PALIT SONIC GEFORCE 8600 GT AND SYSCONN 8600 GT REVIEW BENCHMARK AND OVERCLOCKING
Posted:2007-05-21 By Video card review Number of View:43619
PALIT SONIC GEFORCE 8600 GT AND SYSCONN 8600 GT REVIEW BENCHMARK AND OVERCLOCKING By :Video card review Posted:2007-05-21 xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source Today\'s review is dedicated to test video card, based on chip NVIDIA g84. One Month ago on its base were released two graphic accelerators in the average price segment: GeForce 8600 GT and 8600 GTS (lo-end video card – geForce 8500 – announced at the same time, is based on g86 chip  ). NVIDIA Company  clearly positions  8600 version GT and GTS: the first is intended for price niche 159 US dollars, and the second, according to NVIDIA recommendations , must be 229 US dollars. In today review we will describe two different video cards GeForce 8600 GT. Besides the video card review we will verify their temperature conditions, overclocking potential and performance in comparison with competitors .   1. NVIDIA geForce 8600 GT  : Technical characteristics Technical characteristics NVIDIA geForce 7600 GT NVIDIA geForce 8600 GT AMD radeon X1950 GT Graphic processor G73 (TSMC) G84 (TSMC) RV570 LE Technical process, m 0.09 0.08 (low- k) 0.08 Number of transistors, mln. 177 289 330 Graphic processor Frequency  , MHz 560 540 (1180 shader) 500 Video memory Effective frequency , MHz 1400 1400 1200 Memory Volume, mb. 256/512 256/512 256/512 Supported memory GDDR3 GDDR3 GDDR3 Memory Brandwidth ,  bit 128 128 256 Interface PCI-Express 16x/AGP PCI express 16x PCI-Express 16x/AGP Pixel shader processors, count 12 32 * 36 Vertex shader processors, count 5 8 Textural blocks, count 12 16 12 Number of (ROP\'s), count 8 8 8 Supported pixel shaders/vertex shaders version 3.0/3.0 4.0/4.0 3.0/3.0 Memory bandwidth , Gb/s ~ 22.4 ~ 22.4 ~38.4 Theoretical maximum speed , Gpixels./s ~ 4.48 ~ 4.3 ~6.9 Theoretical maximum speed in sample textures, Gpixels./s ~ 6.72 ~ 8.6 ~ 6.9 Peak required power in 3d operating mode, Watts ~ 60 < 43 ~ 65 Requirements of  power unit, watts ~ 350 ~ 350 ~ 400 Video card Sizes  standard design, mm 170 x 100 x 15 170 x 100 x 15 205 x 100 x 15   2 x DVI, TV-Out, HDTV-Out, support VIVO 2 X DVI- I (Dual-Link), TV-Out, HDTV-Out, HDCP (optionally) 2 x DVI, TV-Out, HDTV-Out, support VIVO Additionally support SLI support SLI support crossfire Recommended cost, US dollars N/A ~ 149 - 159 ~ 169 2. GeForce 8600 GT from Sysconn and Palit Sysconn Video card, arrived to us in the small white box without any identification marks, and here product from Palit : On Palit box we can ea sly note the increased frequencies relative to standard video card. But here the delivery sets of the two noted video card do not differ a lot  Sysconn compete set : S -Video cable; 15 pin DVI/D -Sub adapter; CD with drivers. Palit compete set : 15 pin DVI/D -Sub adapter; CD with drivers; CD with game spell force 2; From the first look it becomes clear that both video card are not characterized only by cooling systems: Product from Sysconn is made in PCB with reference design, and here Palit is based on another card with another cooler and aluminum radiators on the GDDR3 memory. Check the difference in video card PCB : Both video card are equipped with a pair DVI and TV out: We note that Palit GeForce 8600 GT sonic have dual-slot cooling system (thickness of cooler is only 35 mm);. The video chip has an aluminum cooler from zalman production  . However, in Sysconn case we have the usual one slot cooler with small aluminum radiator: Sysconn cooling system is equal in 2d and 3d- regime. We note that the card is not noisy . The cooler fan in Palit works exceptionally quiet in all regimes. Palit also equipped the perimeter of graphic processor with the plastic , which prevents chip from damage with the installation of other cooling systems (with larger base area ): In both video card the GPU frequency is 600 MHz (it is higher than the default geForce 8600 GT by 60 MHz). But here shader block in Palit sonic functions at 108 MHz higher frequency than in Sysconn video card  (1296 MHz against 1188 MHz according to monitoring data ). Each video card is equipped with four chips memory ( GDDR3 standard ) with total volume 256 mb. Sysconn installed memory from samsung production , and Palit uses qimonda microcircuits : The default access time to the memory, on video card Sysconn, is equal to 1.2 ns . quimonda microcircuits on  video card palit has two last number (13),  there is no memory with this marking on the official page :-). The effective frequency of memory functioning in both video card is equal to 1600 MHz, which on 200 MHz higher than the default frequency geForce 8600 GT. Temperature conditions for video card was checked with the aid of benchmark firefly forest from the synthetic graphic benchmark 3DMark 2006 without image filtration. Temperature Monitoring was accomplished with the