Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good buy, so-so documentation, December 21, 2008
I refer the reader to full reviews elsewhere on the Internet, but here are a few scattered impressions of my own:
For reasons I have not been able to discover, PcPitStop reports low 2D performance of this card on my particular PC, considerably less than the evga nVidia GEForce 7600 GS that it replaced on this computer; however, the same source reports excellent 2D performance for this card on most PCs (only slightly less than for the 7600 GS); and the benchmark of 3D performance tested very high.
The only areas in which I have any practical criticism of this product is in its slightly spare documentation and an inconvenience factor in the current nVidia 9000-series driver versus the 7000-series driver.
The documentation follows the all-too-common practice of trying to cover a family of products with a single booklet. It is so aggravating to read that my card *may* perform in such-and-such a way or *may* perform a particular function; sometimes it seems that one might as well read about a generic graphics card; if the manufacturer can't tell me about the particular card I've purchased, why bother? The manual is so vague about how (or if) the card supports HDTV I initially wondered if it even had the expected support for HDTV hookup. I assume from the fact that an HDMI, HDCP-compliant interface is provided, along with resolutions that include 1920x1080, that in fact the necessary compatibility is there. But is it 1080p or 1080i? Well, presumably it's 1080p over the HDMI interface, since progressive output is more usual in PCs than interlaced; but I don't like to be made to make assumptions. The documentation is also not helpful with respect to how to connect the internal power cable to the PC's power supply, or whether it is even necessary. Yes, I was able to put 2 and 2 together without mishap; but the documentation should have been as specific as possible, limited only by the fact that connections would differ for different PCs. Similarly, the documentation was vague regarding the internal audio hookup to transmit PC sound through the HDMI cable. The documentation on the CD was somewhat more thorough than that in the hardcopy; but even then it seemed to me to dwell on things I already knew rather than providing a deeper level of technical detail.
The inconvenience factor in the current nVidia 9000-series drivers relates to the dual-display feature when one desires to operate each with different resolutions. There are several ways one can set up dual displays so that one complements the other; however, the most useful mode for me is the "clone" mode in which both displays contain the same windows. The reason that happens to be the most useful to me is that in the mode in which the displays are independent (one can direct which windows open on which display), the cursor is not confined to the primary display and continues off-screen to the other display (getting "lost" in effect)--a constant annoyance especially if one has turned off the alternate display. Thus I wanted to choose "clone" mode, but this new driver does not allow for different resolutions and refresh rates for each display in this mode; thus I would have to resort to a 60Hz refresh rate on both displays because of the limitation of the secondary display; and while 60Hz is normal and acceptable on a TV, it makes for a headache-inducing flicker on computer CRTs.
In spite of these specific drawbacks the card is performing well for my purposes, and both the nVidia driver and the ASUS utilities provide many nifty functions. It carries a very attractive price for so much power.
The reason that I replaced a 7600 GS with a 9600 GT rather than another 7600 GS was to obtain HDCP compliance to display protected HD content from my PC to an HDTV. HDCP compliancy always adds to the cost of a video card, so potential buyers should understand that if they do not have that requirement they can spend somewhat less for a card. For example, the 7600 GS costs only about $45 versus approximately $125 for a 9600 GT. If one does not need HDCP compliancy or blazing 3D performance, he/she would actually be slightly better off in 2D performance and considerably better off in the pocketbook by purchasing a 7600 GS.
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