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HOME arrow All Video/Written Reviews arrow #903 - Zotac 8600GTS Video Card
 
#903 - Zotac 8600GTS Video Card Print E-mail
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Written by Zach Jeffers   
Tuesday, 01 January 2008
Article Index
#903 - Zotac 8600GTS Video Card
Page 2: Packaging and Contents
Page 3: A Close Look
Page 4: Benchmarks and Overclocking
Page 5: Conclusion
Page 3 of 5

A Close Look:

The PCB of the Zotac 8600GTS card features what I like to call the “Gigabyte Green” color found on many of their motherboards. The cooler is black and features a neon orange blower fan. The back I/O plate actually has a “black chrome” look to it. A very nice tough, especially if you are placing this card in a black case. This is a simple cosmetic touch but something that I really liked seeing.




The bottom of the card features nothing but the power lead for the cooling unit. The top of the Zotac card is equally as barren with only the SLI connector making home near the PCI bracket. At the PCI bracket, you can see the black hue to the chromed plate. Here you will find the video out connection for your high definition component outputs along with the two DVI-D connections featuring Dual-Link for those fortunate enough to own larger displays.




At the inside end of the 8600GTS video card, there are a small number of compactors and the 6-pin power header. The lack of additional capacitors and other relevant chips found on the 8800 series cards make it possible for the 8600 series to get away with the single slot cooling setup. Now only if the big brother could go on a diet and achieve the same performance!



On the back of the card, the only thing you will be finding is a field of soldered pins and small I/O chips. Not much to look at here so the only way you are going to be seeing the pretty side is if you own a BTX setup!



The included cooler on the Zotac 8600GTS is fairly basic in design. Flat base makes contact with the GPU and memory modules while the inside of the cooler features a blower fan and multiple aluminum fins to dissipate heat. I found when opening the top of the cooler that the internal fins were pretty thin and could be easily bent. As a matter of fact, a couple already were. While you are never really messing with these, it is worth noting that the cooler’s quality is more a 4-star rather than a 5-star.




For comparison of size, I placed the cooler up next to the ATI based GeCube x1950Pro video card. As you can see, the 8600GTS is quite a bit shorter than the x1950Pro as are the coolers.






 
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