I love my 8600! Thread (COD4 SCREENIES!!! UPDATED OFTEN!!) Join the 8600 Union!!

UPDATED OFTEN!!! NEW SCREENSHOTS!!! THE 8600 GT THREAD!!!

**FIRST JOIN THE 8600 UNION!***

**LOCATED @ http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/read_article.php?topic_id=25926567&union_id=14328 ***

So I just upgraded from

p4 2.6

9800pro aiw

1 gig ddr

to

vista

AMD 64 X2 4000+

XFX 8600 GT XXX Edition

2 gigs 667 ddr

just a much needed upgrade....well I bought some new games that my 9800 couldn't really handle, and played some games that the 9800 could play alright....woozers....I'll let th screenshots do the talking for me.

F.E.A.R. Combat @ High around 80-90 fps

Insurgency Mod for HL2 Everything @ high 60ish fps

COD2 Everthing high textures extra 30ish fps...(playable but a lil low...but the old vid card couldn't really play it with dx9 settings so im happy)

Day of Defeat: Source Everything High above 60 fps

GRAW 2 Everything High (well almost...haha medium textures) Solid 30 fps average...plays great

Rainbow Six: Vegas....now we get to the part where I cry...sob..in SP I play this pretty much maxed out...I think with a lil lower resolution, but not sure...in MP I use medium shadows...SP I get avg 20 fps MP 20-30 fps...which sounds low, but actually plays well...just like UE2.5 the game plays well @ low frame rates compared to some. I bought this card pretty much to play MOH:Airborne, and BIA:Hell's Highway, as well as the onslaught of UE3 games coming out!...I knew I couldn't play this max, but I was hoping for a lil better performance than I have. But whatever, I wouldn't even be able to play UE3 games with the ole 9800...but just look how pretty it is...ooooooohhhh ahhhhhh...i just hope that MOH etc will have more options for tuning the graphics..R6:V only has a few options.

(UPDATED)Bioshock (Demo) - Everything set to high good resolution for my LCD...decent framerates 30-20...very very playable @ 20 fps...drops below some, but again its very playable. Just like R6 this game if even fun @ low fps.

UPDATED: Medal Of Honor: Airborne

Pretty much the same fps as Bioshock, and R6. Same engine...maybe slightly better...Looks and plays great! FPS from 40-20 sometimes lower, but very very playable at those low rates...I'm loving this engine. Settings all set to high...resolution is like the 700x1000ish setting, can't figure out how to change it to a higher one though. The demo poped up this thing with all the settings, but it doesn't pop up anymore...anywho...lets take a look at the pictures...

UPDATED: ET: Quake Wars - WOW, this plays amazing. Plays better than anything other recent game...I fps doesn't drop below 30 at the default high settings @ 1200x1024 or whatever...only thing missing from maxing out is AA, which this game doesn't need it, compared to MOH:A, R6:V, AKA UT3 games...which won't even allow AA. This game looks and runs great, ground textures are not so hot, but the rest is great. Very similar to BF2, but more of the gameplay of the last ET game...the free one...fast paced, and I have no clue what im doing. Some very cool stuff in here...I wish I didn't buy the retail of MOH:A because it runs poorly in MP, and got this instead...I'll have to rearange some funding, but this game is great. I know its on an older engine, but its updated so it looks sharp.

Team Fortress 2: Wow...plays great, looks great. All settings on high only 2AA 2AF, but room for more. FPS stays around 50-60 Nuff said...lets see some screeeeeennnieeeesss....

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - WOW...this plays amazingly. Better than COD2 IMO. Settings in these screenshots everything set to high, textures all set to extra...low AF...no AA, and it plays great! A lil dip when using the sniper, but nothing really noticable. I am super glad about how this handles. I first got into PC gaming again because of COD1. I'm a history major and love WWII FPS...though im sad to see the genre go, I'll be glad to have a modern warfare game that I really enjoy. FPS run around 30ish FRAPS shows 25 avg, but COD command shows mid 30's...it dips around that...thats in the heart of the firefight..in the buildings 60 fps +. I'm not that surprised considering that I think that this engine is just a slightly updated COD2 engine...but I don't know for sure.

My new laptop has a 8600 GT 256mb, Core 2 Duo 2.4, and 2 gigs of DDR2

Im glad to know I can play all these games.

