EVGA e-GeForce 7600GS 512MB Video Card Review :: EVGA e-GeForce 7600GS Bundle and Drivers

• TV Out cable
• DVI-I to D-Sub adapter
• HDTV Cable
• User's Guide
• Driver CD
• Case stickers

The bundle on the e-GeForce 7600GS from EVGA is rather sparatan, but expected from a video card designed for the under $200 market. Hardware wise, you get a TV-Out cable, a HDTV Out cable and an adapter for the DVI-I port in case you want to use dual monitors with two CRT monitors.

Software bundles are important to give the purchaser of a new video card added value. I'm a big proponent of game bundles. The first 3D card I purchased was the Diamond Monster 3D card back in 1996. This card came with 20 games and demos showing off the graphics power of the Voodoo Graphics chip. EVGA chose not to include any games with the 7600GS, understandable for the target market.

The bundled software EVGA does include are SnapStream Beyond Media, Ulead's Movie Factory suite, ResChanger 2005 a copy of the manual and DirectX 9.0c. The drivers on the CD are 83.91 dated 2/13/2006. I would suggest using NVIDIA's latest drivers 91.31 as it was released a short month ago and much more up to date.

Old Control Panel

New Control Panel shots

Forceware 91.31 comes with a new Control Panel designed to ease the transition to Windows Vista's new GUI. The controls for the 3D applications like Anti-aliasing, anisotropic Filtering, and more can be found on the 3D settings and preview menu. Much like ATI's Catalyst Control Center, once you make a change the result is seen in a change to the NVIDIA logo. Coolbits can still be used to overclock the card.

Overclocking is done via the Coolbits registry key. The old Control Panel has three choices for overclocking, manual, auto and default. Manual overclocking is just that, you can clock the video card as high as you dare, testing the new settings to see if it was successful and then Apply. Auto overclocking will auto-detect the maximum speed of the card. I was able to overclock the e-GeForce 7600GS from 400/400 to 408/425MHz.

EVGA is the number one company in terms of support for their video cards on the market. They offer 24/7 (Except for major holidays) Toll-Free Technical Support. If you have a problem with your new EVGA video card they will take care of it. The second facet of their support is a Lifetime Warranty. EVGA's 7600GS 512MB comes with a 1+1 warranty. One year is automatically given at purchase and another is added when you register the card. The last but important facet is their Step Up Program. With Step-Up, if you purchase a new EVGA card within 90 days, you get credit for the full price paid on the previous card.