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Introduction
The NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS is the first of the new series of mid-range NVIDIA graphics cards based on the ground-breaking GeForce 8800 GTX. Like its bigger brother, it features a massively-parallel unified architecture, as well as support for DirectX 10.
However, it does not make use of the same G80 GPU as the GeForce 8800 GTX. It uses the newer and smaller G84 GPU. The G84 packs only 289 million transistors, a pittance compared to the 681 million transistors in the G80. Throw in the smaller 80 nm process technology and you have a much smaller and cooler chip than the G80 behemoth.
If you have not already read about the technology behind the GeForce 8800 GTX, and its brother the GeForce 8800 GTS, do take a look at our GeForce 8800 GTX/GTS Tech Report. It will give you a good grounding on the new NVIDIA unified architecture and the G80 GPU, which is the basis of the new GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card.
Now, let's take a look at how the GeForce 8600 GTS compares against its predecessors and of course, its big brother. Here's a comparison table of NVIDIA's mid-range GPUs of the past and present and the GeForce 8800 GTX.
GeForce 8800 GTX |
GeForce 8600 GTS |
GeForce 7600 GT |
GeForce 6600 GT |
|
Architecture |
G80 |
G84 |
G73 |
NV43 |
Manufacturing Process |
0.09 Micron |
0.08 Micron |
0.09 Micron |
0.11 Micron |
Transistor Count |
681 Million |
289 Million |
177 Million |
146 Million |
DirectX Support |
10 |
10 |
9.0c |
9.0c |
Interface |
PCI Express |
PCI Express |
PCIe |
AGP/PCIe |
Stream
Processors |
128 |
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 |
24 |
8 |
8 |
4 |
Core
Speed |
575 MHz |
675 MHz |
560 MHz |
500 MHz |
Fill
Rate |
36,800 MTexels/s |
10,800 MTexels/s |
6,720 MTexels/s |
4,000 MTexels/s |
Memory
Bus Width |
384-bits |
128-bits |
128-bits |
128-bits |
Memory
Type |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
GDDR3 |
Memory
Speed |
900 MHz |
1000 MHz |
700 MHz |
500 MHz |
Memory
Bandwidth |
86.40 GB/s |
32.00 GB/s |
22.40 GB/s |
16.00 GB/s |
The new GeForce 8600 GTS boasts 61% more texture fill rate and 43% more memory bandwidth than the GeForce 7600 GT and 2.7X more fill rate and twice as much bandwidth as the GeForce 6600 GT. But it's nowhere compared to the GeForce 8800 GTX. Of course, the GeForce 8800 GTX costs about 3X more than a GeForce 8600 GTS.
Needless to say, the GeForce 8800 GTX costs more than what most gamers can afford. So, for the rest of us, NVIDIA offers the lower-end but much cheaper GeForce 8600 GTS. But cheap doesn't mean powerless. It is still one of the very few graphics cards that support DirectX 10. It is also one of the new generation of graphics cards based on unified processor technology.
Today, we will take a look at another example of the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS GPU - the Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card.
The Package
The Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS comes in a large cardboard box with a transparent window through which you can see part of the card, including the Zalman cooler. Right next to it is a short list of the card's key features. If you need more details, just flip the box over and read all about the card on the back of the box.
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Although it comes with a full accessories package, the box is still pretty big for what it contains. Inside the box, you will find :
-
One Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card
- One manual
- One Quick Installation Guide
- One driver CD
- One Molex-to-6-pin Y-splitter cable
- One DVI-to-VGA converter
- One component video converter
- One composite video cable
- One Galaxy case badge
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It is a pretty comprehensive package. Everything you need to run the card is included in the package.
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