NVIDIA and ATI HDCP Compatible Graphics Cards Roundup
by Josh Venning on November 16, 2006 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Gigabyte GeForce 7600 GS HDMI
The first card we have from Gigabyte is the GeForce 7600 GS HDMI. The 7600 GS is a mainstream performance part, and it's the only 7600 GS we have for this review. This Gigabyte version is clocked at reference speeds, with a 400 MHz core and 400 MHz memory clock speed. A few of the cards in this roundup come with HDMI connections, and this card is one of them. It also has a DVI and an S-Video output alongside the HDMI port.
The HDMI version of the Gigabyte 7600 GS is nearly identical to the non-HDCP capable version of the card, with the exception of a wire extending from the back of the card which is used for connection to a sound device. This enables users to make full use of the audio capabilities of the HDMI connection.
Gigabyte GeForce NX7950 GT
The other card we have from Gigabyte is a more powerful GeForce NX7950 GT (GV-NX795T512H-RH). This is one of the more unique cards we have for this review, firstly because it uses a Zalman HSF instead of the reference cooler. We've found these Zalman fans to be very effective at dissipating heat and keeping noise levels down, even though they are a bit more delicate than other designs.
This card also has an 4 pin drive connection for its power interestingly enough, which is different from any of the other cards we have here for this review, and it's been a while since we've seen this kind of power connection on a graphics card. The NX7950 GT is equipped with 2 DVI ports and is clocked at the standard 550MHz core and 700MHz memory.
The first card we have from Gigabyte is the GeForce 7600 GS HDMI. The 7600 GS is a mainstream performance part, and it's the only 7600 GS we have for this review. This Gigabyte version is clocked at reference speeds, with a 400 MHz core and 400 MHz memory clock speed. A few of the cards in this roundup come with HDMI connections, and this card is one of them. It also has a DVI and an S-Video output alongside the HDMI port.
The HDMI version of the Gigabyte 7600 GS is nearly identical to the non-HDCP capable version of the card, with the exception of a wire extending from the back of the card which is used for connection to a sound device. This enables users to make full use of the audio capabilities of the HDMI connection.
Gigabyte GeForce NX7950 GT
The other card we have from Gigabyte is a more powerful GeForce NX7950 GT (GV-NX795T512H-RH). This is one of the more unique cards we have for this review, firstly because it uses a Zalman HSF instead of the reference cooler. We've found these Zalman fans to be very effective at dissipating heat and keeping noise levels down, even though they are a bit more delicate than other designs.
This card also has an 4 pin drive connection for its power interestingly enough, which is different from any of the other cards we have here for this review, and it's been a while since we've seen this kind of power connection on a graphics card. The NX7950 GT is equipped with 2 DVI ports and is clocked at the standard 550MHz core and 700MHz memory.
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LoneWolf15 - Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - link
Behind Enemy Lines? Explains why Blu-Ray adoption is so slow.NullSubroutine - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
I think ATi er AMD had been working on the drivers for GPU accelration for HD movies longer than Nvidia is all. You only have so much resources in a given department, it would make seense that Nvidia put more focus in other things (like Linux drives) where as Ati was working on this and Folding @ home stuff.dickie1900 - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
Do you think the results will change for the 8800s when DX10 rolls out with Vista or are we going to have to wait for games to be developed that use some of the newer instructions?DigitalFreak - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
I would doubt it. I don't believe Blu-Ray/HD-DVD decoding has anything to do with DirectX.DigitalFreak - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
Dude, it's a unicorn. :-)
phusg - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
First off, thanks for the great review.Why not? Many people just look at the graphs and this way they would miss out on the 2 quietest cards.
Also (unrelated), it's a shame there was no mention of AGP cards. I'm sure I'm not the only one looking to stretch the life of their AGP HTPC.
And one more thing (unrelated), aren't there initiatives that are looking to handle the HD decoding in software? I'd love a review of these. What is the slowest CPU you can decode HD content with?
mino - Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - link
I second that.EVERY noise measurement should include reference of the bacground (system without the thingie which noise one measures).
As those 0dB would would not be 0dB. There would be the noise of the system without the noise of the card - hence the bacground noise.
Try to consider that in the future. No much work required for MUCH information added.
Spoelie - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
coreavc is the fastest h264 software decoder, no competitionTheir cpu-only implementation is most of the time faster than the competition WITH gpu support, but they're working on gpu support as well.
It is payware tho.
http://coreavc.corecodec.org/">http://coreavc.corecodec.org/
NullSubroutine - Friday, November 17, 2006 - link
I originally had written this up in response to an artical that MS Office has mandatory authentication checks when doing updates. However, I think the idea of what the "intellectual property" industry is putting consumers through is rediculous.....this just in, cars now 'phone home' to validate the vehicial is authentic prior to fixing factory installed parts.....refridgerator units must now be activated via phone call before the cooling units will work....lotion now comes with EULA, which is automatically agreed to at time of purchase (information is inside the bottle)....desk drawers will now automatically lock after free trial period has ended....fees must now be paid to bacteria colonies each time a user flushes the toilet....due to people stealing food, the price has increased 1000x, if the food is not authentic it will tell you, via voice, that your food is not real food, and where authentic food can be purchased if you give the food companies the information on where your not real food was purchased; when asked about the policy, supporters claimed that food was an optional luxery, paint companies now produce super ultra high quality paint products - but can only be applied with a special paint brush on special surface (microchips installed) or else the paint looks like normal paint - when cosumers were asked about the new paint they said it looked great but unless they wanted to buy all new everything, it was all meaningless...
shecknoscopy - Thursday, November 16, 2006 - link
Wow... the Blu-ray era's off to a stunning start, eh? No more complaining about the poor game options for the Wii launch, when the stunning new world of BLU-RAY is kicking off with "Click."
Lawdy, help us.
-Sheq