Foxconn 8600 GTS - 256 MB nVidia based Gaming GFX Card.

Author: Jouni Vasama Published: 16.05.2007 Manufacturer: Foxconn Product Group: GFX Cards In English Suomeksi

1080p Video

The first version of Purevideo HD was used in the 7-series cards, but the 8600GTS has the second version, which has still been enhanced so that now even more of the decoding is done in the GPU instead of CPU. This is a great feature for all HTPC-builders and movie-holics who want to watch their movies at the highest quality possible with the least expensive hardware possible. Also as the graphic card handles the decoding, the CPU load doesn't get too high and so the CPU generates less heat and noise. Obviously this had to be tested and the results seen above are the CPU loads taken during a 1080p video playback.

Temperature

Temperature itself isn't too important thing as long as the card remains steady, but it tells a thing or two about the cooler and overclocking potential. Temperature-readings were taken with Atitool during heavy load when the temperature no longer changed. 7600GT is the coolest running card this time, but this is easily explained by the difference in power consumption. 8800GTS comes second thanks to its excellent cooler and 8600GTS is left last with the GPU almost hitting 80 C in load.

Power consumption

For the first time we also tested the power consumption of the cards. The idle temperature was taken after idling (no load on CPU or GPU) on the desktop when the temperature no longer changed. The load was taken after loading the CPU and the GPU to full, so when looking at the results it's good to remember the result also contains the CPU load.

Noise

The actual noise level of the GFX card is extremely hard to measure without a silent room, silent case fans and CPU cooler so again the analysis is based on opinions of two listeners. Less surprisingly the cooler of the 8800GTS, thanks to its huge size and large fan, was the most quiet. The competition was tighter between the 7600GT and the 8600GTS. The coolers of these cards are about the same sized, 7600GT has a slightly larger fan and less restrictive heatsink design make it more quiet at full load. Unfortunately the stock cooler of the 8600GTS is very loud at full speed. Thanks to the simple PCB there should be no limitations for third party coolers.

OverClocking

The original clocks for a 8600GTS are 670 MHz for core and 2000 MHz for the memories. Some factory overclocked versions on the market have GPU clocks way over 700 MHz using the reference cooler, so the GPU clock was lift straight to 710 MHz. This proved to be stable so the next step was 730 MHz which still worked in 3DMark, but proved to be unstable in long run, so the 720 MHz remained the highest frequency that can be recommended for 24/7 use. Using a third party cooler most likely helps getting even more out of the G64 chip. Next step was to find the maximum clocks for the memories. The chips are 1 ns ones, so they are already at their specified maximum from the box, but maybe thanks to the cooler they stretched up to 10% over the specified reaching 1100 MHz.

These clocks improved the 3DMark score by 360 points which is about 7% improvement over the original. These are the clocks that should be possible for everyone by simply using the Foxware-utility that was on the driver CD.

Conclusion

PROS Value for the money CONS Noise from the cooler

The 8600GTS proved to be a very decent card in every way. It would have been interesting to compare this to the ATI/AMDs card in the same price range, because the performance and price difference between these two is the factor that will determine if this card will be a success or not. If you're building a high value gaming PC then this could be the graphic card of choise for you. Upgrade to the 8800GTS 320MB improves the performance a lot, but the price difference is rather clear as well. I'm really looking forward on seeing the HDMI-versions of this card as they could be a great choise for HTPC-builders. Thanks to the Purevideo HD-features. Also it will be interesting to see which manufacturer will be the first to bring a passive cooler model of the 8600GTS to the market, I'd imagine the heat output isn't too high to make it impossible.