Hardware Zone, X-bit Labs, AnandTech, and AMDZone review the GeForce 8600 GTS (~US$229), an Nvidia graphics card platform that features the G84 GPU core, 675MHz core clock, DirectX 10 support, 32 pipelines, 0.08 manufacturing process, 2000MHz DDR3 memory clock, 128-bit DDR memory bus, 32.0GB/s memory bandwidth, SLI support, and PCI Express x16 graphics bus technology.
"To sum up, the GeForce 8600 GTS is still struggling against budget high-end cards from the previous generations, like NVIDIA's own GeForce 7900 GS and ATI's Radeon X1950 PRO. These cards have a superior 256-bit memory bus and in many cases, overclocked and with 512MB of frame buffer. These buffed versions will easily beat the GeForce 8600 GTS in most games and 3D applications now. The 128-bit memory bandwidth of the GeForce 8600 GTS is probably quite a serious limitation here. Of course, it may not be fair to compare these cards directly but with the low prices of these former high end cards, the market has placed them head to head and in some cases, these cards are much cheaper than the new GeForce 8600 GTS (US$199 - US$229)." [Hardware Zone]
"So, those, who already own a GeForce 7900 GS or a Radeon X1950 Pro, will hardly find it useful to switch to the GeForce 8600 GTS just now: performance in current games with current drivers does not really impress and it remains to be seen whether the 8600 GTS is a good performer in DirectX 10-based games. Still, the new PureVideo HD engine may be just what the doctor ordered for video enthusiasts (it should be kept in mind, however, that at press time Nvidia only guaranteed new PureVideo HD features for Windows Vista operating system)." [X-bit Labs]
" NVIDIA's GeForce 8600 GTS and GT simply do not perform any better than similarly priced hardware from AMD. GeForce 7 Series hardware priced at $150 and $200 also performs similarly to G84 based parts, outperforming the newcomer in some games and tying or trailing in others. Certainly NVIDIA can determine the value of their hardware as they see fit, and they have a good argument for pricing the 8600 series. Other hardware at the $150 and $200 price points perform similarly, so their new hardware is mostly worth the price." [AnandTech]
"It will have to come down to a personal decision for this one but if you're looking for the best performer for the money the GeForce 7950GT might be the better graphics card to look at for now. If you want the better image quality, DX10 support, and H.264 decoding power than the 8600 GTS is an excellent card. We personally recommend saving up some more cash and going for the GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB for about $50 more, though we understand that is quite a bit for some people. We can fault Foxconn though for one of the rare disappointing graphics cards from Nvidia and they have done a great job with it." [AMDZone]
As it turns out, if you already have a GeForce 79xx or Radeon X1950 Pro card, changing to a 8600 GTS is not worth it yet. If you are *really* itching to get a new card though, you would be better off getting a GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB card.
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