Some folks will tell you that a graphics card should be totally silent - the phrase 'seen and not heard' springs to mind. However, there's a certain amount of comfort in hearing a PC's fans spinning away as it takes on an intense task. A little noise? Sure, it's a good thing; it lets you know things are healthy. But there are limits.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the 3D Fuzion GeForce 7600 GT might be very small, very plain-looking and able to run without needing the indulgence of an extra power connector, but it's loud. It doesn't emit the hollow whooshing of a dual-slot monster such as the Radeon X1900XTX; instead, the 3D Fuzion is a little whiner. It's the little engine that could, but wouldn't, shut up.
So why is the 3D Fuzion so noisy? The answer isn't that exciting; it isn't overclocked, as the boys at 3D Fuzion, a budget brand from the people behind BFG, don't muck about with clock speeds. It's just that the Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT reference cooler isn't much good from a noise perspective. It's small and relies on the fan to do the lion's share of the work, which is a fair bit, considering that the GeForce 7600 GT GPU is no slow mover when it comes to clock speeds - the GPU runs at 560MHz, and the 256MB of GDDR3 RAM runs at 700MHz (1.4GHz effective).
Although it has more than its fair share of bark, the 3D Fuzion delivers plenty of bite too. F.E.A.R. remains one of the toughest PC games out there for graphics hardware, but the 3D Fuzion handles it admirably, although, like all GeForce 7600 GTs, you need a big overclock to make it playable at 1,280 x 1,024 with AA and AF.
Quake 4 is easier than F.E.A.R. on hardware and, while you'd be pushing your luck to play with 4x AA at 1,280 x 1,024 - the minimum frame rate dropped to a less than smooth 20fps - with 2x AA, you'll have loads of frames to spare.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted looks great on the 3D Fuzion and, for the first time with a GeForce 7600 GT, it was playable with high AA at 1,280 x 1,024. This is probably due to a performance increase from Nvidia's new 90-series drivers, however, rather than the 3D Fuzion itself. Still, it's a remarkable result for such a cheap graphics card.
Obviously, for £130, high resolutions will be out of reach, and this proved to be the case with the 3D Fuzion. If you have a screen that supports anything higher than 1,280 x 1,024 then you really should be looking for a more powerful piece of graphics hardware, or you'll have to butcher your games' detail settings to get them running fast enough.
Overclocking the 3D Fuzion is where you'll get real value from it, and it responded very well. The GPU had no trouble stepping up to a mighty 610MHz, and the RAM was happy at 800MHz (1.6GHz effective), giving the 3D Fuzion a robust 10 per cent boost in performance. Given that the 3D Fuzion borders on delivering playable frame rates at many settings, overclocking really helps. If you're particularly brave, or just impervious to noise, the 3D Fuzion can also run in SLI mode, although you'd be better off going for a single GeForce 7900 GT rather than two GeForce 7600 GTs.
CONCLUSION
The 3D Fuzion is a cheap, no-nonsense mid-range graphics card for people who are more interested in a good deal than in (mostly superfluous) added extras.
However, as it's a standard card, it's very noisy. If noise isn't a consideration, and budget is, then the Inno3D 7600 GST is a cheaper bet; if you want peace and quiet, there's the totally silent Asus EN7600GT Silent. The 3D Fuzion isn't a bad buy, but it isn't distinctive enough to really tempt us.
Author: Phil Hartup
3D Fuzion GeForce 7600GT