgasasi]

you can also get one from another company but they are normally not pre-overclocked (except evga,bfg and xfx ones) but those companies also have non-overclocked version. normally the overclocked ones have a suffix like the co,ko or in xfx's case xxx.... weird huh?

as far as the doa goes, you can also have bad luck and get a doa card and in evga's case doa isn't really a matter to worry about. after all you have a lifetime warranty on your card and if you really get a doa card evga ships a replacement pretty fast (usually the next day)

may i ask what you wanna do with this card? serious gaming? maybe i have some alternatives to offer.

EDIT: in addition to your question about other companies - i'd suggest you stick to evga,bfg and xfx, they have a pretty good reputation

 

[deadlychicken22]

I plan on doing some gaming on this, but that isn't the main purpose of this computer. I currently have an integrated geforce 6100 (which I only got to hold me over until I had the money to get a real graphics card). I own Far Cry, Half-life 2, Morrowind, Oblivion, and those LOTR strategy games (and probably some other games I can't think of right now...). I don't need to be able to play all of these on high quality (although according to what I read I should be able to on all of them EXCEPT oblivion) but I really want to be able to actually play them without incredibly shitty graphics and terrible framerates. I mainly use my computer for other things (I run ubuntu linux 99% of the time, windows is only for games).

EDIT: I just ordered the evga 7600 gt ko, I hope it works well

 

[Vollgasasi]

with your choice you should be able to play all of your listed games at their highest quality settings even with some aa and af. the 7600 is a great card. oblivion could be struggling though as it makes my go 78000gtx struggle quite a bit...but apart from that game you'll be perfectly fine

 

[deadlychicken22]

Ok, thanks for the help. I'll post here if I have any problems when it arrives (should be in 3 days).

 

[deadlychicken22]

Well, it arrived, and so far things are working great!

However, I have a $30 rebate on it to cash in, but it requires the UPC. Below the UPC on the box it says my warranty is void if I remove the UPC. Is there any way around this?

EDIT: Nevermind...

 

[deadlychicken22]

EDIT: Oops...

 

[Jarska333]

Also consider trying the new Nvidia beta drivers with a stable card, it has a built in auto overclock function which constantly changes the frequency of the card within safe limits depending on the GPU load.

Pretty cool feature, I get about 10fps increase with it switched on.

I wonder if they can auto underclocks, too. I don't need the full force of my card for surfing...