Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT video card: specifications and description

Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT is a mid-range video card from Nvidia. This company has always been famous for the most powerful and efficient graphics cards. Its direct competitor is AMD, which in recent years has always been in the role of catch-up. But how were things in 2007? In this article, we'll look at a legendary video card like the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT. Characteristics, description, test results and comparison with competitors - about all this read below.

The history of creating a video card

In 2007, Nvidia needed to urgently occupy a niche of mid-range video cards. While just once appeared DirectX10, which prompted the company to create Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT, the characteristics of which provided for the support of all new technologies at the time.

In the model line of the company, the 8600GT took the place between the flagship and top-level GeForce 8800 and the frankly weak budget GeForce 8500. In addition to the GT version, the video card was also bulging in the GTS version, which was slightly more efficient.

Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT looked good against the background of competitive video cards from AMD. First, the general graphics processor with GeForce 8800 caused the confidence of all customers. Secondly, support for DirectX10 for a reasonable price at that time was fantastic. Let us now describe 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 different versions. In both cases, the memory is a GDDR3 generation. The graphics core operates at a frequency of 540 MHz. Video memory, in turn, operates at a frequency of 700MHz. The maximum screen resolution for the G84 graphics chip on which the entire GeForce 8600 series is based is 2560 x 1600 pixels. But the fact is that during the release of the video card these permits were not used anywhere. All video games went in smaller resolutions, so you can take full advantage only when working with graphics or video. But at the same time, Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT, whose characteristics are rather weak for such works, would hardly have coped with processing graphics in such volumes and scales. Most likely, the support of high resolutions just stayed from the older brother GeFore 8800, because they are built on the same platform.

The video card is connected via a standard PCI Express x16 connector. For the stable operation of the motherboard, you need at least 512 MB of RAM and the CPU is not worse than Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP. To support DirectX10, you must have a Windows Vista operating system installed, since it is the first system that supports this format. The power supply should not be less than 350 W for stable operation of the video card.

Stand for testing

To determine the card's power and compare with other competitors, it is necessary to test in a special program and some games to choose from. Given that the video card was released in 2007, we will use the computer configuration of that time.

So, in the bench computer there is an Intel Pentium 4 processor with a frequency of 2.8 GHz and a cache memory of 1 MB, 1 GB of RAM, Windows XP (all tests will be conducted on DirectX9) and a 350 W power supply. As the tested video card was taken Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 512 MB. 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 has more than 8,000 points. This is a good indicator for the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT, the characteristics of which do not hold up to the flagship of the company. However, the video card quietly bypasses its direct predecessor GeForce 7600 GT.

Let's move on to the games. All computer games were taken into account the time. In 2007, there was a popular shooter BioShock, which we take as the basis. Some other games will also participate.

In the game Bioshock video card behaved decently only on the average graphics settings. At maximum resolution and high graphics settings, it's almost impossible to play because of the low FPS.

The next game of the test is Lost Planet. Here things are even worse. With all the effects turned on and at the maximum resolution, the frame rate per second drops to 15-18.

Next, the test is World of Conflict. This game was released at approximately the same time as the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT. The characteristics of 512-megabit version of the board allow you to play only on low graphics settings. On average and higher the game gives out 20 to 22 frames per second, which is not the best indicator among the middle class video cards.

conclusions

After all the tests, we can conclude that this video card was not suitable for games that were released at the time with modern graphics. But it overtook the previous generation in the role of GeForce 7600. You can play most games at medium or low graphics settings at the maximum resolution. Of course, it's worth making a discount on the segment and class of the video card. Its cost did not exceed 140 dollars.

additional information

The following items are bundled with the standard Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT. First, two adapters from the DVI connector to the familiar VGA. Secondly, the instruction and 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 graphic innovations. A simple board, from cooling on which there is only a small cooler. By the way, it is worth mentioning the work of the fan. Even with high loads, the cooling system works very quietly and does its job well. In this competition from AMD is much ahead of the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT. The characteristics are perfectly balanced for the middle segment, so there are no complaints about performance and stability. The only thing that this graphics card is losing is the level of power consumption. Competitive graphics cards are much lower. But AMD has always been specialized on medium and economical video cards, while Nvidia has been chasing for maximum capacities without regard for power consumption. Because of this, such minor drawbacks appear.

Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT was an excellent graphics card for its time. Inexpensive, productive and reliable. Plus, full support for DirectX10 technology. In games at the maximum settings with a similar iron do, of course, absolutely nothing. But pamper yourself with a picture on the average settings can be quite calm.

The only alternative to that time in terms of price and performance is the high-end graphics card from AMD. They cost less than the flagship cards from Nvidia, therefore, adding to the price of Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT a couple of tens of dollars, you could buy a good Radeon video card.