XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition 740M 512mb

Introduction
 
We took the first look at the 9600 GT not so long ago and weren’t too impressed with the advance of the series compared to ATI’s offering. Of course, this card was a stock clocked example and so was outperformed by the HD3850 we used.
 
This time we’re looking at an overclocked example from XFX, one of Nvidia’s premier partners. Their XXX Alpha Edition 9600 GT is clocked at a huge 740MHz with a 1750MHz shader clock and 2000MHz RAM clock, which is pretty special.
 
 
Packaging
 
The packaging on the XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition is a little different to what we’ve seen from XFX before and actually looks pretty funky. Still featured is the “Alpha Dog”  but inset in a pretty cool design.
 
xfx 9600 gt packaging  xfx 9600 gt box rear
 
It’s certainly an eye-catching design and will definitely stand out on shelves.
 
inside box
 
The packaging on the inside of the box looks like it will protect the card with no problems at all.
 
 
Package
 
The package that comes with the card is an impressive affair. We have:
 
* XFX Quick install guide
* I’m Gaming Do Not Disturb” door sign
* Tips & Techniques sheet
* S-Video guide
* Driver CD
* Company of Heroes full Game including DirectX 10 patch CD
* 2 x DVI to VGA converters
* 1 x DVI to HDMI converter
* S-Video to Component converter
* S-Video to S-Video converter
* Dual Molex to PCI-e power converter
 
**Please note that from 11th April the card will be bundled with Assassins Creed PC**
 
xfx 9600 gt bundle
 
A full hardware bundle is complimented by an AAA title in Company of Heroes, along with the DX10 patch for the game. A very nice bundle which is what some people look for in a top range card.
 
With the news that the card will be bundled with the excellent Assassins creed from 11th April, the bundle just got even better!
 
Specifications
 
 
Clock rate
740 MHz
Dual Link DVI – Supporting digital output up to 2560×1600
Yes (Dual)
Memory Clock
2.0 GHz
Shader Clock
1750 MHz
Chipset
GeForce 9600 GT
Memory
512 MB
Bus Type
PCI-E 2.0
Memory Type
DDR3
Memory Bus
256-bit
Output
HDMI w/ HDMI upgrade kit (included
Highlighted Features
HDCP Ready , RoHS , TV Out , SLI ready , Dual DVI Out , HDTV ready , Vista
 
Features
128-bit floating point High Dynamic-Range (HDR)
Twice the precision of prior generations for incredibly realistic lighting effects—now with support for anti-aliasing.

Built for Microsoft® Windows Vista™
NVIDIA’s third-generation GPU architecture built for Windows Vista give users the best possible experience with the 3D graphical user interface in the upcoming operation system (OS) from Microsoft.

Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
Blazing-fast RAMDACs support dual QXGA displays with ultra-high, ergonomic refresh rates–up to [email protected]

Dual DVI Support
Able to drive the industry’s largest and highest resolution flat-panel displays.

Dual Link DVI
Capable of supporting digital output for high resolution monitors (up to 2560×1600).

Full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 Support
World’s first DirectX 10 GPU with full Shader Model 4.0 support delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects.

High-Definition H.264, MPEG-2 and WMV Hardware Acceleration2
Smoothly playback H.264, MPEG-2, and WMV video—including WMV HD—with minimal CPU usage so the PC is free to do other work.

NVIDIA® ForceWare® Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
Delivers a proven record of compatibility, reliability, and stability with the widest range of games and applications. ForceWare provides the best out-of-box experience and delivers continuous performance and feature updates over the life of NVIDIA GeForce® GPUs.

NVIDIA® Lumenex™ Engine
Delivers stunning image quality and floating point accuracy at ultra-fast frame rates.

NVIDIA® nView® Multi-Display Technology
Advanced technology provides the ultimate in viewing flexibility and control for multiple monitors.

NVIDIA® Quantum Effects™ Technology
Advanced shader processors architected for physics computation enable a new level of physics effects to be simulated and rendered on the GPU—all while freeing the CPU to run the game engine and AI.

NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
Delivers up to 2x the performance of a single GPU configuration for unparalleled gaming experiences by allowing two graphics cards to run in parallel. The must-have feature for performance PCI Express graphics, SLI dramatically scales performance on over 60 top PC games.

NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
Delivers up to 2x the performance of a single graphics card configuration for unequaled gaming experiences by allowing two cards to run in parallel. The must-have feature for performance PCI Express® graphics, SLI technology dramatically scales performance on today’s hottest games.

NVIDIA® unified architecture with GigaThread™ technology
Massively multi-threaded architecture supports thousands of independent, simultaneous threads, providing extreme processing efficiency in advanced, next generation shader programs.

OpenGLâ„¢ 2.1 Optimizations and Support
Ensures top-notch compatibility and performance for OpenGL applications.

 
Moving on….