Four GeForce 9600 GT Cards Compared

Conclusion--The 8800 GT Is Less Expensive And The 8800 GTS 512 Is Faster

If you have good cooling for your case, you might want to get the GeForce 8800 GT because it gives you slightly more 3D performance and costs about $140. If you prefer a card with a double-slot cooler, you might want to try to get one of the last 8800 GTS 512 cards. They’re available for roughly $179. Because all the models that were mentioned already support physics computation with the PhysX driver, the 9-series doesn’t offer any significant advantage.

To be honest, the 9600 GT will only be interesting once the 8800 models are taken off the market. This is simply due to the small price difference, particularly of the special models of the GeForce 9600 GT that are in the same price range.

If you’ve already decided on the newer GeForce 9-series card, you certainly won’t be disappointed by buying one. Almost all games can be run smoothly with resolutions of up to 1920x1200. Only in Crysis will you have to lower your expectations or reduce anti-aliasing in more complex games.

If you prefer a lot of performance, you should go with the super-quiet Sparkle Calibre. If you can live with a little less speed, but want to have HDMI and DisplayPort, you should buy the Palit Sonic version. The MSI Hybrid Freezer is a nice gimmick, but you can get a 9800 GTX for the same money. If you are interested in having a silent HTPC, you might want to take a look at the Asus card; the cooler is solid, and only under full load conditions does it require a slight air flow.

  • JAYDEEJOHN
    So it beats the GTX eh? And you can find brand new nVidia drivers, but no ATI ones? And wheres the 4670? Got halfway thru, decided to skip the rest
    Reply
  • jaragon13
    What about the HD 4850? It costs less than the "last 8800 GTS 512's"
    Asus sells them for what? 170 dollars,free shipping on Newegg?
    Maybe I even saw one @ 160...
    Reply
  • Sus-penders
    Why would anyone get an 8800GTS for $179 when you can buy a better performing HD 4850, for LESS money??? ATI still exists, you know...
    Reply
  • Ryun
    No offense, as the article and tests run were good (I especially like the overall FPS charts), but this information would have been more pertinent, like, 6 months ago.
    Reply
  • Niva
    Uh, I don't get what the people about are upset for. It's a good article, I enjoyed reading and seeing where these cards fit into the scheme of things. I know ATI has made a comeback with their recent cards but until their drivers are completely open and stable I'll stick with nVidia myself so I especially enjoyed this article. Thanks Toms!
    Reply
  • L1qu1d
    Waste of 3 mins, it makes very little sense, the 9600 GTs in sli are around the 280 GTX in performance, yet it manages to get destroyed by the 4870.

    This article would've meant something around the time the cards came out...now I'd much rather like to see the 4850 cards compared or 260s or w.e else that is this gen.
    Reply
  • MooseMuffin
    NivaUh, I don't get what the people about are upset for. It's a good article, I enjoyed reading and seeing where these cards fit into the scheme of things. I know ATI has made a comeback with their recent cards but until their drivers are completely open and stable I'll stick with nVidia myself so I especially enjoyed this article. Thanks Toms!
    Exactly what is open about nvidia's drivers?
    Reply
  • wh3resmycar
    nobody reads the introduction anymore?
    Reply
  • warezme
    warms my heart to see the old 8800GTX included in this test list.

    It's amazing this ancient cards at default speed still sit in the middle of the pack and quickly rise to the top when you turn up AA and texture quality up, beating most every other card cept for 260GTX and SLI and CF rigs.

    It also explains why a pair of old 8800GTX's in SLI OC'ed to at least Ultra speeds on a fast rig are still very hard to out perform by any single card (period)
    Reply
  • There is a reason to get the 9600GT over the 8800GT, power consumption. Look at the numbers, the 9600GT has 1/2 the number of shaders (hence a smaller die). I know the shader clock runs a little faster but a good quality stock PSU with 300W (real, like antec, corsair, etc) should be fine for running it.
    Reply