I noticed that nVidia has released a new 8600 GTS, 8600GT and 8500GT, and so I started checking the usual sites bfg, Evga and XFX to find out how they are different. I did find the HardwareZone review, which seems to show that the 8600GTS is bandwidth limited (128-bit bus), but this should not be the case with the slower-clocked 8600GT. I haven’t found anything on the 8500 GT yet. I am looking at building my sister a decent gaming rig, and these card are all mid-priced cards which is what I am look to spend on them.

The review is on a generic nVidia card pre-production card.

What I want to know is, will the major nVidia partners change the performance of the cards?

I read some stuff on the XFX 7600 GT Fatal1ty card, which tested faster then other 7600 GT cards – so it is clear XFX can do it – what about the others?
Also, from the basic specs - the 8500GT maybe the best value:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150231

The least expensive is the XFX one is $90 after mail-in. 8)

Is it better to get the 8500GT or spend the extra $130 or so for a 8600GTS? - dosen't seem like much of a performance different - I mostly play Quake 4.

You already have an ATI X850...going from it to 8500GT would be Huge Downgrade!
Get an ATI X1950Pro/XT or save money to get a 8800Series video card.
Buying 8500/8600Series video card would be madness!

I read some pretty bad reviews on the 8500GT. In Tom's article, didn't they say it was comparable to a 6600GT?!? If that is true, that card is horrible. The dual 6800GTs in my system would crush that, and my system can only barely run Quake 4 (on Ultra, 1280x1024, 2x AA) at playable FPS. Be sure to read plenty of reviews before you buy. I didn't read all of Tom's article on the best price vs performance cards, but it sounded like they were leaning toward the old ATI cards for DX9 games. I doubt those cards could really handle DX10, so I doubt that that should be a major selling point.

The 86/8500 series suck. DX10 support is name-only. If you want to stick with spending around $100, this is your deal. It'll blow the socks off any 8500GT (DO NOT listen to the guy who said his 8500GT keeps pace with his 7600GT - never gonna happen).

Or, if you want to spend more, this X1950XT is an absolutely unbelievable deal. At this price, there is absolutely no reason to go for the more expensive and slower 8600GTS.

Galaxy is slated to make modified 8600GTs and 8500GTs. It looks as though they'll be designated GE.

Link

However, good luck getting them in the U.S. and if you do find them they will come at a premium and I don't see either card making up for the 8600 series lack of good price/performance right now.

SEALBoy's options are a better deal.

Short answer, no. Long answer, the only reason to buy an 8500 is if you want to do hardware decoding of h.264 and you don't care about gaming performance.

I wouldn't spend money on either one, they are terrible mid-range cards. I would go for that X1950XT deal that SEALBoy linked.

Nv always had such a hype about their mid range cards since the 6600GT came out. There were criticisms about their 128but memory bus back then, the *600 series was the best bang for the buck. To think a 6 series still holds its own against one of these 8600's (8500's) shows that AMD better hurry up so we can all get the best value again. Nv can do whatever they feel like until AMD's release

im happy with my 8800GTS 320. Now THATS bang for the buck

Great thread. I've been considering this very question, since I'm using the onboard Radeon X1250 on my Asus M2A-VM mobo. Its' really not that bad - actually pretty good - but I'm definetly looking for an upgrade. I'm not a hard core gamer. The only thing I play is MS Flight Simulator X. The only real reason I want a 8600/8500 is so I can have Direct X 10 if I need it in the future. So any recommendations are appreciated....

The don't get a GF8600 until you see the benchmarks for the SP1 of FSX with DX10, the words from the devs sofar are not promising for the GF8 series in DX10.

Wait until the HD2600s come out then compare features/price, and then when you feel you need something then buy.

Yup I'm considering waiting to see what AMD/ATI has before doing anything...like I said, the X1250 is liveable for for now.