XFX GeForce 7600GT Fatal1ty 650MHz in SLI mode

Final Thoughts

You really have to wonder - are people actually going to buy a more expensive graphics card just because it has "Fatal1ty" stamped on the front? To be honest and perfectly frank, I can't really see it happening. What are the chances that Fatal1ty is gaming on a pair of GeForce 7600GT's in SLI? Pretty low... He's more than likely running something along the lines of a couple of GeForce 8800GTX cards.

In more seriousness though, there is a lot we like about the XFX 7600GT "Fatal1ty" card - the heat sink is a great design of course being completely silent with no need for fans and it only takes up a single slot. You've got dual DVI, it comes overclocked out of the box and sports all our standard 7600GT features like 256MB of DDR-3 and so forth but it does lack HDCP support, which could be a hassle for some.

At first we thought the card may have issues with overclocking using a passive cooling solution. Nevertheless, we fired up some overclocking and managed some good increases which increased average FPS higher.

The biggest gripe we have is that if you're going to slap the name of a professional gamer on your product, why would you not include a full version game? It seems like the right thing to do and to us the bundle is lacking considering the extra price you are paying, especially in Australia but the United States is not too bad at only $30 USD more than XFX's XXX version.

We are disappointed with the package and very surprised about the retail price down under but it's much more respectable in the United States ranging between $160 USD - $186 USD. In any case, we suggest you hold off for 2 or 3 weeks before buying and see if prices fall with the 8500 and 8600 launch and determine whether or not it would be better to buy the new or the old model based on the performance numbers.

If you cannot wait that long, you should be quite pleased with XFX 7600GT "Fatal1ty" and even more so if you've got extra cash to buy a couple for SLI gaming. Don't expect the best gaming performance but it's not half bad either offering a good gaming experience for most current PC games at 1600 x 1200 with graphics quality settings turned up quite high in SLI mode.

- Pros

Sexy black PCB

Dual DVI

Completely silent passive cooling

Only single slot taken up

Overclocked significantly

Continues to OC despite silent operation

Good performance in SLI mode

- Cons

Disappointing bundle (where is the full version game?)

No HDCP and missing a DVI to VGA adapter

Much more expensive in Australia than US

Replaced soon by GeForce 8600 models

- Latest Pricing

Rating - 8.5 out of 10