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XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS PREVIEW

"Fight between the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS and the Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro. XFX Geforce 8600 GTS appears to have the speed by offering 155 Mhz faster core and 880 Mhz faster memory. However there is one problem with the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS and that is it's 128 Bit memory interface which is half of the 256 Bit interface found on Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro."
XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS

3DMARK

3DMARK 2005

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS10840
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO10296 (-6%)

3DMARK 2006

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS5173
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO5073 (-2%)

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO

COMMENT - "The XFX Geforce 8600 GTS puts in a great performance with 3dmark 2005 and finishes 544 points ahead of the Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro. The Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro fights back with 3dmark 2006 but still the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS wins this time by much smaller 100 points."

SERIOUS SAM 2

1280x1024

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS120 (-1%)
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO121

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO

COMMENT - "Serious Sam 2 fails to provide a clear winner and the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS and Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro both deliver the same performance."

PREY

1280x1024

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS45 (-25%)
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO60

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO

COMMENT - "Prey is a massive victory for the Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro and it blows away the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS delivering 25% better performance. 45fps is too close to unplayable for my liking."

SPLINTER CELL 3
CHAOS THEORY

1280x1024

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS60 (-11%)
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO67

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO

COMMENT - "Splinter Cell 3 is more like the performance I would expect from the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS and although it loses by 11% to the Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro that is only 7fps which is okay."

F.E.A.R

1280x1024

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS38 (-33%)
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO56

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO

COMMENT - "Fear is another blow to the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS and the Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro once again wipes the floor with a 33% clear victory. The XFX Geforce 8600 GTS could only deliver 38fps which is barely playable."

FINAL RESULT

SYNTHETIC BENCHMARKS

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS16013
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO15369 (-5%)

GAME BENCHMARKS

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS263 (-14%)
CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO304

XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS CONNECT3D RADEON X1950 PRO

SUMMARY - "The XFX Geforce 8600 GTS is a good video card but I expected greater performance. The XFX Geforce 8600 GTS is a DX10 video card but I think the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS will be far to slow to be able to run demanding DX10 games software at a playable level."
COMMENT - "The XFX Geforce 8600 GTS is an interesting product which offers all of the latest features like Purevideo and DX10. However it's performance was disappointing, it's performance with 3dmark 2005 and 3dmark 2006 was good but these are synthetic benchmarks. It's performance with games software was poor and the XFX Geforce 8600 GTS couldn't outperform the Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro. It got very close with Serious Sam 2 but the Connect3D Radeon x1950 Pro beat it by 25% with Prey, 11% with Splinter Cell and 33% with Fear."
XFX GEFORCE 8600 GTS 7/10!

INDEX
PAGE 1 - INTRODUCTION AND SYSTEM INFORMATION
PAGE 2 - 3DMARK 2005, 3DMARK 2006, 2006 AND GAMES SOFTWARE
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