deffinatly dont go with the 7300 gs, but get the 7600 gs. heres why:
GPU Geforce 7300GS
Core clock 575MHz
PixelPipelines 4
Memory Size Supporting 512MB(256MB on board)
Memory Interface 64-bit
Memory Type GDDR2
3D API
DirectX DirectX 9
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported No
GPU Geforce 7600GS
Core clock 550MHz
PixelPipelines 12
Memory Clock 850Mhz
Memory Size 256MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR2
3D API
DirectX DirectX 9
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2560 x 1600
SLI Supported Yes
The 7600 has 12 pixel pipelines vs the 4 of the 7300. Thats a huge difference. Also, the 7600 has 128 bit gddr2 ram while the 7300 uses 64-bit gddr2 ram which is another huge difference.
If you are really looking for a better gaming experience, get the 7600gs as it will give you the most bang for your buck. Also, dont buy from retail stores, they really markup the prices. You should check out www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com and purchase your graphics card from there at a big savings.
nizzy1115
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No problem, I'm glad to help. Have fun gaming :)
nizzy1115
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Not sur about the 7300 or 7600. But the 7800 is great if u have the money. If you want to save about $100, go with a 6800gs and you can unlock 4 extra pipelines to make it 16 which will put it on par with the most expensive cards. Go to newegg.com for your card though, you'll save money and they ship quick. Never buy it in the store! You can't get the best brands in stores such EVGA. And definately get that extra gig of RAM. It makes a huge difference.
bwjones
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You are not guarenteed being able to unlock the extra pipes. Also it would not be recomended to do this unless you got a new heatsink for it.
nizzy1115
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You are not guarenteed being able to unlock the extra pipes. Also it would not be recomended to do this unless you got a new heatsink for it.
? not guaranteed by who? the manufacturer of the card? well yea, obviously, they intentionally hide the feature to tweak clock settings for OCing cards. Thats another subject though. Anyway, I have a 6800GS and used Riva Tuner to unlock the 4 extra pipes. Still have doubts? here's the tutorial to do it......... http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/hardware-hacking/35737-mod-your-6800gs-agp-ultra-extreme.html
I can't comment on ATI cards, because I have no experience with them. But Nvidia cards regardless of manufacturer are always sold with software that will not allow consumers to utilize the complete power the card has. This is because if you do not know what you are doing, you can easily fry a card by OCing too much or adjusting other features that you might not have the processing or power supply capabilities for. As long as you review tutorials from reputable sites such as overclock.net or extremeoverclockers.com, you can't go wrong. And unlocking 4 pipes for a 6800GS to run a game such BF2 on all high settings makes a day and night difference with quality of graphics. FYI, unlocking the 4 extra is not sensible if you do not posess a sufficent PSU to negotiate what the card will require to output graphics associated with 16 pixel pipelines. I play BF2 everyday on all medium settings with 2xAA, this is only because at the moment I only have a 250watt PSU, which is basically equivalent to running the game on all high, 4xAA with a 470 watt PSU. But I have not added any extra fans or heatsinks and have not had any problems. Plus, you can always minimize and go to your Nvidia manager and check your GPU temp to assure you staying at safe temperatures.
I'm only speaking from my own experiences and am not condoning any outcomes good or bad from OCing or tweaking a card in any way shape or form. I simply have had nothing but positive results from doing so with my card. Good luck with whatever card you get.
bwjones
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? not guaranteed by who? the manufacturer of the card? well yea, obviously, they intentionally hide the feature to tweak clock settings for OCing cards. Thats another subject though. Anyway, I have a 6800GS and used Riva Tuner to unlock the 4 extra pipes. Still have doubts? here's the tutorial to do it......... http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/hardware-hacking/35737-mod-your-6800gs-agp-ultra-extreme.html
Yes it is POSSIBLE, but not guaranteed to work flawlessly. And btw, a manufacturing process does not work exactly the way you think.
nizzy1115
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Like I said, I'm speaking from my experiences with OCing and tweaking. And for me, it has worked flawlessly. Maybe you have had not so graceful experiences with it or know someone who hasn't. And that's fine, better safe than sorry. But if someone is confident they can follow directions and could use the extra drive from their card, then why not?
bwjones
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70 posts since Jul 2005
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