I think the GTS is a lil better than the standard GT, BUT if you look for a XFX 8600 GT XXX Edition its over clocked and equals to about the same as the GTS...but its like way cheap. Look at newegg they go for under $150 typically less than that. Ebay is another option if you want to snag one. BUT again as someone said above if you have the money I'd go for the 8800 anything..cause I figure games just get harder to run even though its on the same engine. Look at some games using 4 year old engines...the specs are way higher it seems...

but ah yeah...i was hoping this thread would be a refrence point for people looking to see what games they can expect to play with the 8600..cause I know I was searching everything, and it seems not a lot of the guides these days focus on the 8 sereis card...

as to dx10. in a crysis video i saw on gamespot they said they were running the demo with a 8800 with everything @ high, but it looks kinda choppy. i'll be happy with medium settings..as long as I can play the games that are going to matter in the next couple of years.

Also...ehhh a lil baked right now so please excuse this rambling...the 8600 Fatality Edition is supposed to be the best...better than the GTS and XXX..a lil odd looking.

i plan on upgrading to sli in a year or two, with this card. newmobo new cpu...more memory..

on another side note..i didn't find this out til later...i love playing a bf2 mod called project reality, and this gpu treats the mod like crap. i chugs along, my old system actually played it better. I think it has more to do with Vista though..only regreat Vista...no big deal, but it sucks waiting for everything to start working for vista. most games have lil issues with the OS. I need to play a DX10 game.

also again..haha...i doubt anyone will read this...i call myself the thread killer haha but yeah i only bought like 2 of those games...dod cod hl2 mods bf2 all that i already own..just the two tom clancy games...alright doneee

like all of em minus the lower fps @ 1200x900 ish resolution...im never good at exact numbers...the others (r6 cod2) a lil lower, but nothing like 800x600 more like the 900x700ish or something, but as high as i possibly can and keep a good fps...i can't stand low resolutions...imo makes or breaks the graphics...

also im going to be updating this with new screenshots of other games...it'll become the refrence for the 8600 gt.

like all of em minus the lower fps @ 1200x900 ish resolution...im never good at exact numbers...the others (r6 cod2) a lil lower, but nothing like 800x600 more like the 900x700ish or something, but as high as i possibly can and keep a good fps...i can't stand low resolutions...imo makes or breaks the graphics...

also im going to be updating this with new screenshots of other games...it'll become the refrence for the 8600 gt.

mrtywalsh

Uhh, I think it's time to get a new monitor.

Time for a new monitor? why? just because its not HD? or something and I cant get 1600x20050938530845 reslution? most people don't have those types of monitors...1200x900 is good enough for me. looks great...

also added bioshock pics to the first post...so check er ouuuutttttt....

UPDATED AGAIN...with Medal of Honor:Airborne Demo shots...

please feel free to comment away..

ty m8. im hoping this thread becomes a reference page to the 8600...for people who are interested in the card.

People always hating on PC gaming, but this card is a fine example. I paid $150 to upgrade a computer that i already owned that can play everything that a 360 can play. And more with the dx10. So it's half of what the 360 cost...so lets end the myth on how expensive pc gaming is. It's better in everysingle way....

My friend's Sapphire 2600XT GDDR3 gets slightly better FPS in R6:V with full shadows at 1600x1200. Same with Bioshock, but no AA. I'm not sure why, maybe the 2600 just likes UE3.

I wish I could do one of these threads when I get my 2600XT, but my monitor only goes up to 1024x768. =(

Ok so i set everything on high and tested HL2, it went better than i remember but it still had a bit of a frame drop espically in open areas, Fps was around 50-60 most of the time

I also tried CSS but it ran a bit worse. usually 40-50fps :?

So would a 2.5Ghz dual core help FPS at all?

Yes you will gain some fps with a dual coredayaccus007

Ok so i set everything on high and tested HL2, it went better than i remember but it still had a bit of a frame drop espically in open areas, Fps was around 50-60 most of the time

I also tried CSS but it ran a bit worse. usually 40-50fps :?

