nVidia 8600 GTS and 8600 GT - Foxconn and XFX
The Cards cont - Foxconn 8600 GTS
Published: 18th May 2007 | Source: XFX | Price: |
Foxconn are a huge supplier of motherboards to both OEM's and system builders and when they stepped into the GPU world it sent a few ripples through nVidia's other AIB's. They are targeting their cards at the enthusiast with some pretty modern art coloured designs which personally I find pretty funky.
Our table again:
| XFX "XXX" 8600 GTS | Foxconn 8600 GTS | Reference 8600 GT | XFX 8600 GT | |
| Stream Processors | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| Core Clock (MHz) | 730 | 675 | 540 | 620 |
| Shader Clock (MHz) | 1595 | 1450 | 1180 | 1355 |
| Memory Clock (MHz) | 1130 | 1000 | 700 | 800 |
| Memory Amount | 256 GDDR3 | 256 GDDR3 | 256mb GDDR3 | 256mb GDDR3 |
| Memory Interface | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) | 32 | 32 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec) | 10.8 | 10.8 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
Package
As mentioned above the packaging Foxconn have used for the 8600 GTS is pretty damn funky. Bright colours and comic luna landscapes appeal to my "inner child" making it a kind of good fun box to look at on the shelves.
Foxconn have added a whole load of writing on the back, which I feel makes it look a little cluttered - although information on a box is always a good thing.
Package
Foxconn have added quite a lot into the package for this card. Included is:
* Restore IT 7.0 CD
* Virtual Drive Pro 10.0 CD
* Driver CD
* FOXCONN proprietary “Foxware Overclock Utility”
* Manual
* S-Video to component out
* Dual Molex to PCI-e 6 Pin power adapter
* DVI to VGA adapter
The packaging is compartmentalised like many other cards we've seen which is highly effective at keeping the card safe and sound.
Package
Foxconn have added quite a lot into the package for this card. Included is:
* Restore IT 7.0 CD
* Virtual Drive Pro 10.0 CD
* Driver CD
* FOXCONN proprietary “Foxware Overclock Utility”
* Manual
* S-Video to component out
* Dual Molex to PCI-e 6 Pin power adapter
* DVI to VGA adapter
The package is a little strange with no games or benchmarking tools included, but the added software is a nice touch. Remember this card is retailing at around £130 and so Foxconn are placing the bundle accordingly. All in all not bad at all.
The card itself
Again Foxconn have gone with nVidia's stock solution on the card which again isn't a very bad decision. The card is colourful and pretty exciting to look at with a weird and wonderful pattern.
Again Foxconn use nearly all solid state capacitors on the card with a green PCB and top-quality components throughout. This is keeping up with their excellent reputation of making solid performing motherboards so they know what they're doing. Again I wish more manufacturers would stay away from green PCB's, but then I am always a fan of black.
Again the same as the XFX card the power is at the end of the card. Notice the good quality caps again.
Specifications
Let's take a look at what Foxconn boasts of it's card:
Following nVidia's spec with this card, Foxconn are soon to be releasing an overclocked card too, but we haven't got our hands on one of those.
The Cooler
Again Foxconn have gone with the stock nVidia cooler and again I say this is a decent solution, not amazing but pretty smart. As this card wasn't clocked as high as the XFX card it was slightly cooler with 50°C idle and 72°C load (ambient again ~ 21.3°C). Basically the cooler does it's job and you can't argue a huge amount.
The card itself
Again Foxconn have gone with nVidia's stock solution on the card which again isn't a very bad decision. The card is colourful and pretty exciting to look at with a weird and wonderful pattern.
Again utilising the features of the 8600 GTS core Foxconn have gone for dual Dual Link DVI with HDCP. Nice to see mid-range cards getting the features they should do.
Specifications
Let's take a look at what Foxconn boasts of it's card:
| * GPU： NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS * Core： G84 * CoreClock： 675MHz * RAMDACs： 400MHz * Memory Type： GDDR3 * Memory Size： 256MB * Memory Clock： 2000MHz * Shader units: 32 (added MK) * Memory Interface： 128-bit * Graphics Bus Technology： PCI Express x16 * Cooler： Fansink * Connectors： Dual Dual-Link DVI + HDTV-Out * Special Features： NVIDIA® PureVideo™ HD Support * NVIDIA® SLI™ Support * Dual Dual-Link DVI Support * HDTV Out Support * Windows Vista™ Support |
Following nVidia's spec with this card, Foxconn are soon to be releasing an overclocked card too, but we haven't got our hands on one of those.
The Cooler
Again Foxconn have gone with the stock nVidia cooler and again I say this is a decent solution, not amazing but pretty smart. As this card wasn't clocked as high as the XFX card it was slightly cooler with 50°C idle and 72°C load (ambient again ~ 21.3°C). Basically the cooler does it's job and you can't argue a huge amount.
Fan noise really ramps up at load but idles fine - it's a bit of an annoying noise too so silent PC fans may want to budget for an Arctic Cooling S2 or something similar.
Now XFX again...this time in 8600 GT flavour.
Now XFX again...this time in 8600 GT flavour.
Most Recent Comments
Nice roundup Kemp, good show.
looks cool, i just wish XFX had done the same with the GTS as the GT, the black PCB does look damn nice
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='ionicle'
looks cool, i just wish XFX had done the same with the GTS as the GT, the black PCB does look damn nice
|
Agreed, it really makes the card feel a little bit more special.
