XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition 740M 512mb
Test Setup and Notes
Published: 7th April 2008 | Source: XFX | Price: £114 |
Test Setup
To test all of our GPU's, we use a system that bottlenecks them as little as possible. Here's the trusty test rig:
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 @ 3.6GHz
Hitachi 7K160 HDD
Samsung DVD-RW
Please note that we have set the overclock on the Q6600 to be able to keep our test setup fairly consistent as the speeds of CPU's increase in the near future.
Benchmarks Used
Again, Overclock3D has revised it's benchmark setup to really test the new DX10 GPU's, while still including some old favourites in there:
Synthetic Benchmarks
Please note all Synthetic benchmarks were run at stock settings; just as the free ones would be, as well as 1920 x 1200, with 4 x AA added. All benchmarks are repeated three times for consistency.
FutureMark 3DMark03
FutureMark 3DMark05
FutureMark 3DMark06
Gaming Benchmarks
All gaming benchmarks are run through at a demanding stage of the game with no savepoints to affect FPS. These are manual run-though's approximating 3 minutes and all gaming benchmarks are run three times through the same points for consistency. We hope that this gives an accurate and interesting depiction of "real-life" gaming situations. Note the resolutions and AA each game was run at.
All gaming tests were performed in Windows Vista Ultimate, under DX10 if available.
Call of Duty 4 - 1920 x 1200, 4 x AA set in-game
Oblivion - 1920 x 1200, 4 x AA set in drivers and HDR set on in-game. Settings on "Ultra"
F.E.A.R. - 1920 x 1200, 4 x AA set in game, soft shadows enabled
Bioshock - 1920 x 1200, all settings to maximum in-game
Unreal Tournament 3 - all settings set to maximum in-game
Company of Heroes - DirectX10 patch. 1920 x 1200 with in game settings as here.
Crysis - 1680 x 1050, all in-game settings set to "High"
Again, all game run-through's are repeated three times for consistency and accuracy.
We hope that this represents a good band of games and benchmarks for people wanting a performance overview of gaming at this current time.
Cards tested
Here are the cards tested in the benchmarking:
XFX 9600 GT Alpha Dog XXX Edition 512mb
Asus 9600 GT. GPU: 650MHz. Memory: 900MHz (2000MHz). Stream processor clock: 1650MHz.
Asus 8800 GT Top Edition. GPU: 700Mhz. Memory: 1000MHz (2000MHz). Stream processor clock: 1650MHz
XFX 8800 GTS 512 XXX Alpha Dog Edition. GPU: 678Mhz. Memory: 986 (1972MHz). Stream processor clock: 1650MHz.
Powercolor HD3850. GPU: 720Mhz. Memory: 900MHz (1800MHz). Stream processor clock: 690Mhz.
MSI 8800GTX. GPU: 575Mhz. Memory: 900 (1800). Stream processor clock: 1350MHz.
Overclocking of all of the Nvidia cards tested was performed in the Nvidia drivers using the Ntune add-on.
Most Recent Comments
Nice review Matt.. Detailed as ever.
Neither of the 9600s are for me, but its good to see XFX bringing out an Alpha Dog editions as like you said it needed a little boost from stock to bring it in to a decent bracket.
Neither of the 9600s are for me, but its good to see XFX bringing out an Alpha Dog editions as like you said it needed a little boost from stock to bring it in to a decent bracket.
Great review m8. £114.. I mean we call it a "mid range" card, so arguably it`s a higher-mid-range for the 9 series, but the nVidia cards at present are all over the shop imo. - unless you forget about the 8 series completely.
Personally I like to compare the x6xx card with x6xx in the same series and the series below - only cos mid range is mid range - but it competes with the 8800GT in many respects, including it`s ability to clock better, and supposedly SLI better. `Would u SLI 88GT or 96GT ?`, many would say 96GT if that were the choice.
Then again also, XFX pushing the card very well imo.
Personally I like to compare the x6xx card with x6xx in the same series and the series below - only cos mid range is mid range - but it competes with the 8800GT in many respects, including it`s ability to clock better, and supposedly SLI better. `Would u SLI 88GT or 96GT ?`, many would say 96GT if that were the choice.
Then again also, XFX pushing the card very well imo.
good review 
medeocre card....hmm
medeocre card....hmm
It's a mid-range card, of course it's mediocre!
the 8600GT was quite exceptional, performance and feature wise
this is...medeocre, in comparison to the 9800GTX
wheras the 8600GT was just a cut down version of the 8800GTX
this is...medeocre, in comparison to the 9800GTX
wheras the 8600GT was just a cut down version of the 8800GTX
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by name='ionicle'
the 8600GT was quite exceptional, performance and feature wise
this is...medeocre, in comparison to the 9800GTX wheras the 8600GT was just a cut down version of the 8800GTX |
i do read them, but i also owned a 8600GT, great card it was too...
looking at the comparison of this to the 9800GTX it doesnt perform aswell as an 8600GT would when compared to an 8800GTS 320mb, IMO
unless you think i'm wrong ofcorse?
looking at the comparison of this to the 9800GTX it doesnt perform aswell as an 8600GT would when compared to an 8800GTS 320mb, IMO
unless you think i'm wrong ofcorse?
The 9600 GT performs a fair amount better than the 8600 GT would, even when taking into consideration the generation cards.
i dont doubt that, the point i was making, was the gap in performance between the 86xx and the 88xx is probably less than between the 96xx and the 98xx
And I don't think that's true...which is the point I was making
ahh, okay, so they're closing the gap performance wise? ...hmmmm....that doesnt make good business sense
they should all increase, all levels of cards, but only by the same amount, in the same...incriments....otherwise one level will get too high/too low, and merge into another...
they should all increase, all levels of cards, but only by the same amount, in the same...incriments....otherwise one level will get too high/too low, and merge into another...
Strange how the admiration for a review changes once you have written one.
Nice one dude great read.
Nice one dude great read.
Thanks mate
damn u guyz bang out reviews fast. nice review tho. wasn't likin the stock 9600 much but this looks better
CSS Valid
Clicky here