ATI HD 2600 Pro is a creation further than Nvidia 7600 GT. It's equivalent to 8600 GT. Both cards are no longer available, long as changed with new models. While 7600 GT was typical part, 2600 Pro was an underpowered edition of 2600 XT. Both parts are unable to run modern games at usable frame rates.

Direct X

1. In Direct X 9 games, 7600 GT executes better than 2600 Pro at low resolutions. At high resolutions they look to be the same. Any games made after 2007 run badly at any resolution above 1280x1024. No comparison can be made for Direct X 10 games, as Nvidia 7000 series does not support them. Though, older games like "Neverwinter Nights" and "Quake 3" must run on both cards. "Half-Life 2" will be playable at lower resolutions.

SLI & CrossFireX

2. When utilized in a dual-GPU setup, both cards will do best; up to 50 percent in many cases. This will push both cards into area where they capable play games at low resolutions. "World of Warcraft" must run at high resolutions and low settings. "Call of Duty 4" must be playable at low resolutions.

Video Performance

3. HD Radeon 2600 Pro will make high definition video with some to no artifacts, where 7600 GT will have problems with it when joint with slower CPU's. With standard definition video, both must execute very well. Both cards were in first generation of cards from their makers that could be bought with HDMI ports for direct connection to a high definition television. Some of 7600 GT variants even had ability to output HDMI audio through an internal connection to sound card.

Modern games

4. With some exclusion many games created after 2007 will have problems on these cards, still when using dual-GPU. Anything that needs Direct X 10.1 or higher will be unplayable, as both cards need hardware support to play those games. Thinking how fast the graphics market is moving at the moment, expect these cards to be entirely unusable for any game made after the end of 2009.

Suggested Alternatives

5. Though a high-end card would stretch budget to breaking point, these cards must still be retired. Any card on low end of typical as of late 2009 must allow changing either of these cards for less than $150. Some of good cards at $90 price point must still best these two relative dinosaurs. It's time to let them go.