....................................................... EVGA 8600GT 256Mb DDR3
The 8600 Series has been out for some time now and since it's release I've seen it referred to as a "flop", "crap" "total garbage" and widely regarded as "sucking at DX9", I haven't seen this much hatred for a video card since the x1600. well without any further adieu, I bring to you, my totaly gay mini review, of the 8600gt, How will it score? How well does it overclock? OMG the suspense!! Hold on to you seats here we gooooooo!!
Benchmarks / Game results - (Game test done at stock 540/700),
Test System - E4300@2.9Ghz 3gbKingstonVR WinXP Forceware160.03,
All games straight off the install disc, No patches.
Most Fps measured with Fraps so maybe add 1 or 2fps to scores,
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3Dmark06 Default 1280x1024, Stock = 4752 Overclocked = 5868
Fear - 1600x1280 max+vsync 2xAA Performance Test Min 15 Avg 31 Max 61
Stalker - 1024x768 max + 1st notch of AA @30-40fps Avg30fps
Test Drive Unlimited - 1024x768 max+hdr 4xAA @35fps
Call of Duty 2 - max+vsync 1024x768 2xAA @25-50fps Avg=30fps
Oblivion - Ultra Quality Vsync 1280x1024 HDR
- Inside Dungeon = 60-85fps
- Outside = 40-70fps
- Being Attacked = 32fps
Company Of Heros - 1280x1024 Max+AA Performance Test
Avg-33fps Max-87fps Min-15fps
Half Life 2 - 2048x1536 Max+6xAA @80-160fps Avg=100fps
Supreme Commander - Max+2xAA 1024x768 @35-50fps (Depending on zoom/Units on screen)
Far Cry - Max+AASetOnHigh 1280x1024 25-60fps Avg30fps (Without AA 60-125Fps Avg80fps)
Battlefield 1942 - 2048x1536x32 Max @100fps
Flight Simulator X - 1280x1024x32 Ultra High +AF +Bloom @23-28Fps
(With AA = 19-23fps)
Need For Speed Carbon - 1024x768 max+4xAA 28-38fps Avg33fps
Rainbow Six Vegas - max@1024x768
- Outside - 29-60fps Avg45fps (Casino Rooftop)
- Inside building or tunnel - 55-70fps Avg60fps (Dam)
- Atacking/Being Attacked - 30-40Fps
- Smoke -22fps
Battlefeild 2 - Maxed + 8xAA @ 1280x1024 40-50Fps (2xAA 80-100fps)
Prey - 1280x1024 max 4xAA 30-60fps
(the ufo at the begining and the squasher machine brought fps to 22)
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Errors/Problems - I did run into one problem running 4xAA on Call of duty 2 (screen was blank) setting it to 2xAA fixed it, besides that All game's ran flawlessly without any problems,
Vsync - In Fear/oblivion/COD2 for some reason vsync made no impact on performance???? But enabling Vsync in HL2 did drop the fps to a fairly steady 85fps from it's regular wide jumpy range of 80-160fps.
Overclocking - At stock speeds the 8600gt runs at 540Mhz Core and 700Mhz DDR(1.4Ghz), Slowly raising the speed it started artifacting around 750 core / 920 mem, So I backed it down to 700/850 and tested the temperature, Normally it hit a max of 67c, when overclocked it went up to 71c a 4 degree increase, thats not bad and it should be fine running it at this speed, Overclocked you usually gain about 10 fps, allot of the games tested maxed out in 1024x768 @30fps, Overclocked you should be able to keep those max setting but raise to 1280x1024 @30fps.
Company Of Heros performance test OC comparison.(maxed)
Stock Speeds = Avg 33 Max 87 Min 15
Overclocked = Avg 43 Max 116 Min 19
Extreme Overclocking - If you want to get crazy and add some quality thermal paste maybe a new HS/F do some physical mods and pump a ton of volts into the thing it is possible to come somewhat close to 8800gts performance with this card, Maybe a fun challenge for some But that's getting pretty dirty and not for everyone.
Conclusion - After reading countless amounts of posts on how crappy this card is I was surprised With the results. it's cheap, It overclocks well, it maxes out games left and right and you will probably be able to (and I'm just guessing) play DX10 games on low, They wont look that great but at least you should still be able to play them. For that reason alone if your on a budget and don't mind playing at 1280x1024 I recommend getting this card over a higher end DX9 Card,
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