7600gt or 8600gt

Macca · 15 May 2007 at 22:25

I'm building a budget gaming system for my friend and i'm wondering if it's worth stretching to the 8600gt? Or is it better to just stick with the 7600gt.

I've read the 8600gt was a disappointment and it's not too great. But is it worth paying that bit more for or is there not much performance gain or is their a significant gain? Would be playing some games like CSS/wow and res 1280x1024 or less.

Sparky · 15 May 2007 at 22:27

Would depend on a couple of things really.What games he will play and at what Res.

Macca · 15 May 2007 at 22:30

CS||nuTs said:
Would depend on a couple of things really.What games he will play and at what Res.

I should have said, well games like CSS/wow and stuff like it, probably some new FPS's. Res would be like 1280x1024 or less.

Sparky · 15 May 2007 at 22:32

Well the 7600GT should cope with the majority of those games although perhaps not at the Max Detail levels.8600GT will be faster with most games [although not a lot] plus is DX10 compatible.

HangTime · 15 May 2007 at 22:33

The 8600GT is actually less of a disappoinment than the 8600GTS, as it has a sensible price.

Personally I would take the 8600GT everytime, not only is it faster (see here: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_8600_gts_preview/page9.asp, ok so it's an overclocked version....) but it supports dx10 to boot.

Obviously you would have to be a fool to buy it for dx10 support alone (given that performance will likely be shocking) but it's better to have it than not.

lay-z-boy · 15 May 2007 at 22:34

OMG do we need to even ask this question?!?!?!

8600gt can get some really good action, even with the flashlight on!!! :eek:

blow those mutha's away with an 8600gt!

Sparky · 15 May 2007 at 22:34

pFFF Flashlight for cfg noobs

Macca · 15 May 2007 at 22:35

Yeah was never intention of buying for dx10, but bottom line was is there much more performance from it over the 7600gt.

I'm not sure if max detail would be a must, but if the 8600gt can do it, i'm guessing stretching another 15 pound would be worth it.

Macca · 15 May 2007 at 22:36

lay-z-boy said:
OMG do we need to even ask this question?!?!?!

8600gt can get some really good action, even with the flashlight on!!!

blow those mutha's away with an 8600gt!

Was waiting for a reply like this

. I have another question, would the PSU from the Antec NSK4400 Mini Tower Case - 380W SmartPower PSU be enough to power the card, and OC the CPU a bit?

Sparky · 15 May 2007 at 23:08

Cant see why not.

Cyber-Mav · 15 May 2007 at 23:10

for 70 odd quid just get the 8600gt, looks like a decent card, either way its better than the 7600gt and from what ive seen it can be had for nearly 60 quid.

Macca · 20 May 2007 at 21:02

After looking at reviews of the 8600gt we're beginning to think that this card really is pointless getting, and seeing you can get a x1950 pro for so cheap, from what i've seen it would be worth while spending that extra money on the card?

Only worry is the PSU in the NSK6500 case.

Cyber-Mav · 20 May 2007 at 21:06

just get the 8600gt, its proper cheapo now and deffo low on power consumption. its faster than a 7600gt which is not too shabby of a low end card. you can then give us some benchmarks and personal experience on the 8600gt but looking at what your comming from in sure you will like it.

lay-z-boy · 20 May 2007 at 21:07

ofc the x1950pro is a better buy, the 8600's are not worth the money that is asked of them.

Don't think that because they are dx10 they are better, etc.

My 7600gt has sm3, does that mean i can play games with all the settings on high sm3?

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Macca · 20 May 2007 at 21:13

Cyber-Mav said:
just get the 8600gt, its proper cheapo now and deffo low on power consumption. its faster than a 7600gt which is not too shabby of a low end card. you can then give us some benchmarks and personal experience on the 8600gt but looking at what your comming from in sure you will like it.

I know that the 8600gt doesn't require much power from the PSU so that was another bonus of getting it, but we've been looking at a lot of reviews and it really looks like the 8600gt is pants. And we're thinking of just getting a x1950 pro instead if the performance is going to be a lot better than a 8600gt and if the PSU can handle it.

lay-z-boy said:
ofc the x1950pro is a better buy, the 8600's are not worth the money that is asked of them.

Don't think that because they are dx10 they are better, etc.

My 7600gt has sm3, does that mean i can play games with all the settings on high sm3?

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

It's not for me, but yeah the DX10 capability doesn't matter one bit it's just a bonus. It's a budget system for a friend and we initially were going to get the 7600gt, but we could afford bit more, so then the 8600gt was on the cards. So we decided to get it as it was cheap and performed better than the 7600gt.

But now we're thinking the 8600gt is just not that great and worth the money and we should have enough to get a x1950 if the PSU in that case will be enough to power it, and if the performance is going to be a lot better than a 8600gt then it's a no brainer. I'm not really clued up on things just now i'm afraid, but i've been doing my homework since i started asking about this build.

Squakingcow · 20 May 2007 at 21:17

Assuming that it's an antec psu (since it's an antec case), it should be enough to supply the x1950....

lay-z-boy · 20 May 2007 at 21:31

My old 330w tagan can handle an x1900xtx overclocked and an a64 @ 2.7ghz running gpu folding at home (both cpu and gpu loaded heavily)

Antec psu should be fine as the x1950pro draws less power and outputs less heat.

Macca · 20 May 2007 at 21:35

lay-z-boy said:
My old 330w tagan can handle an x1900xtx overclocked and an a64 @ 2.7ghz running gpu folding at home (both cpu and gpu loaded heavily)

Antec psu should be fine as the x1950pro draws less power and outputs less heat.

Ok that sounds good, i can't really find much on the 8600gt really, but do you think the x1950 pro is worth spending 20-25 for that extra performance? How much of a difference is it. Know of any good reviews of the 8600gt vs x1950pro? As i've not had much luck finding some.

Darkwave · 20 May 2007 at 21:37

Macca said:
Ok that sounds good, i can't really find much on the 8600gt really, but do you think the x1950 pro is worth spending 20-25 for that extra performance? How much of a difference is it. Know of any good reviews of the 8600gt vs x1950pro? As i've not had much luck finding some.

X1950Pro is faster than an 8600GTS, never mind an 8600GT.

lay-z-boy · 20 May 2007 at 21:39

Macca said:
Ok that sounds good, i can't really find much on the 8600gt really, but do you think the x1950 pro is worth spending 20-25 for that extra performance? How much of a difference is it. Know of any good reviews of the 8600gt vs x1950pro? As i've not had much luck finding some.

Yes it is worth it. The pro is faster than the gts which is a fair chunk faster than the gt.