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 only packs 289 million transistors, a pittance compared to the 681 million transistors in the G80. Throw in the smaller 80nm 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.

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.

Let's take a look at one of the first cards to be based on the NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS GPU - the Sparkle GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card.

The Package

The Sparkle GeForce 8600 GTS came in a large cardboard box with an stylized S-shaped blade decorating the front. There is also a transparent window through which you can actually see the card itself. You can also see the key features of the card listed on the upper right corner of the box. If you need more details, just flip the box over and read all about the card on the back of the box.

The box is actually very big for what it contains. Inside the box, you will find :

• One Sparkle GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card
• One anti-static plastic bag
• One plastic tray and cover

Yes, you read it right. The box really contains nothing more than just the card itself. Nothing else came with it. No CD, no HDTV cable, nothing.

However, we believe that this particular sample is a pre-production package. In fact, it soon became obvious why the package did not include a CD. NVIDIA did not even have a working driver for reviewers to give it a pre-release whirl. We were only given the driver a few days before today's release.

As such, we are pretty sure the retail package you buy at the stores will come with the missing basic accessories like CD, manual and HDTV cables. For certain, the plastic tray that held the card had a recess for those accessories.