GeForce 8600 GT & 8500 GT Reviewed

HardwareZone benchmarks the GeForce 8600 GT & 8500 GT graphics cards.

The GeForce 8500 GT 256MB features the G86 core, 0.08 microns Manufacturing Process, 450MHz Core clock, 16 Stream Processors (operating at 900MHz), 800MHz DDR2 Memory clock, 128-bit memory bus, 12.8GB/s memory bandwidth, and 1 x Dual-Link DVI output.

The 8600 GT 256MB features the G84 core, 0.08 microns Manufacturing Process, 540MHz Core clock, 32 Stream Processors (operating at 1190MHz), 1400MHz DDR3 Memory clock, 128-bit memory bus, 22.4GB/s memory bandwidth, and 2 x Dual-Link DVI output.

"... the GT variant was pretty fast against the other comparisons, which showed a distinct performance lead of up to 20% at some resolutions. This gap widened in 3DMark06 to more than 30%. So far, the designated heir to the successful GeForce 7600 GT seemed to be doing all right. It was a different story for the GeForce 8500 GT as it struggled against its rivals. ... it was depressing to find the GeForce 8500 GT not doing much better than the GeForce 7300 GT, NVIDIA's previous entry level card. At least, the GeForce 8600 GT managed to score higher than the previous mid-range generation." [HardwareZone.com]

In the article, the 8600GT and 8500GT cards were compared with the 8600GTS, 7600GT, X1650 XT, 7600GS, and 7300GT. As expected, the 8600GT was no match to a 8600GTS. Even if the 8600GT was overclocked, it still lagged behind the 8600GTS. The 8600GT, however, was faster than the X1650 XT (the fastest X1650 variant).

Performance of the 8500GT lagged behind the 7600GS, and was just a little faster than a 7300GT.

It's interesting to see that the X1650 XT and the 7600GT were head-to-head in the benchmarks. I actually saw a GeCube X1950 Pro 256DDR3 card that was just US$13 more expensive than the GeCube X1650 XT 256DDR3, so the X1950 Pro is what I would suggest if you are really interested in a Radeon based card. (And care less about DX10.)

So, as tested, the 8600GT performs better, and is currently cheaper (depending on where you look) than the X1650 XT. If you are interested in the 7600GT, I'd say target for the 8600GT instead - it is faster, and also features DX10.

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