Thoughts, HEXUS.awards and HEXUS.right2reply
As we got to the end of the board testing, including overclocking and thermal work, a check was made of online pricing for 7600 GS here in the UK, in the US and in Europe, to get a broad at-time-of-writing overview of GS prices, before asking Galaxy for price and availability info for the SKU.Imagine our surprise when Galaxy came back with €160 (£109 converted) for the pre-overclocked, Zalman cooler- and GDDR3-equipped GS. GS pricing elsewhere in Europe seems to sit around €150, with overclocked versions around £90-100 over here.
Galaxy hint that pricing will hit €150 on the product sooner rather than later, too, further enhancing its appeal. Good stuff, eh?
Well, only for our European and Asian readers it seems... At the time of writing, Galaxy has still not sorted out either its UK or US sales channels! It has retailers on board elsewhere in Europe, but nothing to speak of over here or across the pond. Doh!
So if you're from this wee island or the continent a few hours behind, sorry to let you know about what appears to be the mid-range performance bargain of the summer. Galaxy let us know they're looking for retailers in both territories to pick up their board range and get selling, and we hope it happens sooner rather than later.
We commented at CeBIT this year that Galaxy were a vendor that impressed because of their willingness to have a go at something other than the reference design, and the Galaxy GeForce 7600 GS 256 GDDR3 is proof. A great wee product, just a shame that it's not available world-wide.
One final complaint besides this, is that the cooler makes it slightly too large for my HTPC box, otherwise this author would be 'misplacing' the sample in there for as long as possible. G73 is a fine video citizen and while you get passive 7600 GS boards for more suitable HTPC-only work, and Galaxy is aiming this overclocked GS at the gamer, in a dual-purpose media/gaming box you'd find it hard to pick up something better.
So, quite the little beauty, should you be able to pick one up. Great price/performance, dual-DVI, good overclocking, dual BIOS for the adventurous, quiet running, low price and frugal power consumption are the highlights.
So, perhaps it's time to make this review sample disappear, Houdini-style... It really is that good. To sum up, if you're on a budget but still want the goodies, and live in a Galaxy sales territory, check it out.
HEXUS Awards
Galaxy GeForce 7600 GS 256 GDDR3