aid of RivaTuner v2.01. Room temperature during test was equal to 20 degree Celsius. As thermal-interface in all cases we used the arctic silver 5. As a result, the temperature of chip geForce 8600 GT from Sysconn proved to be sufficiently high and it was located at 79 degree Celsiuss with peak load  and 45-46 in 2d- regime. Cooling system used in Palit geForce 8600 GT Sonic did not allow the gpu to go above 70 degrees, which, in our view, still too much for budget card. My this assumption was confirmed by the installation of cooler arctic cooling accelero S2 with quiet 120- mm fan ~1000 rp/min : After new cooler, the chip temperature during test in video card from Sysconn was reduced to 40 degrees in peak load and to 34 in 2d regime . We note here that video card from Palit do not get a considerable reduction in temperature with the new cooling system - according to monitoring data ,  the temperature of graphic processor was 52 degree Celsiuss. This difference can not be related to the additional 108 MHz in shader block frequency. Overclocking potential of those video card proved to be different. Thus, Sysconn geForce 8600 GT from frequencies 600/1600 MHz succeeded to overclock up to 702/1768 MHz. Taking in account that video card frequencies are originally overstated from the indicated in Nvidia specifications (GeForce 8600 GT 540/1400 MHz), the overclock result can be recognized as worthy (+ 30% on GPU and + 26.3% on video memory). Palit geForce 8600 GT sonic graphic processor stably functioned at 770 MHz frequency (frequency of shader block was equal to 1674 MHz), and memory 1858 MHz. Altogether: + 42.6%(GPU) and + 32.7%(memory) over the default rating. We note that for overclock we used the mentioned above cooler (arctic cooling accelero S2 with 120mm fan). We note also that with this overclock , video card temperature in both case rise only by 1-2c .     3. GeForce 8600 GT benchmark and test Competitor selection was not to complicated from AMD/ATI side . Today for the recommended cost Of geForce 8600 GT ($149) on ATI chip it is possible to get either Radeon x1650 XT 256 mb. (about $140), or Radeon x1950 GT 256 mb. (about $145). The first video card, in our view, is not interesting since the second is faster . The memory system bus in x1950 GT also makes it more attractive than high-frequency X1650 XT. All video card was tested with the following configuration: Motherboard: ASUSTek P5B deluxe/wiFi-AP (Intel p965), LGA 775, BIOS 1101; Cooling system (chipset): Thermaltake extreme spirit II (~2500 rp/min); Processor: Intel core 2 Duo e6400 2133 MHz, 1.325 in, L2 2048 KB, FSB: 266 MHz x 4, SL9S9 malay (Conroe, B2); Cooling system (CPU): Enzotech Ultra- X (~1450 rp/min); Memory: 2 x 1024 mb. DDR2 corsair dominator TWIN2X2048-9136C5D (SPD: 1142 MHz, 5-5-5-18, 2.1 v); Disk system: SATA- II 320 Gb, Hitachi (HDT725032VLA360), 7200 rp/min, 16 mb., NCQ; Power unit: MGE magnum 500 (500 W) + 80- mm fan glacialTech silentBlade (~1700 rp/min, 19 dBA). Central processor voltage was set to 1.4875 v , this last worked @ 3600 MHz :-) In this case memory functioned at 900 MHz with latency 4- 4- 4-8 and voltage 2.25 v. All tests were executed in the operating system Windows XP professional edition SP2 (with last updates). Motherboard chipset Drivers - Intel chipset drivers version 8.4.0.1009a. We used directX 9.0c (release date April 2007), and also  video card drivers: Catalyst 7.4 ForceWare 158.19. Video card performance test was in two resolutions: 1024 X 768 and 1280 x 1024 with the following quality setting  : High Quality – Driver setting set to High quality, anisotropic filtration and full screen smoothing are switched off; High qual+AF16x+AA2 (4) x – Driver setting  set to High quality, anisotropic filtration set 16x and full screen smoothing set to 2x or 4x (depending on game). For conducting the testing performance video card was used the following collection of synthetic benchmarks and the games: 3DMark 2005(Direct 3d) - build 1.3.0, resolution 1024 x 768, default settings; 3DMark 2006(Direct 3d) – build 1.1.0, resolution 1280 x 1024, default settings; Serious sam 2 (Direct 3d) – game version 2.070, standard demo; Quake 4 (OpenGL) – game version 1.3.0 build 2393, our custom demo, detail in game where set to ultra quality; F.E.A.R. Extraction point (Direct 3d)  – game version 1.01, built-in benchmark, all setting are set to Maximum, Soft shadows = off; The elder scrolls IV: Oblivion (Direct 3d)  – game version 1.1.511, maximum quality, Bloom effects, distant rendering; Prey (OpenGL) – game version 1.2, maximum quality; Company Of heroes (Direct 3d) – game version  1.3.0, maximum quality, built-in benchmark ; S.T.A.L.K.E.R.- Shadow Of chernobyl (Direct 3d) – game version 1.001, shader 3.0, Full dynamic lighting ; 4. Video card performance tests : We start from the synthetic benchmarks in futuremark. 