So would a 2.5Ghz dual core help FPS at all?

ajc_176

yeah you should be getting way better frame rates in the source engine...esp plain ole hl2...dod:s is more of a strain, but still its an older engine. BUT 40-50 fps is very very playable? unless your getting stuttering or something? Not sure how much of a difference the duo core will do...probably a boost, but hl2 is pretty old...and i think the games have to be designed to take advantage of the duo core to make a serious difference.

i know my 7900gs cant run dx10 but in the source games my 7900 gets 80-150 FPS with all high settings which makes me believe that running games in dx10 with an 8600 is going to be a nightmare =/. im kind of dissapointed in its performance in this thread. anyways, im glad you can at least enjoy the card and im not out to bad mouth it but it just makes me want to save for an 8800 even more, or at least wait for a price drop. habitat

Well the card wasn't what we were expecting from nvidia and from ati's offerings, but its still a decent card on a budget and maybe if the game developers can optimize future games like they have done with bioshock we might get ok framerates although i'm not counting on it happening with every game, nvidia could have done a better job. Anyway it still gets the job done and achieves good frame rates with what we have now right:D

[QUOTE="habitat"]i know my 7900gs cant run dx10 but in the source games my 7900 gets 80-150 FPS with all high settings which makes me believe that running games in dx10 with an 8600 is going to be a nightmare =/. im kind of dissapointed in its performance in this thread. anyways, im glad you can at least enjoy the card and im not out to bad mouth it but it just makes me want to save for an 8800 even more, or at least wait for a price drop. pcgamer_07

Well the card wasn't what we were expecting from nvidia and from ati's offerings, but its still a decent card on a budget and maybe if the game developers can optimize future games like they have done with bioshock we might get ok framerates although i'm not counting on it happening with every game, nvidia could have done a better job. Anyway it still gets the job done and achieves good frame rates with what we have now right:D

Yeah well I wouldn't upgrade from a 7900 to an 8600, even though many 7900 users think they have a far superior card..it's not...it gets about the same frame rates, and better in newer games from what i've read (bioshock). But upgrading from a 9800 pro for $150 dollars where I couldn't even have played some of those games before is a good deal. of course the 8800 is better, but its like almost double the price...its like the second best nvidia card out right now...

My new laptop has a 8600 GT 256mb, Core 2 Duo 2.4, and 2 gigs of DDR2

Im glad to know I can play all these games.

frizzyman0292

where did you buy your laptop? what model is it? how much was it?

im thinking of getting a laptop with a 7950 512meg card, but i want DX10 :S

Yo I'm even happier. I sent my 7900gt about a week ago back to PNY. I was having problems with it, so I was expecting a brand new 7900gt back in the mail today. When the bell rings, the UPS guy comes and brings a box that weights about 4 lbs. When I open it its a brand new 8800gts!!!!! OMFG DirectX 10 here I come. Well I can't test it just yet because I'm aslo waiting for my motherboard fromBiostar.ratchet3

:oWow that is unbelievable. I would be paranoid and keep wondering if they would send me a bill for it. What a great way to start upgrading your computer.

WOW:shock:. Thanks for making this thread. I have been wanting a DX10 card, but everytime I looked at the 8600 people would say get the 8800 instead. But for under $150 this looks to be the graphics card to get. I don't mind playing games at medium settings so no need to get an overkill graphics card when this is so well priced. I just hope that I can play Crysis, Farcry 2, and COD4 on medium settings, because if I can, then this is the card for me.ConfusedZone

It does seem like a nice card for current games, I am unsure of how it will hold up in the future.. either way, its still a decent choice for the price.

Yeah it's my pleasure to make this thread, most of the guides for gpu's aren't updated yet for the dx10 series cards...

don't get me wrong, if you have the money GO FOR THE 8800, because these games play well, but some UT3 games have lower FPS (30-20 which can get choppy on the engine), don't know if it's because of the engines early develpment in these games, and maybe Unreal Tourny 3 will have better performance.

ALSO my CPU isn't the best, so it could be holding me back in some of these games.

As to playing crysis at medium I'm hoping that it will. I saw a video from E3 with them running the game on high with a single 8800. So I would assume that it could run on medium with the 8600. COD4, I'm not sure but I think its just a modified COD2 engine. So it should be able to handle medium. Farcry 2 no clue...seen some videos, and it shouldn't be worse than crysis, but then again its a console game so it may have poor performance.

Resolution in 90% of those games is 1200x1024..thats not the exact reso, but you guys know what i mean. I always forget the first number, but i know its like 1200 something. It's as high as my LCD monitor will go.

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Updated again with new screenies from TF2...

ALSO IF YOU HAVE AN 8600 JOIN THE 8600 UNION LOCATED HERE

8600GT is a fairly decent card,good to know that you're enjoying it :)

im getting this videocard: evga 8600 gt super clocked 256mb pci-e for 209.99gearsoftime

i hope thats canadian

UPDATED: COD4 Screenies

COMING SOON: HL2 EP2, Portal...just cause I can haha