Product Listing

Gigabyte GV-NX73T256P-RH (GeForce 7300 GT 256MB DDR2)

By Vincent Chang - 7 Jul 2006

Conclusion

Conclusion

For the mainstream consumer, the GeForce 7300 GT offers another low-end alternative to the ubiquitous integrated graphics found. Together with the more affordable GeForce 7300 GS, NVIDIA has bolstered its low-end offerings to cater to different needs. The almost unprecedented amount of flexibility in terms of the clock speeds for the GeForce 7300 GT means that this chipset can span the entire low to mid-range segment. As we have already seen with the Gainward, with the right blend of hardware and frequencies, it likely even obsoletes NVIDIA's own GeForce 7600 GS. However, again we have to caution that not every GeForce 7300 GT is equal and checking its clock speeds carefully before making a choice between the various offerings would probably save you some grief.

It may not be the best card to play Serious Sam II as the packaging suggests, but it should provide a decent gaming experience provided you keep to reasonable resolutions and settings.

For the Gigabyte GV-NX73T256P-RH, its aims are decidedly more modest. Its clock speeds fall roughly in the middle of the prescribed frequencies and so Gigabyte's version of the GeForce 7300 GT is more, shall we say, down to earth. It has a narrow edge over the GeForce 7600 GS for some benchmarks while at the same time, conceded a few too. Generally, you should expect competitive results with the GeForce 7600 GS.

If you already have a GeForce 6600 GT, the Gigabyte GeForce 7300 GT does not provide that much of an incentive to upgrade, unless the dual-link DVI and the better PureVideo support found in the GeForce 7 series is something that you require. The passive cooler should also skew it in favor of HTPC users, especially since gaming performance is not their main priority. Besides, the GeForce 7300 GT should perform decently in most games at 1024 x 768 without enabling too much eye candy.

Being a low-end mainstream product, price probably ranks among the higher considerations for the GeForce 7300 GT. For the Gigabyte, it can compete against the GeForce 7600 GS for overall performance but the best thing is that it's priced lower than a GeForce 7600 GS. With the GeForce 7600 GS costing around S$200 - S$220 (around US$125 - US$140), the Gigabyte GV-NX73T256P-RH has the price edge, given that it's available locally at around S$160 (US$100). It is precisely this combination of price and performance that makes the GeForce 7300 GT an excellent choice for those who just require a decent budget graphics card. Is there any more reason to get a GeForce 7600 GS anymore?

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