Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT is a mid-range graphics card from Nvidia. This company has always been famous for the most powerful and productive graphics cards. Its direct competitor is AMD, which in recent years has always been in the role of catching up. But how were things back in 2007? In this article, we will consider such a legendary video card as the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT. Characteristics, description, test results and comparison with competitors - read all about this below.
History of the video card
In 2007, Nvidia needed to urgently occupy the niche of mid-range graphics cards. While DirectX10 was just appearing, which prompted the company to create the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT, the characteristics of which included support for all the new technologies at that time.
In the model range of the company 8600GT took the place between the flagship and top-end GeForce 8800 in all respects and the frankly weak budget GeForce 8500. In addition to the GT version, the video card also bulged out in the GTS version, which was characterized by slightly increased performance.
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT looked advantageous against the background of competitive video cards from AMD. Firstly, the common graphics processor with the GeForce 8800 aroused the trust of all customers. Secondly, supporting DirectX10 at a reasonable price at that time was fantastic. Let's move on to the description of the characteristics of the video card.
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT: specifications
The amount of video memory available for the board is 256 and 512 MB in various versions. In both cases, the memory is the GDDR3 generation. The graphics core operates at a frequency of 540 MHz. Video memory, in turn, operates at a frequency of 700 MHz. The maximum screen resolution for the G84 graphic chip, on which the entire GeForce 8600 line is based, is 2560 x 1600 pixels. But the fact is that during the release of the video card, these resolutions were practically never used. All video games were in lower resolutions, so you can fully use the features only when working with graphics or video. But at the same time, the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT, whose characteristics are rather weak for such work, would hardly cope with graphics processing in such volumes and scales. Most likely, the support for high resolutions simply remained from the older brother of the GeFore 8800, since they are built on the same platform.
The video card is connected via a standard PCI Express x16 slot. For stable operation of the board, you need at least 512 MB of RAM and a central processor no worse than Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP. To support DirectX10, an installed Windows Vista operating system is required, as it is the first system supporting this format. The power supply should not be weaker than 350 watts for stable operation of the video card.
Testing stand
To determine the power of a video card and compare it with other competitors, it is necessary to test in a special program and some games to choose from. Considering that the video card was released in 2007, we will use the computer configuration of that time.
So, the Intel Pentium 4 processor with a frequency of 2.8 GHz and a cache memory of 1 MB, 1 GB of RAM, Windows XP (respectively, all tests will be conducted on DirectX9) and a 350 W power supply are installed in the bench computer. The Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 512 MB was taken as the tested video card. The characteristics of the version with 256 MB are no different, except, in fact, the amount of video memory.
Test results
In the 3D Mark program, the video card scored more than 8 thousand points. This is a good indicator for the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT, whose characteristics do not reach the flagship of the company. However, the video card quietly bypasses its direct predecessor, the GeForce 7600 GT.
Let's move on to the games. All computer games were taken time-sensitive. In 2007, the popular BioShock shooter was released, which we will take as a basis. Some other games will also be involved.
In the Bioshock game, the video card behaved with dignity only at medium graphics settings. At maximum resolution and high graphics settings, playing is almost impossible due to the low FPS.
The next test game is Lost Planet. Things are even worse here. With all effects turned on and at maximum resolution, the frame rate per second drops to 15-18.
Next in the test is World of Conflict. This game was released at about the same time as the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT graphics card. The characteristics of the 512-megabyte version of the board allow playing only at low graphics settings. At medium and higher, the game produces from 20 to 22 frames per second, which is not the best indicator among the middle class video cards.
findings
After all the tests, we can conclude that this video card was not suitable for games with modern graphics that were released at that time. But it overtook the previous generation in the role of the GeForce 7600. You can play most games at medium or low graphics settings at maximum resolution. Of course, you should make a discount on the segment and class of the video card. Its cost did not exceed 140 dollars.
additional information
The following items are included with the standard Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT. Firstly, two adapters from the DVI connector to the familiar VGA. Secondly, an instruction and a disk with all the necessary files for configuration, as well as the drivers of the latest version at the time of its release.
Externally, the video card is also far from the conqueror of the FPS and all the graphic innovations. A simple board, from the cooling on which there is only a small cooler. By the way, it is worth mentioning the operation of the fan. Even at high loads, the cooling system works very quietly and does its job perfectly. In this, competitors from AMD are far ahead of the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT. The characteristics are perfectly balanced for the middle segment, so there are no complaints about work and stability. The only thing this video card loses is the power consumption level. In competitive video cards, it is much lower. But AMD has always specialized in mid-range and economical graphics cards, while Nvidia has been striving for maximum power without regard to power consumption. Because of this, similar minor flaws appear.
The Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT was an excellent graphics card for all time. Inexpensive, productive and reliable. Plus, full support for DirectX10 technology. In games at maximum settings with similar iron, of course, there is absolutely nothing to do. But treat yourself with a beautiful picture on medium settings can be quite calm.
The only alternative of the time for price and performance is AMD's high-end graphics cards. They were cheaper than the flagship motherboards from Nvidia, so by adding a couple of tens of dollars to the price of the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT, you could get a good Radeon graphics card.