Replaced my 7900GT with an 8600GTS

[DavidT]

Well, yesterday I booted up my rig, and apparently my 7900GT decided it was in the mood for celebration and threw a small fireworks show.

I unplugged my system right away, waited a bit, plugged it back in and booted up... but no video on the screen and boot code 7F (Which means the video adapter can't be found)

But hey, every action has an equal and opposite reaction right? With the death of that card, I went to pick up an Evga 8600GTS Superclocked.

I can tell you right away, all those reviews about the 8600 Series being a total flop is total BS. Not only does this card give me a ~10FPS boost compared to the 7900GT in some games, but it also increased my 3DMark '06 score by 1158 points! (See the attached pictures)

I can honestly say, If you have a 7800 or 7900 card and simply want DX10 right now without having to spend a good $400 - $1000 on a high end 8800 card, you should seriously consider looking into this card.

 

[Rastalovich]

It`s a different class of card to be fair, real comparison should be to a 7600.

 

[macgamesrule]

I think his point was that the new midrange card beat the previous high end card. Which has been known to happen frequently in the past...

 

[Rastalovich]

Yeah I get him, my reasoning is people from other sources stating the card is a flop and u see them comparing an 8600 with a 7950 XXX 2G card or summit.

 

[Bogel]

I also see alot of people testing with resolutions of like 1600x1200, I personally think that if you play at that res, you should be looking at a 8800 not a 8600, but meh

 

[FghtinIrshNvrDie]

hmm, seems to be about on par with the x1950xt.

Ryan

 

[Toxcity]

Woah, That has totally changed my mind on the 8600s!

 

[Rastalovich]

I also see alot of people testing with resolutions of like 1600x1200, I personally think that if you play at that res, you should be looking at a 8800 not a 8600, but meh

Agreed, even tho the 8600 would probably handle alot of mixes of games at that resolution, if u`ve gone to the expense or trouble of getting hold of a real quality screen at that high a resolution, atleast an 8800 gts should be in u`r mind. Considering economies, u shouldn`t be short reaching between the two card prices.

8600 will handle alot of games out today and look extremely good, but the bracket u`ve chosen the card in will be eqivelant of trying to use a 7600 card on a high detailed game b4 the G80 came out.

Game creators will push the tab up as they feel they can.

 

[darkorb]

just installed my 8800, its sick!!

 

[DavidT]

Bit of an update. I've been checking my FPS with FRAPS while playing BF2142 lately, and I am absolutely stunned.

On some maps, the FPS meter fluctuates between 99 and 100 FPS. The lowest I have seen it go while playing so far is 65 FPS and thats only when a lot is going on on the screen (Large Explosions, extremely heavy gunfire). Then at the end when you see the titan explode, it goes down to about 45-50 FPS.

I'm so surprised at the performance of this card. When I bought it, I was expecting the performance to be around the lines of a 7300 or 7600, but this thing is comparable to the 7950GX2 and even the 8800GTS at points.

Now if only Nvidia could fix the NV4_DISP.dll problem with the 680i boards, and then I could overclock this thing to really see what it can do :yumyum:

(For those that don't know, there is a problem with Forceware when run on some 680i bassed boards. Whenever a user with an 8000 series card tries to overclock, the driver will crash after just a few minutes of game play.)

 

[Hyper]

Are you not going to RMA your 7900gt?

 

[DavidT]

Are you not going to RMA your 7900gt?

Nope, I replaced the original cooler. I would put the original back on, but I may have accidentally thrown it out.

 

[drs2328]

I also have an EVGA 8600gts.My previous card was a 7900 gt.I find that the 8600gts is a lot faster than the 7900gt in just about everything.Cannot understand the reviews.Especially Test drive unlimited.Poor frames with the 7900 but the 8600 gts is very smooth at 1280 -1024,high details.I'm expecting better performance once the Nvidia drivers mature.