Nvidia 8600GT: lacking performance?

It has been some time since the launch of the DX10 cards leaving us with the 8600GT as a medium budget card from the Nvidia camp. With prices starting at £70 the 8600GT follows in the footsteps of its predecessors the 7600GT and the 6600GT Yet comparatively performance seems to be lacking in comparison to the launch of the 6600GT. The new 8600GTS can be blamed, creating yet another category of cards separating the flagship chipset (8800) and the mid range 8600GT. Perhaps Nvidia are moving away from the GS rating that can be seen on the 6600GS and 7600GS cards.

The 8600GT takes advantage of streem processors symbolising a significant step forward in graphics technology, yet their efficiency is left lacking, especially in the 8600GT where the X1950 Pro with 36 pixel pipelines is clearly faster in virtually every scenario.

One of the benefits of the 8600GT is the support of Direct X 10. It must be noted that very little difference can be noticed between direct X 10 and DX9 at this point in time. It is likely that DX10 will not show its true colours for another 6 months or so once game developers become accustomed to the new DX.

Perhaps the best feature of the 8600GT is its overclocking ability. Reports show that an overclock of 30%-40% are achievable without too much effort. For those looking to upgrade within the next month might want to consider the ATI X1950 Pro 256MB, otherwise the 8600GT is still a decent upgrade.