Four GeForce 9600 GT Cards Compared

Features
By Tino Kreiss
published

Asus Software

Because of the large variety of free tools like Fraps and Riva Tuner, along with Nvidia’s own evolving drivers, Asus’ proprietary software bundle is becoming less important as a differentiator. There needs to be some work done on the menu designs and the user interface because the look of SmartDoctor is somewhat outdated. When using the software, remember that without strong ventilation in the housing, you should keep the clock speeds at their standard settings.

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Settings
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Fan control (inactive, because the unit is passively cooled)

Splendid is hidden in the display settings from Windows. Here you can activate the dynamic contrast setting for videos. This feature has been part of the Nvidia graphics driver for quite a while; you can find it under the menu Video Color Settings.

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Dynamic Contrast

The GamerOSD used to be really useful for weak CRT monitors when you were in a dark basement and the monitor had reached its maximum brightness. Instead of looking for the color correction in the graphics driver or the corresponding settings in the graphics menu, you can open GamerOSD using a hot key and directly change the brightness. But due to the high brightness and good contrast ratios of today’s flat screens, this isn’t necessary any longer. There are few games with very dark scenes where the config might be useful. The GamerOSD can also record game videos and transfer them, though.

Tino Kreiss
48 Comments Comment from the forums
  • 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