3DMark 2005 & 3DMark 2006 In both benchmarks situation is similar. GeForce 8600 GT substantially is better than GeForce 7600 GT and it barely lags behind Radeon x1950 GT with default rating. Due to its high overclocking potential, Palit geForce 8600 GT sonic leads after overclock . Serious sam 2 In serious sam 2 game GeForce 8600 GT is inferior to radeon x1950 GT. Are at the same time problems with drivers for this game are obvious for the radeon card,  the minimum  number frames per second is lower than in GeForce 8600 GT. Moreover this problem with Serious sam 2 is observed in all video card on ATI chips. Overclock, give the geForce 8600 GT a noticeable performance increase in quality regime which allows it to get better performance in 1024 X 768 and 1280 X 1024 resolution  close  to Radeon x1950 GT. Both card has a large advantage over the GeForce 7600 GT, which is completely logical. Quake 4 All pictures of both NVIDIA video cards are similar in Quake. In regime High quality all tested video card, including GeForce 7600 GT, ensure comfortable FPS in the two tested resolution, but NVIDIA greatly loses over ATI. But in quality regime the advantage Of radeon x1950 GT is higher. The 8600 GT is limited by the 128- bit memory system bus … F.E.A.R. Extraction point Again here without quality improvement , the geForce 8600 GT lags behind Radeon x1950 GT, but with overclock it completely compensates its loss. In quality regime at standard frequencies the break between geForce 8600 GT and x1950GT  is larger, and even the high overclocking potential of Palit card does not allow it to reach the radeon X1950 GT speed. The elder scrolls IV: Oblivion   Here the first surprise! In three test regimes from four in game the elder scrolls IV: Oblivion (in the default rating ) geForce 8600 GT is faster than Radeon x1950 GT (This last wins only in regime High quality at resolution 1280 X 1024). The performance of new video card is wonderfully scaled with overclock. Prey In Prey, based on quake 4 engine, the GeForce 8600 GT is again inferior to Radeon x1950 GT, while in its default frequency the card is completely similar to GeForce 7600 GT. The very high overclocking potential of video card from Palit allow the 8600 GT to leave far behind 7600 GT and to approach ATI chip video card  (in High quality 1280 X 1024 , their results are generally equal). Company of heroes Again here Radeon is faster . However, according to the test results we note one special feature. Focus attention, that performances decrease in geForce 8600 GT from passage to quality regime is less than in AMD video card . S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of chernobyl In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow Of chernobyl video card geForce 8600 GT is more preferable than Radeon x1950 GT, but defence is small. Furthermore, as test showed, we are able to play this game correctly only with incomplete dynamic illumination in 1024 X 768 resolution . Conclusion It is clear that new video card are faster than predecessor. On average in all benchmarks and games the advantage Of geForce 8600 GT over the 7600 GT is 34- 36%, minimum is equal to 4%, and maximum 73%. Furthermore, GeForce 8600 GT possesses higher frequency potential. Now as comparison of today competitor video card GeForce 8600 GT  and radeon x1950 GT. AMD did not present products of average and low price range using API directX 10  ; therefore as comparison we can use top ATI products  from the previous generation, in this case we talk about Radeon x1950 GT. This last card with similar cost has a good advantage over nvidia 8600GT in games such as Serious sam 2, Quake 4, F.E.A.R ; Prey, and also Company Of heroes. GeForce 8600 GT is somehow faster in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of chernobyl and noticeably faster in The elder scrolls IV: Oblivion. Besides these two games GeForce 8600 GT  have advantage in the form of higher overclock potential and smaller energy consumption , and also in our view a simple PCB. Well do not forget also about DirectX 10 support :-). So for those who look for new video card updating from a 7600GT or lower can for sure go with 8600GT but those who already have a  radeon x1950 GT, there is no sense to get the card. I would propose to wait for ATI video card in this segment and then u can make a final conclusions. At present there is no need to hurry with purchase Of directX 10 graphic card . For sure i am not talking about 8800GTS or 8800 GTX from high end class. xtreview is your : Video card - cpu - memory - Hard drive - power supply unit source we would be happy to answer for your question . if you have suggestion or comment regarding this review our support would be glad to help just join our forum and ask u will get the best answer to discuss check our forum section :-) RATE THIS REVIEW 1 2 3 4 5    / 5   View Stat

computer news computer parts review Old Forum Downloads New Forum Login Join Articles terms Hardware blog Sitemap Get Freebies