“Anyhow, before I forget, the prompter of today’s stimulant-enhanced activities is Nvidia’s launch of a new line of DirectX 10-capable mid-range graphics cards, known as the GeForce 8600 series. In fact, Nvidia is setting loose a whole range of products, from the bargain-bin GeForce 8300 GS to the GeForce 8600 GTS, which merits at least six shots of espresso, by my reckoning. I’ve spent the better part of the past week testing out the GeForce 8600 GTS and its little brother, the GT, against their predecessors and natural competitors from the Radeon camp.”So how well does the unified architecture behind the killer GeForce 8800 translate into a mid-range GPU? The answer’s slipped my mind, my hands are shaking, and I need to visit the men’s room. But I think I’ve stashed some charts and graphs in the following pages, so let’s see what they have to say.
Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
- Foxconn 8600 GTS @ PureOverclock
- XFX 8600GTS & 8600GT XXX Editions! @ Bjorn3D
- Nvidias 8600 series, a bit underwhelming? @ Hardware Analysis
- XFX GeForce 8600GTS XXX @ motherboards.org
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS: The Full Review! @ Hardware Zone
- Neoseeker XFX 8600 GTS XXX @ Neoseeker
- Sparkle NVIDIA 8600 GTS @ Technic3D
- The Invincibles: GeForce 8800 GTX Roundup @ X-bit Labs
- NVIDIA G84: Architecture and Video Performance @ Beyond3D
- XFX 7950GT @ AOAForums
- XFX GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB XXX Edition Video Card Review @ Benchmark Reviews
- Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide Rev. 12.4 @ TechARP
- Cooler Master CoolViva Pro Vga Cooler Review @ OCC
- Vizo Propeller Graphics Card Cooler Review @ TechwareLabs
- Sytrin KuFormula VF1 Plus GPU Cooler at Modders-Inc
- NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) v3.4 Released… @ MVKTech
- An Outcry For Improved ATI Linux Drivers @ Phoronix
- ATi RADEON X1900XTX Video Card Review @ OCIA
- Sapphire X1950 Pro Dual @ techPowerUp
Aim for high mid range, or low top range?

The Tech Report puts the 8600 GT and GTS through the paces on a Vista system. These DX10 cards can certainly hold their own and push well past the 7950, that used to be the top of nVIDIA’s mid range line, and trump ATI’s offerings as well. However they point out a fact that cannot be avoided … by shopping around you can pick up a GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB for about $80 more.