Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Components > Graphics Cards > Graphics Card Buyers Guide 2006, Part III: All Graphics Cards!

Graphics Card Buyers Guide 2006, Part III: All Graphics Cards!

01:10 - Monday 15 May 2006 by Tino Kreiss

1. Introduction
2. Candidates From Part 1
3. Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent
4. Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent - Accessories
5. Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent - Tools And Software
6. Tools And Software, Continued
7. Asus EAX X1600 XT Silent - Web Support
8. Gecube Radeon X1800 GTO
9. Gecube Radeon X1800 GTO - Tools And Software
10. Tools And Software, Continued
11. Gecube Radeon X1800 GTO - Overclocking And Heat
12. Overclocking And Heat, Continued
13. MSI RX1900 XTX-VT2D512E
14. MSI RX1900 XTX-VT2D512E - Tools And Software
15. Tools And Software, Continued
16. Tools And Software, Continued
17. Tools And Software, Continued
18. Tools And Software, Continued
19. Tools And Software, Continued
20. Tools And Software, Continued
21. Tools And Software, Continued
22. MSI RX1900 XTX-VT2D512E - Web Support
23. Overclocking And Heat
24. Overclocking And Heat, Continued
25. Powercolor Radeon X1300 Hypermemory 2
26. Powercolor Radeon X1300 Hypermemory 2 - Web Support
27. Sapphire Radeon X1600 XT
28. Sapphire X1600 XT - Tools And Software

29. Sapphire X1600 XT - Web Support
30. Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL
31. Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL - Tools And Software
32. Tools And Software, Continued
33. Tools And Software, Continued
34. Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL - Web Support
35. Sapphire Radeon X1800 XL - Overclocking And Heat
36. Overclocking And Heat, Continued
37. Test Setup
38. Benchmark Results
39. Age Of Empires 3, Continued
40. Black & White 2
41. Black & White 2, Continued
42. Call Of Duty 2
43. Call Of Duty 2, Continued
44. F.E.A.R.
45. F.E.A.R., Continued
46. Quake 4
47. Quake 4, Continued
48. Serious Sam 2
49. Serious Sam 2, Continued
50. 3DMark06
51. 3DMark06, Continued
52. 3DMark06, Continued
53. 3DMark06, Continued
54. Power Consumption
55. Test Results Of The Individual Cards
56. Conclusions And Summary

Nvidia is improving the production process of its new family of cards, so the GeForce 7600 and 7900 cards are manufactured on a 90 nanometre process instead of the older 110 nm one. The most tangible result of this refined production process is the cards' lower heat output under load. From a performance perspective, the GeForce 7600 GT can be considered a replacement for the GeForce 6 series. Nvidia is also doing some spring cleaning with regard to its more recent product lines; it looks like the 7900 GT is the designated successor to the 7800 GT and GTX cards, in terms of both price and performance.

The GT models of the 7600 and 7900 series each come with 256 MB of memory, although we're pretty sure Nvidia will bump this to 512 MB sometime soon. More memory would have a positive effect on the overall performance of these newer chips, especially in newer, texture-heavy games.

The 7900GTX, on the other hand, comes equipped with 512 MB of video memory from the start, and also sports an excellent cooling solution. Its quiet 80 mm fan provides optimal cooling for both the GPU and the memory modules. Its rival, the ATI Radeon X1900 XTX, is not so lucky in this respect, as its cooler is much louder; this card's GPU also reaches alarming temperatures of up to 90° C under 3D load. However, where 3D performance is concerned, the ATI card has the upper hand.

This buyer's guide consists of three articles, each covering cards, so we have looked at a total of 27 graphics solutions. This instalment contains the complete benchmark results and the full feature table for all participating cards. Below you'll find a list of all 27 contenders from Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, to help you fine an overview of each card, and locate each test of interest to you: