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#903 - Zotac 8600GTS Video Card |
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Written by Zach Jeffers
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Tuesday, 01 January 2008 |
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Page 5 of 5
Conclusion:
Zotac has a done what many other manufacturers have done. They have taken up a technology proven by gamers around the world and made a terrific product. Unfortunately these 8600GTS series cards are being sold in a lot of new Vista based machines. Buyers sadly won’t see the full potential of this card when bundled with a Vista based machine. The true performance comes with XP
The technology behind the Zotac 8600GTS is a proven platform for mid-level gaming performance. Zotac has simple provided yet another option in the large pool of video cards. The only reason that I could see this card being purchased over another 8600GTS would be the fact that it has a single slot cooler, a cool color scheme and a DVI-D to HDMI adapter for high definition TV support.
This is not to say that there are not others out there that without these features, but the Zotac 8600GTS can even overclock with small performance gains on most games without too horrible of a heat increase. With ambient temperatures at 22°C, stock settings this card ran 50°C and 58°C at idle and load respectively. When you include a small overclock, the G84 core ran 56°C at idle and 65°C at load. Third party cooling could probably get these temperatures down without issue, but you would probably be moving to a two slot cooling solution.
As far as fan noise is concerned; this cooler’s fan is a bit annoying as it was slightly louder than our CPU cooler while idle and definitely noticeable during loads. I would say that this cooler shouldn’t be a problem for cases that are hidden under a desk, but if located on top of a desk, this could become a deterrent.
Overall, the 8600GTS platform makes a great introduction into the world of PC gaming. While this card will never accomplish what its big brother has in the gaming scene, it makes a great product for Zotac to market to the intro/casual gaming market. Zotac has manufactured a great card here and for the price, features and included accessories, I consider this a recommended product if you are looking for building a new rig to start gaming, or just to upgrade an older system. I would like to extend our thanks to Geeks for their supply of this review sample and their continued support of 3dGameMan.com!
> ADDITIONAL INFO/COMMENTS IN THE FORUMS <
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Pros |
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- Great Color Scheme
- Great Scores
- Reasonable Pricing
- Single Slot Cooler
- Overclockable
- DVI-D to HDMI Adapter
- Dual-Link Capable
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