bit-tech Shopping: XFX GeForce 8600GT Video Card XXX Edition

• Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA)
• Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video)
• Video - DVI-I (Digital & Analog)

• Dual DVI
• HDTV Encoder
• Multi-Monitor Support
• SLI Ready

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Month

Strengths: Powerful graphics processing, all power needs drawn from PCI Express slot

Weaknesses: None so far

Summary: A friend needed a graphics card to play some of his more recent games. It ran F.E.A.R. with ramped-up settings pretty well (there were a few times it slowed down), so for his purposes, it was more than enough. I was taken a bit by surprise that there was no connection required directly to the power supply, unlike my own graphics card.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 10 Days

Strengths: Easy installation. Very low power consumption (30-40watts), compatible with my 300 watt (dell) power supply. Easily overclockable - comes w/ Nvidia's ntune program.

Weaknesses: 128 bit bottleneck. You MUST cancel all previous video drivers or you get lots of interference.

Summary: Vista score of 5.9 and 5.6 graphics score. Loads all games, old and new with ease. I sometimes get thin horizontal lines across my 22inch screen that are only noticeable with all white backgrounds, not sure what thats about. Again, works with my wimpy power supply (300watt) so I'm very happy with it. DX 10 compatible. Obviously not an 8800, but you can overclock this close ot an 8600 GTS.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2

Strengths: Excellent performance for the $$$$, performs as advertised, Dual DVI output, SLI ready

Weaknesses: If you're buying this card, none. It's only weakness is that it isn't a higher end card that costs over $500

Summary: I got this with a rebate, so the price was even better. This card does what it says it will do, and then some. The updated drivers and nZone interface let you overclock if you want, but I have no need to. I'm using the card on a MediaCenter PC and my video performance has improved substantially. I run six live video feeds at one time through some home surveillance software and it doesn't even hiccup. Prior to installing the card I was getting random drops and terrible frame rates. As a side note, I can also play games I couldn't run before (BF2142 and COH). They run great.

Rating: 4

Time with product: 3 Days

Strengths: Cheap and powerful video card for gaming

Weaknesses: It crashes sometimes in Silkroad Online

Summary: I am playing Silkroad Online and I bought this card to improve the graphic . It keep getting crashes in the game without a notice or error . The game just disappear sometimes . I tried Counter Strike Source and it works perfectly . I don't know where the problem is . I think I will return and buy new card .

Rating: 10

Time with product: 14

Strengths: Only uses one slot, low power consumption, boosts ALL games, directx10 compatible!

Weaknesses: None I've found!! :)

Summary: When I was pondering on a card I was down to this one and another one. WOW?! After dropping this one into my machine I can clearly see why I went with this one. This one is perfect for the person who dosen't have all the money in the world to drop on a graphics card. There's always gonna be something new out there and yes black friday is around the corner but I bet this will still be cheaper and better than most if not all the graphics card that day! I play call of duty 2 on max settings w/ 4x AA and it just chews it up! If you're looking for a card, this is it!