The GeForce 9600 GT (G94) was the first graphics chip in Nvidia’s 9-series. Although it only has 64 stream processors, it is just 20% slower than the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 and can easily compete with the older 320 and 640 MB 8800 GTS models.
It’s available with a variety of different memory sizes—512 MB is standard, but almost every vendor offers models with 1 GB and even the first special models with 2 GB are already on the market. Recent tests have shown is that there is almost no difference between 512 and 1,024 MB; you can only tell when running two 3D boards in parallel using SLI at high resolutions. With current graphics drivers, the 9600 GT supports the calculations of extended physics effects in games through Nvidia’s optimized PhysX technology. It can also do calculations on the GPU using Folding@Home, and with the Badaboom video encoder, it converts videos faster than a CPU.
In this test we have four unique models with some nice modifications.
The Asus EN9600GT Silent is cooled passively, while the MSI Hybrid Freezer switches between passive and active cooling depending on chip temperature. Palit delivers an overclocked GeForce 9600 GT Sonic version with a quiet double-slot cooler and small air channel. But our focus is on its HDMI port and DisplayPort outputs. Sparkle increases speed even more. The company has a super-quiet double fan on its Calibre 9600 GT and a button to choose from three different speeds.
- Passively Cooled and Overclocked
- Graphics Chip Comparison And Test Configuration
- Asus GeForce 9600 GT Silent (EN9600GT SILENT/HTDI/512M/A)
- Asus Software
- MSI GeForce 9600 GT Hybrid Freezer (N9600GT Hybrid Freezer)
- MSI Software
- Palit GeForce 9600 GT Sonic (9600GT Sonic)
- Sparkle GeForce 9600 GT Calibre (Calibre P960 GBOX)
- Sparkle Fan
- Sparkle Control
- Assassins’ Creed v1.02
- Call of Duty 4 v1.6
- Crysis v1.21 High Quality
- Crysis v1.21 Very High Quality
- Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.4
- Half Life 2: Episode 2
- Mass Effect
- Microsoft Flight Simulator X SP2
- World in Conflict v1.05
- 3DMark06 1280x1024p v1.1.0
- Overall Performance Comparison
- Power Consumption, Noise Level, And Temperature
- 3D Power Sorted By Resolution And Anti-aliasing Settings
- Conclusion--The 8800 GT Is Less Expensive And The 8800 GTS 512 Is Faster

Asus sells them for what? 170 dollars,free shipping on Newegg?
Maybe I even saw one @ 160...
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.
Exactly what is open about nvidia's drivers?
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)
I am a loyal Nvidia customer and I wont touch the GTX280. I am patiently waiting for the GeForce 11 series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_hardware
Right there on the list of types of hardware are video cards. I will agree, Nvidia DOES NOT have any glaring manufacturing flaws, but neither does ATI as you suggest through your friends experience. So he bought five ATI cards and none worked? Please. And no, this is not a great article. Why would I care about the negligible performance difference between four different brands of the same old card? This would only have been helpful six months ago.
I ran an ATI Radeon 9800XT for 3 years and never had problems with their driver suite. I had a much more enjoyable experience with the ATI card than my current 7800GT card.
And yes I would buy the 4850 over the 9600GT, 8800GT and 8800GTS.
oh, and why fight? we just want better hardwares for lesser money... calm down buddies...