Ive heard rumors here and there about a 256bit 8600 Ultra w/ 512 memory to be released in June... Someone please tell me this is true, any information would be appreciated! Cuase i was about to put in my order at Newegg till i saw the 128 bit memeory bus , so now im playing the waiting game again...

Dude, why the heck would you want an 8600Ultra? It would most likely come to market at least as expensive as the 8800GTS-320 which would dominate it. The 8600GTS is already too close to the 8800GTS-320 price. If anything, wait to see what the new ATI HD2600 and HD2900 series have to offer next week before choosing a card.

Regarding your question, I had heard those same rumors of the 8600Ultra coming and also heard rumors that it had been cancelled.

Well the thing is i dont want a 8800 card, it waaay to darn big and hot, i dont want to ruin my whole setup. I need a single slot card that performs very well with dx10 capabilities to hold me over till am3 drops. Im considering ati aswell like you said but im more likely i will go ati with my next am3 build, . cuase i want to stick with amd/nvidia as my chipset is for now, thats why.

Jus a few more days...I'm in the same boat,I don't need the power hungry 8800,whats the power draw on the 2600?or 2900?gl .

Well of course we don't know yet but all indications are that the 2900 is at least as power hungry as the 8800 series. Maybe the 2600 series will be what you guys are looking for, maybe not. But I personally wouldn't buy a GF8600 (or any card at all) until the info about the ATI cards due next week comes to allow an informed decision.

I'm not sure I get your last statement - are you saying you have/want an nForce based AMD mobo? If so you can run single card ATI graphics just as easily as nV if you aren't aiming for SLI, which I hope you're not, as an 8800 would demolish SLI'd 8600s and that would defeat the point of wanting a single slot solution anyway. I can understand not wanting the G80's heat. However, the GF8600 doesn't perform all that well in most tests. If you want a single slot card that performs well now, I would personally look at a good DX9 card like the X1950Pro or a GF7900/7950 series. If you really want DX10, remember that more cards will come out between now and the first DX10 games, and we don't know how ANY cards perform under DX10 yet (including the 8600, 8800, 2600, and 2900 series).

Well of course we don't know yet but all indications are that the 2900 is at least as power hungry as the 8800 series. Maybe the 2600 series will be what you guys are looking for, maybe not. But I personally wouldn't buy a GF8600 (or any card at all) until the info about the ATI cards due next week comes to allow an informed decision.

I'm not sure I get your last statement - are you saying you have/want an nForce based AMD mobo? If so you can run single card ATI graphics just as easily as nV if you aren't aiming for SLI, which I hope you're not, as an 8800 would demolish SLI'd 8600s and that would defeat the point of wanting a single slot solution anyway. I can understand not wanting the G80's heat. However, the GF8600 doesn't perform all that well in most tests. If you want a single slot card that performs well now, I would personally look at a good DX9 card like the X1950Pro or a GF7900/7950 series. If you really want DX10, remember that more cards will come out between now and the first DX10 games, and we don't know how ANY cards perform under DX10 yet (including the 8600, 8800, 2600, and 2900 series).

yea, i have a North Bridge NVIDIA GeForce 6100, South Bridge NVIDIA nForce 410 chipset on my board right now, thats why i kinda wanted to use a Nvidia Card with DX 10 capabilities for now, untill i build a new AM3 socket later when it drops with a AMD/ATI chipset and graphix combo.

The thing is with the size of cards taking up 2 slots is just not feasable for me, i need a sigle slot card, the highest performing DX10 compatable Single Slot card. And i can wait a month or so, in not going to rush into a buy. But for some reason im kinda stuck on grabbing an Nvidia card for this current machine till my next one. A 256 bit 8600 Ultra with 512 memory would be perfect for my current needs till the next generation or AMD/ATI.

I'll have to say the 8600 ultra tipped my curiousity a lil bit also,thats exactly what I'm putting together.For the htpc it's looking like a nice pick,although the 2600 is going to be a sweet edition too.Though we're running the 6100 nvidia based chip I believe ati would operate smoothly as well,couple more days... gl

That makes very little sense. Who cares who made your northbridge and southbridge or what your integrated graphics is?
An 8600 Ultra sounds sweet on paper until you realize that the 8800GTS 320 basically IS the 8600 Ultra, it won't get any better than that for price/performance for a while to come

nvidia should have just launched the 8600gts with 256 bit memory bus and 4 stream processors, the 8600gt like the 8600gts the way it is and the 8500gt with the 8600gt's specs then they could also have a 8500gt that's a little worse than a 7600gt. But, too bad they didn't. This is exactly the same thing gping on with the "8600Ultra." It's basically not going to happen unless they keep 8800 prices pretty close to what they are now and plan on launching it with a price tag of about $220 with all of it's lower 8x00 siblings having big price drops.

so are you saying it makes no difference at all?

ive heard hear and there that its good to use like grfx as on your chipset for optimal performance, to get every last bit of compatability.. i dont know how true this is exactly, anyone know for sure?

anyone have any good info about any release date for the 8600 Ultra? if theres any truth to its realease?

so are you saying it makes no difference at all?

ive heard hear and there that its good to use like grfx as on your chipset for optimal performance, to get every last bit of compatability.. i dont know how true this is exactly, anyone know for sure?
Basically, it makes no difference, unless you want to use SLI or Crossfire. Read this test:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/0 [...] ng_matter/

good info bob, thank you.


Anyone have any word on any 256bit Nvidia DX10 cards droping anytime soon?????????

I have a 8800GTS 640MB and it isn't running hot. In fact I find it quieter than my old good X800XL