ASUS Extreme N7300GS GeForce 7300 GS Graphics Card Review!

Dashken · 5th Feb 2006, 12:59 AM

While the focus is always on the sexy, high-end cards, the reality is that most cards being sold today are lower-end cards. Today, we will take a look at the latest entry-level card to come out of the ASUS factory - the ASUS Extreme N7300GS.

Based on the new NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS GPU, this card will be simple and affordable. But just how fast is it? Will you be able to play 3D games even using this entry-level card? Read on and find out!

Link : ASUS Extreme N7300GS GeForce 7300 GS Graphics Card Review!

kayFX · 5th Feb 2006, 02:48 AM

you didn't mention the game resolution for the benchmark comparison..

Quote:

If you are not particular about high frame rates or high resolutions when you play games, this card will serve you well. But don't expect miracles from it. It's positioned as an entry-level card with a price target of only $99.

800*600 or 1024*768..

Adrian Wong · 5th Feb 2006, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayFX

you didn't mention the game resolution for the benchmark comparison..

800*600 or 1024*768..

Sorry about that. All games were tested at 1024x768, except for Doom 3 which ran at 800x600.

Just added that to the Testing Methodology page. Thanks for the heads up.

playahata123789 · 5th Feb 2006, 12:08 PM

awesome review, if they go sli with this card (heres to hoping) then ill be getting this card.

Max_87 · 5th Feb 2006, 01:18 PM

Even if 7300GS can SLI, I don't see any point going 7300GS SLI. It's still better to stick to one faster card.

Adrian Wong · 5th Feb 2006, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Max_87

Even if 7300GS can SLI, I don't see any point going 7300GS SLI. It's still better to stick to one faster card.

That's very true.

Olle P · 6th Feb 2006, 04:10 AM

Bad move by Asus to name this card "Extreme"!
I know they use that name for the entire range, but still... this card isn't extreme, and it's not targeted at those that want to buy extreme.
The framerates presented show it to be useless for playing F.E.A.R. and HL2, even at moderate settings. The sales pitch from nVidia thus proven wrong (as expected).
Btw, what type of filtering and FSAA was used for the tests?

Given that you used high end CPU and RAM for these tests one could also asume that there will be a slight further performance decrease when running the card in a more low-to-mid range computer, as should be the norm for these cards.

It would also be nice to see how spending slightly more money to buy a card based on GeForce 6600 (with 128MB RAM) would influence the performance.

Cheers
Olle

Chai · 6th Feb 2006, 01:46 PM

FEAR is unplayable (Everything is on, except for soft shadow, even 7800 GTX struggles with that on, and medium textures of course), but HL2, I think there are issues with the benchmarking (already mentioned in the review).

Most of the games are at highest settings, including Far Cry, HL2, Doom3 (High quality, compressed textures). Only FEAR was set to medium textures because X300 wouldn't run due to lack of memory.

Adrian Wong · 6th Feb 2006, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olle P

Bad move by Asus to name this card "Extreme"!
I know they use that name for the entire range, but still... this card isn't extreme, and it's not targeted at those that want to buy extreme.
The framerates presented show it to be useless for playing F.E.A.R. and HL2, even at moderate settings. The sales pitch from nVidia thus proven wrong (as expected).
Btw, what type of filtering and FSAA was used for the tests?

Given that you used high end CPU and RAM for these tests one could also asume that there will be a slight further performance decrease when running the card in a more low-to-mid range computer, as should be the norm for these cards.

It would also be nice to see how spending slightly more money to buy a card based on GeForce 6600 (with 128MB RAM) would influence the performance.

Cheers
Olle

Actually, ASUS calls ALL of their graphics cards Extreme. It's just their brand name for their graphics cards. It doesn't make sense for them to change it just for a single card.

TBH, if I was in charge of naming graphics cards, I would call them Extreme too. It's just marketing, pure and simple.

Would you buy a card that's called the ASUS Budget N7300GS or the ASUS Low-End N7300GS?

Yes, there should be a reduction in frame rates with slower CPUs and less memory (naturally). But the reduction should not be that significant. After all, the scores are card-limited, not CPU-limited.

Yeah, for gamers, it would be best to spend a little extra (50% more) to buy a mid-range, older gen card like the GeForce 6600.

But if you only want to play Sims or Civilizations, this card should be more than enough. Heck, it even runs Doom 3 just fine.

Market-wise, you may not think it's worth buying a low-end card like this. But ATI still sells tons of X300 cards which are slower than this new card. My guess is lots of people will still buy low-end cards like this card.. or the X1300 from ATI.

