HardOCP review BFG and XFX 8600GTS...

Here is the link:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/arti [...] VzaWFzdA==

Pretty good review! Here is the conclusion of it:

BFGTech GeForce 8600 GTS OC


The BFGTech GeForce 8600 GTS OC performed very well for us. It ran quite and cool and provided an enjoyable gameplay experience in every game. We were thrilled to see how high this video card can overclock. There is a lot of potential for enthusiasts with these video cards. BFGTech provides a full lifetime warranty and 24/7 tech support and a decent bundle.


XFX GeForce 8600 GTS XXX Edition


While the BFGTech was a solid gaming video card, we do have to give the nod to the XFX GeForce 8600 GTS XXX Edition. The XFX 8600 GTS XXX simply provided the best gaming performance in its class and price range. We experienced performance that exceeded the BFGTech GeForce 8600 GTS which let us increase quality settings in games. With Oblivion we were able to turn on full grass, with Flight Sim X we were able to use a higher AA setting, with BF 2142 we were also able to use a better AA setting.


Overclocking potential is better with this video card since the memory is already overclocked to 2.26 GHz. The BFGTech GeForce 8600 GTS OC only mustered a 2.15 GHz memory clock speed. The XFX was able to overclock up to 2.36 GHz on the memory with potential for possibly hitting 2.4 GHz with some modding. Both video cards reached at least 775 MHz core speed, so combine that with the faster memory on the XFX 8600 GTS XXX Edition and you have one killer video card. There is also a full version of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter which only sweetens the bundle. The only caveat is a slightly high $239.99 price tag.


The Bottom Line


AMD/ATI should be very worried at this point. NVIDIA just released their entire DX10 mainstream lineup and it delivers. Compared to ATI’s current generation the GeForce 8600 GTS kicks its butt. Compared to NVIDIA’s own last generation, GeForce 7 series, the GeForce 8600 GTS kicks its butt. We experienced the highest playable settings we have ever seen at this price range. The XFX GeForce 8600 GTS XXX Edition is one of the best gaming video cards we have ever used at $239.99. It provided the best gameplay experience for the money and has further performance potential for hardware enthusiasts.


If you are in the market for a mainstream video card that delivers great gaming, the GeForce 8600 GTS should be the only GPU on your list. It provides the best gaming performance for the price in today’s games, and has DirectX 10 support for tomorrow’s games.

found another 8600gts test. This time, it's the Gigabyte version

Only problem : it's in french... anyway, it might be interresting because the test includes a SLI benchmark

Link : http://www.vtr-hardware.com/articles/a9823_1.html

The French reviews' charts don't match up to [H]. X1950GT often has the lead at higher res. But from what I can tell, NV pulled a big launch driver performance boost with these 158.16 drivers. Either pulled them drivers out just in time, or they are sneaky lil' guys keeping their performance hidden til now.

I agree, they look good, tho Im not into midrange. I wonder how the ATI products will do??

I have always found HardOCP quite credible and rightly stated, these are pre overclocked versions of the cards so would increase performance.

I really like the look of these cards. Waiting to see the UK price for them and also waiting to see if AMD/ATI's new cards drive prices down or not.

Anandtech now have a review up:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2970

Jeez... all I can see is how far the 8800gts 320 blows all of those cards out of the water....

at a $20 difference, the 8800GTS is well worth the extra money.

Not at all bad for $160. But based on Tom's and Firingsquads reviews, the X1950 pro still looks to be as fast or faster. Not sure what's up with [H] lately.

I am so pressed for time today but want to read more. ALways seems to happen on launch days.

I do like the comment Kyle and Brent made about everyone else uses canned benchmarks, that's why the difference. Then Someone points out there are no canned timedemo's in Oblvion, yet [H] shows the X1950 pro getting crushed while other reviews show them very close.