However at a £100 price-point you can't complain about the 8600 GT
However at a £100 price-point you can't complain about the 8600 GT
Ye the Black does make it look good maybe in future they will make more cards that use different colours:rotfl: :rotfl:
Amazing review! Really good read!
They are very nice cards.. darn small!
They are very nice cards.. darn small!
An XP driver bringing these capabilities is currently being developed by nVidia.
A certain teacher peering over my shoulder asks if this should read Vista ?
An excellent pov of the midrange cards imo, great point about the performance per $$$ too. Scope for self improvement varying too.
I can see me buying some of these for people, and to be fair based on the review I wouldn`t necessarilly buy the same card for all of them
Also included is full hardware decoding of H.264 video as well as VC-1 content. I could not test this in this review as I am using Windows XP Professional for the tests and not Vista. An XP driver bringing these capabilities is currently being developed by nVidia.
Nope
Trust me, I went through this thing for about an hour Haha nice1, she won`t like that
EDIT: edited
EDIT: edited
For one thing, I think that should be he For another, he asked me to do so (well, look through it anyways)
For another, he asked me to do so (well, look through it anyways)Meh I`m turning the lappy off, if she wants to post she can get her own freakin account!
Yes thanks to WC who managed to take over an hour reading through and checking the review at 1AM this morning!! Honestly I like my sleep
No really cheers mate
Hope you guys liked the read
No really cheers mate
Hope you guys liked the read
I don't know what ATI is doing but nVidia is about to eat into a big portion of their pie. If those prices equate to about $100 to $150 they really are good bang for the buck. That said, I myself wouldn't settle for less than a 8800GTS 320MB, seems like the best card out there for the money; 8600 cards do get a lot chopped off, so while the price is agreeable to the performance it may be a bit too little for a gamer to accept.
TJS
TJS
Nice reviews there
The only thing I don't get is if they really are worth buying? Going from say a 6800gs card and up to 150quid to spend, is it worth going for a 7900ish or 8600gts or even a 8800gts?
I know theres going to be no difinative answer for that, as either card is a big step over my current one. Any thoughts?
Cheers
The only thing I don't get is if they really are worth buying? Going from say a 6800gs card and up to 150quid to spend, is it worth going for a 7900ish or 8600gts or even a 8800gts?
I know theres going to be no difinative answer for that, as either card is a big step over my current one. Any thoughts?
Cheers
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='Kempez'
Yes thanks to WC who managed to take over an hour reading through and checking the review at 1AM this morning!! Honestly I like my sleep
No really cheers mate Hope you guys liked the read |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='ali_james'
Nice reviews there
The only thing I don't get is if they really are worth buying? Going from say a 6800gs card and up to 150quid to spend, is it worth going for a 7900ish or 8600gts or even a 8800gts? I know theres going to be no difinative answer for that, as either card is a big step over my current one. Any thoughts? Cheers |
What I find interesting, pricewize, is that these cards are hitting the scene @.. well I`ve just had a quick look-see and u can get an MSI 8600 something for £90, up to an XFX XT £150.
Now each step-up in price seems to co-incide with a big of a clock step-up as standard to the cards, and around midway ~£120 - are cards that u could probably pur-chase and clock much better than the more expensive ones.
But - think again - EXPENSIVE, we`re only talking about £30.
It seems to me that market-wize they`re making these cards for a spread of purchasers that would like to say their card is `overclocked` (although straight out of the plastic, but it sounds good) ; overclockers who will buy a kinda midrange and do the rest themselves ; and of course the cheapest I can find section.
What supprizes me most tho is that on release the prices are as low as they are. AND u can see 8800s coming down... is a G90 based card that close ? or are they really trying to spank ATi ?
I`m sorry, but I only see 3 choices of card for machines I may build:
1) heavy gameplayer - 8800
2) likes games, plays quite a bit, nothing intense - on the net alot - 8600
3) desktop - cheapo or onboard tbh. but £90... 8600 over an 8500 ??
Havent even given ATi a thought ??!?
Now each step-up in price seems to co-incide with a big of a clock step-up as standard to the cards, and around midway ~£120 - are cards that u could probably pur-chase and clock much better than the more expensive ones.
But - think again - EXPENSIVE, we`re only talking about £30.
It seems to me that market-wize they`re making these cards for a spread of purchasers that would like to say their card is `overclocked` (although straight out of the plastic, but it sounds good) ; overclockers who will buy a kinda midrange and do the rest themselves ; and of course the cheapest I can find section.
What supprizes me most tho is that on release the prices are as low as they are. AND u can see 8800s coming down... is a G90 based card that close ? or are they really trying to spank ATi ?
I`m sorry, but I only see 3 choices of card for machines I may build:
1) heavy gameplayer - 8800
2) likes games, plays quite a bit, nothing intense - on the net alot - 8600
3) desktop - cheapo or onboard tbh. but £90... 8600 over an 8500 ??
Havent even given ATi a thought ??!?
I bought the XFX 8600GTS standard version clocked at 675MHz and it is a big improvement for playing games in 1280x1024 compared to my previous 7800GT.
You can OC the XFX 8600GTS very easily at the same clock as the XXX version 730MHz and even push the GPU up to 775MHz (similar OC Kemp did to the XXX version in the review), thus you can save some bucks on the purchase.
You can OC the XFX 8600GTS very easily at the same clock as the XXX version 730MHz and even push the GPU up to 775MHz (similar OC Kemp did to the XXX version in the review), thus you can save some bucks on the purchase.
CSS Valid
Have a read