Chai · 6th Feb 2006, 02:10 PM

P4 630 is not exactly a high end CPU. Any Athlon 64 can easily whoops its ass.

And the ability to connect to a HDTV is something most low end cards can't offer.

I'm not a fan of low end cards, but this card still serves its purpose, like it or not.

5th Feb 2006, 12:59 AM	#1 (permalink)
Dashken Administrator! Join Date: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Penang Posts: 30,227 Reputation: 2352 Rep Power: 60	ASUS Extreme N7300GS GeForce 7300 GS Graphics Card Review! While the focus is always on the sexy, high-end cards, the reality is that most cards being sold today are lower-end cards. Today, we will take a look at the latest entry-level card to come out of the ASUS factory - the ASUS Extreme N7300GS. Based on the new NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS GPU, this card will be simple and affordable. But just how fast is it? Will you be able to play 3D games even using this entry-level card? Read on and find out! Link : ASUS Extreme N7300GS GeForce 7300 GS Graphics Card Review! __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.2Ghz \| ASUS P5B-E Plus \| G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 \| 6 HDDs (2TB+ only ) \| NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| \| Intel C2Q Q9450 \| MSI P45 Neo3-FR \| 2 x 2GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Gold Edition \| 1 x Seagate 250GB HDD \| 2 x Seagate 750GB HDD \| 3 x Seagate 1TB HDD \| NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT \| Cooler Master CM690 chassis \| Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 550W PSU \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Blog : Dashken's I-Blog Gallery : Dashken's I-Paintings

5th Feb 2006, 01:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
Max_87 h@x! Join Date: 11 Aug 2003 Location: the land of bandwidth cap Posts: 11,430 Reputation: 2090 Rep Power: 38	Even if 7300GS can SLI, I don't see any point going 7300GS SLI. It's still better to stick to one faster card. __________________ Max_87 Tech ARP http://www.techarp.com Dell Studio 15 / P7350 / 3GB DDR2 / Radeon HD 3450 / 250GB 7200RPM / 15" @ 1920x1200 E8600 @ 4.4GHz 1.36v / Asus P5E3 Deluxe / 2x2GB DDR3 / Radeon X1800 / Barracuda 7200.9 120GB / 7200.10 320GB x2 / Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS / WD6400AAKS x2 / Dell 2007FP x2 / Silverstone ST56F

6th Feb 2006, 04:10 AM	#7 (permalink)
Olle P Active Join Date: 12 Jan 2005 Location: Sweden Posts: 815 Reputation: 315 Rep Power: 8	Here are my comments... Bad move by Asus to name this card "Extreme"! I know they use that name for the entire range, but still... this card isn't extreme, and it's not targeted at those that want to buy extreme. The framerates presented show it to be useless for playing F.E.A.R. and HL2, even at moderate settings. The sales pitch from nVidia thus proven wrong (as expected). Btw, what type of filtering and FSAA was used for the tests? Given that you used high end CPU and RAM for these tests one could also asume that there will be a slight further performance decrease when running the card in a more low-to-mid range computer, as should be the norm for these cards. It would also be nice to see how spending slightly more money to buy a card based on GeForce 6600 (with 128MB RAM) would influence the performance. Cheers Olle __________________ If you're not living on the edge you take up too much space... Asus A8E-N, Athlon64 X2 4600+, 1024MB Kingston value, XFX GF7800GT, Seagate 160GB/8MB

6th Feb 2006, 01:46 PM	#8 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 27,870 Reputation: 4630 Rep Power: 81	FEAR is unplayable (Everything is on, except for soft shadow, even 7800 GTX struggles with that on, and medium textures of course), but HL2, I think there are issues with the benchmarking (already mentioned in the review). Most of the games are at highest settings, including Far Cry, HL2, Doom3 (High quality, compressed textures). Only FEAR was set to medium textures because X300 wouldn't run due to lack of memory. __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

6th Feb 2006, 02:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 27,870 Reputation: 4630 Rep Power: 81	P4 630 is not exactly a high end CPU. Any Athlon 64 can easily whoops its ass. And the ability to connect to a HDTV is something most low end cards can't offer. I'm not a fan of low end cards, but this card still serves its purpose, like it or not. __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

5th Feb 2006, 12:08 PM	#4 (permalink)
playahata123789 Super Active Join Date: 11 Dec 2003 Location: TEXAS Posts: 1,881 Reputation: 40 Rep Power: 7	awesome review, if they go sli with this card (heres to hoping) then ill be getting this card.