HEXUS.net - reviews :: MSI GeForce 8600GTS - the new midrange champion?

[Steve]

Today the GeForce 8600GT and 8600GTS arrive and bring with them DirectX 10 support for people on a relative budget. But how much of that G80 magic remains, and what other changes has NVIDIA made to ensure it succeeds in this most crucial of market segments - the sub-£150 sector?

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=8409

[Queelis]

I'd say very disappointing. Very.


Very.

[LazyGit]

I'd say: couldn't they have reviewed it along side the 8800 family as well?

Besides that, I don't think it's very disappointing. It's the only DX10 card in the review. In a DX10 capable game it would steam past its competitors running on the bulkier DX9L and look better to boot.

[Mattus]

This feels like a SKU to sell via OEMs to the masses who know a DirectX 10 card must be better than a DirectX 9 one because the sales literature says so

Nail. Head. Hit. That's exactly what it is - almost a FX5200-style part, designed to milk the masses through DX10 support.

And like the FX5200, DX10 games are gonna look like a slideshow on this.

[Thorburn]

Originally Posted by LazyGit

I'd say: couldn't they have reviewed it along side the 8800 family as well?

It would have been absolutely destroyed.

Originally Posted by LazyGit

In a DX10 capable game it would steam past its competitors running on the bulkier DX9L and look better to boot.

There are no DirectX 10 games available to test with as far as I'm aware.
Whats more there is nothing to say its performance in DX10 would be superior to a 7900GS running a DX9 codepath, it may be the case but until there is DX10 code available to actually make the comparison it is simply speculation.

The only purpose including a G80 card would serve would be to make the other bars on the graph look very small and make it harder to draw comparisons between the actual competing products.

[RavenNight]

Would have been useful to have some 3DMark scores, and some more modern games (like Oblivion, Fear, BF2142, STALKER etc.) Would also be interesting to see the bang-for-buck with an 8800GTS in. Compared to the 6600GT and 7600GT its very dissapointing, definitely destined for the OEMs.

[BlindMelon7]

Woooo! My GPU is better than an 8 series card! hehe

Seriously tho, I'll reserve judgement untill DX10 comes out, THEN I'll flame it to hell

[chuckskull]

Originally Posted by BlindMelon7

Seriously tho, I'll reserve judgement untill DX10 comes out, THEN I'll flame it to hell

It is out Just no games for it yet

EDIT, we need a better emote. That one looks like he's been poked in the eye.

[sawyen]

tsk tsk tsk... Nvidia.. stupid man..

Well I'm not holding my breath about DX10 tho... Remember when we transitioned from DX8 to DX9 coding, there really isnt any performance improvements on either DX9 cards (The 5800/5600 series or the 9700). WE still only see that much gain regardless of DX9/8.. i.e. 9700Pro will just be 'x' faster than a GF4Ti4600 in either DX8/9....

This suddenly feels almost like the FX series.. tho they are doing better on the high end bit with their 8800.. Remember 5800Ultra anyone?

[kalniel]

Completely and utterly expected.

I'll give drivers a chance at clawing another 10-20%, but that's about it.

[moogle]

Originally Posted by BlindMelon7

Woooo! My GPU is better than an 8 series card! hehe

yay, although now my rule of ordering cards is messed up :S
a new series should be better than an older one :O

[Thorburn]

Originally Posted by moogle

yay, although now my rule of ordering cards is messed up :S
a new series should be better than an older one :O

It is if you compare 8800 > 7800/7900 and 8600 > 7600.

The problem is the 7900GS was extended down market to fight increased competition from ATI.

[moogle]

Originally Posted by Thorburn

It is if you compare 8800 > 7800/7900 and 8600 > 7600.

The problem is the 7900GS was extended down market to fight increased competition from ATI.

ya true, but it should apply to all cards in the higher series , otherwise it looks like the 8800 was the 8100 or whatever, and nvidia is moving backwards. performancewise. just my opinion
its probably just to disrupt the r600 release I guess. I dont see why anyone would buy it though, it's just like when intel released all those chips when amd was beating it before c2d, waste of silicon.

[moby_matt]

Guess this means I will be buying a 320mb 8800GTS then...

[odd_sod]

as an owner of the x1950 pro card i would like to point out to someone that the bang for buck on it is a little messed up i see it says in the table that it has a rating of 1.81 yet in the graph it looks as though someone has swapped it around with the 7600gt. Now i have been sat on the wall with the whole nvidea-ati thing for a while now, and i think soon enough i will be joining the green team. People that buy mid range graphics cards should save a bit more and get a real card now i know mine is no 88 series but the 8800gts 320 is only about £30 more than the 8600 that is not alot now is it.

[moby_matt]

My thoughts exactly!