The Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS

The Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS looks deceptively like a GeForce 7900/7600 card. It's a single-slot card of about the same size, but with one key difference - it uses a vastly different cooler. Unlike many cards that are based on reference designs and thus use the same cooler, Galaxy equipped this card with a Zalman VF900-Cu, one of Zalman's top graphics card coolers.

Practically all of the key components are on the front PCB. The back is only home to four black plastic capped screws that hold the Zalman cooler in place. The Zalman cooler is much taller than the standard GeForce 8600 GTS cooler. As you can see from these side profiles, it is quite a tall cooler. This card will need to take up two slots, instead of just one.

Although the card qualifies as a double-slot card, Galaxy retained the standard single-slot bracket. Hence, no exhaust vents. Only the standard two DVI-out ports and a single TV-out port.

The view from the other end gives you another look at just how much the cooler extends above the components on the card. You can also see one of the cooler's heatpipes.

Size Comparison

To give you an idea of how small (or big) it is, we compared the Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS against an ASUS EN8800GTX card and an NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT reference card.

As you can see, the Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS is a small card. It is just a little longer than the GeForce 7600 GT and over a third shorter than the ASUS EN8800GTX. So, there is absolutely no need to worry about fitting it into your case, even if it's a small one.

Specifications

Here are the specifications of the Galaxy GeForce 8600 GTS.