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Introduction
The NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT is the lite version of the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS. Like the GeForce 8600 GTS, it uses the newer and smaller G84 GPU. The G84 GPU only packs 289 million transistors, a pittance compared to the 681 million transistors in the G80 GPU used in the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card. Throw in the smaller 80 nm process technology and you have a much smaller and cooler chip than the G80 behemoth.
The only difference between the two GeForce 8600 models are their clock speeds. The GeForce 8600 GTS is the higher-end model with the GPU clocked at 675 MHz and its memory chips running at 1 GHz (2 GHz DDR). The GeForce 8600 GT, on the other hand, has the same GPU running at just 540 MHz. Its memory chips are also clocked at a lower clock speed - just 700 MHz (1.4 GHz DDR).
Both models are designed to replace the NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT. That's a pretty big shoe to fill, since the GeForce 7600 GT is famous for providing excellent performance at a low price. Can NVIDIA deliver that kind of performance and value in these DirectX 10 cards? We will find out soon enough.
First, let's take a look at how the GeForce 8600 GT compares against its predecessors and its bigger brother, the GeForce 8600 GTS.
GeForce 8600 GTS |
GeForce 8600 GT |
GeForce 7600 GT |
GeForce 6600 GT |
|
Architecture |
G84 |
G84 |
G73 |
NV43 |
Manufacturing Process |
0.08 Micron |
0.08 Micron |
0.09 Micron |
0.11 Micron |
Transistor Count |
289 Million |
289 Million |
177 Million |
146 Million |
DirectX Support |
10 |
10 |
9.0c |
9.0c |
Interface |
PCI Express |
PCI Express |
PCI Express |
AGP/PCIe |
Stream
Processors |
32 |
32 |
- |
- |
Vertex
Shaders |
- |
- |
5 |
3 |
Vertex
Shader Version |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
Pixel
Shaders |
- |
- |
12 |
8 |
Pixel
Shader Version |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
3.0 |
ROPs |
8 |
8 |
8 |
4 |
Core
Speed |
675 MHz |
540 MHz |
560 MHz |
500 MHz |
Fill
Rate |
10,800 MTexels/s |
8640 MTexels/s |
6,720 MTexels/s |
4,000 MTexels/s |
Memory
Bus Width |
128-bits |
128-bits |
128-bits |
128-bits |
Memory
Type |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
Memory
Speed |
1000 MHz |
700 MHz |
700 MHz |
500 MHz |
Memory
Bandwidth |
32.00 GB/s |
22.40 GB/s |
22.40 GB/s |
16.00 GB/s |
Unlike the GeForce 8600 GTS, the GeForce 8600 GT's memory bandwidth is unchanged from that of its predecessor, the GeForce 7600 GT. However, it has a 28.6 % higher fill rate. Will that be enough to offer current GeForce 7600 GT users a real reason to upgrade?
The NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
The NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT is a short, squat graphics card, shorter than the GeForce 8600 GTS which uses the same GPU. The cooler is necessarily smaller, not only to cut down cost but also to differentiate this lower-end card from the GeForce 8600 GTS. The GeForce 8600 GT also does not come with a 6-pin PCI Express power connector, which is found on the GeForce 8600 GTS.
) |
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As far as connectivity goes, the GeForce 8600 GT comes with (from left to right) a 7-pin mini-DIN connector for component video output, a composite video port, a HDMI port and of course, the DVI connector. Retail cards should come with a dongle for component video output and a DVI-to-VGA adaptor.
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Generally, the GeForce 8600 GT is more reminiscent of a low-end card like the GeForce 7300 GT than the GeForce 7600 GT. But it is said that good things come in small packages.
