NVIDIA and ATI HDCP Compatible Graphics Cards Roundup
by Josh Venning on November 16, 2006 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
MSI GeForce NX7600 GT
For this HDCP card roundup, MSI provided us with a total of four cards. The first is the MSI NX7600 GT which comes factory overclocked at 580/750MHz (core/mem). Interestingly, this card has a very large heat sink that covers the entire card and takes up a second slot on the case. The NX7600 GT has two DVI ports, as well as an S-Video out for connection to a TV.
MSI GeForce NX7600 GT Diamond Plus
The next card by MSI is a much newer and sleeker version of the NX7600 GT, the GeForce NX7600 GT Diamond Plus. This version of the 7600GT adds HDMI and component video outputs. It also adds an S/PDIF audio input for running audio through the HDMI connection. As the image below shows, the card is also much slimmer than the previous NX7600 GT, only requiring a single PCI slot on the motherboard. This fact, along with the HDMI port, might make this version more desirable. However, because the Diamond Plus is only clocked at reference speeds (560/700), those wanting more gaming performance might opt for the non-HDMI version of the two. Both of these cards (like most 7600 GT cards) draw their power through the board rather than using an external power connection.
MSI GeForce NX7900 GS
The third card we have from MSI is the GeForce NX7900 GS. The 7900 GS is a midrange card that provides decent performance for its price. This version of the card by MSI looks very similar to NVIDIA's reference design, with MSI's custom graphics on the heatsink. The card comes with two DVI connections, as well as an analog connection with component video support. Some versions of the MSI GeForce NX7900 GS also come with a factory overclock of 500MHz on the core and 700MHz on the memory, but the one we have is reference clocked at 450/660.
MSI GeForce NX7900 GT
The last card from MSI that we have is the MSI GeForce NX7900 GT. Unlike the NX7900 GS, our NX7900 GT did in fact come to us with a factory overclock of 500/765 over the standard 7900 GT clock of 450/660. Like the NX7900 GS, this card looks much like the reference design, with the standard HSF with the MSI logo on it. The card also has two DVI connectors and an analog video adapter (S-Video, Composite, and Component outputs) like the NX7900 GS.
For this HDCP card roundup, MSI provided us with a total of four cards. The first is the MSI NX7600 GT which comes factory overclocked at 580/750MHz (core/mem). Interestingly, this card has a very large heat sink that covers the entire card and takes up a second slot on the case. The NX7600 GT has two DVI ports, as well as an S-Video out for connection to a TV.
MSI GeForce NX7600 GT Diamond Plus
The next card by MSI is a much newer and sleeker version of the NX7600 GT, the GeForce NX7600 GT Diamond Plus. This version of the 7600GT adds HDMI and component video outputs. It also adds an S/PDIF audio input for running audio through the HDMI connection. As the image below shows, the card is also much slimmer than the previous NX7600 GT, only requiring a single PCI slot on the motherboard. This fact, along with the HDMI port, might make this version more desirable. However, because the Diamond Plus is only clocked at reference speeds (560/700), those wanting more gaming performance might opt for the non-HDMI version of the two. Both of these cards (like most 7600 GT cards) draw their power through the board rather than using an external power connection.
MSI GeForce NX7900 GS
The third card we have from MSI is the GeForce NX7900 GS. The 7900 GS is a midrange card that provides decent performance for its price. This version of the card by MSI looks very similar to NVIDIA's reference design, with MSI's custom graphics on the heatsink. The card comes with two DVI connections, as well as an analog connection with component video support. Some versions of the MSI GeForce NX7900 GS also come with a factory overclock of 500MHz on the core and 700MHz on the memory, but the one we have is reference clocked at 450/660.
MSI GeForce NX7900 GT
The last card from MSI that we have is the MSI GeForce NX7900 GT. Unlike the NX7900 GS, our NX7900 GT did in fact come to us with a factory overclock of 500/765 over the standard 7900 GT clock of 450/660. Like the NX7900 GS, this card looks much like the reference design, with the standard HSF with the MSI logo on it. The card also has two DVI connectors and an analog video adapter (S-Video, Composite, and Component outputs) like the NX7900 GS.
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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