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"First+only mainstream DX10 card, but the price doesn't match the performance, atleast in DX9 games."
on by sticuPros Affordable DX10 support graphic card that shows promises in the future
Cons 128 bit and only 32 pipelines cause major decrease in performance compared to other high-end cards
Summary With the price below $200, 8600 GTS is an affordable card with more promises in DX10 world. But in DX9 world, this card just dont have much appeals over high-end to mainstream cards of the old generation.
The driver is still somewhat buggy and for some games such as World of Warcraft, this card will lagg behind 7900GS and even to 7600GS. Although in some other games 8600GTS will do perform better then 7900GS.
This card will not be an upgrade for most people with decend card but for those who are buying a brand new computer in budget, this card does holds some promises.
My recommendation is to buy 8800GTS which costs around $300 with 320 bits and 96 pipelines. It performs atleast three time better then 8600 -
"Great performance until the capacitors fail"
on by gnhossPros Great gaming performance, especially in SLI mode.
Cons Cheap capacitors (Sacon FZ series) exploded on both cards less than two years after purchase. I don't overclock and am a very intermittent gamer (once or twice a month for a few hours).
Summary I love the features and performance of this card but I think it's better to look for high-quality manufacturer to avoid the hassle of swapping out capacitors (or video cards for most of us) less than a year after the warranty expires. To their credit, eVGA replaced the first blown card even though it was a few months out of warranty. They refused to replace the second card when it failed just two months after the first. The RMA replacement card has better caps.
I'm beginning to wish I hadn't gone with an SLI board and wondering when its caps will begin to fail too--it's also eVGA brand, but using different (hopefully better) capacitors. -
"ok for value but there is hope"
on by samjohn219Pros good for next gen games
Cons iffy on higher end games
Summary the biggest test of this card was playing crysis.
Pros- it never crashed on me, i was able to keep all settings on high except shadows and anti-ailiasing. It plays pretty smooth.
Cons- I wasnt able to turn on any anti-aliasing at all. to me the shadows are what makes it look real good, but that slows it down a bit.
I did a little research on the DirectX 10 which this card is compatible with and i found out that DX10 significantly improves the performance of any card that supports it. When the memory on the card is full, DX10 spills on over to system RAM keeping the game running smoother. I'm not sure to what extent, but DX10 also improves a lot of other details like shaders too. In the end DX10 should really help this card perform better. Only downside DX10 works only with Vista.
I really thought i got my money's worth. I have yet to try it on Vista. If you have this card I don't think you'd have to be worried about better cards. OF COURSE MOST OF THE PERFORMANCE DEPENDS ON YOUR OTHER SYSTEM COMPONENTS. -
"Very fast and quiet"
on by xrd9Pros blows 7600GT w/SLi away
Cons negative reviews
Summary The 7600GT does not even come close to this one, even w/SLi enabled.The stock fan is much quieter then what the 7600GT is provided with. BF2 is smooth and scrolls right along, a little dated but fun to play. why cnet would compare this with an ATI card not even released?? not a good praise for anyone, childish.
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"great deal for people on budget"
on by alexander224Pros great performance for price.
Cons none that i know of.
Summary I picked mine up for under $100 and will probably run an sli setup for less than 200 so great deal when you think about.
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