9600GT SLi review

[nRollo]

http://www.firingsquad.com/har...00_gt_sli_performance/

 

[angry hampster]

AT was impressed as well:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3234&p=3

I think this is a really nice looking card, be it in SLI for high-end or single card for midrange gaming, it's a great buy.

 

[SickBeast]

Do you know why it does so well with only 64 shaders? Have they somehow made each shader more powerful? I know I read something about them having higher shader clockspeeds.

TBH a 3870X2 is a more elegant solution than two 9600GTs. I'm guessing the price will come down on them to around the $350 level pretty soon.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Do you know why it does so well with only 64 shaders? Have they somehow made each shader more powerful? I know I read something about them having higher shader clockspeeds.

TBH a 3870X2 is a more elegant solution than two 9600GTs. I'm guessing the price will come down on them to around the $350 level pretty soon.

I am not sure, but in each review I have read so far they kept mentioning these "filters" and how they improved performance. But I didn't see any explanation of what they were, where to get them and if they only work on the 9600GT or not.

Maybe someone knows more on those?

Edit ** It looks like Filters in tom's review meant "AF"... I never heard a reviewer refer to AF as "filters turned on"... Kinda silly, even though AF is 'a' filter.

 

[lavaheadache]

wowzers, I was impressed with the review!

 

[Extelleron]

The 9600GT's SLI performance and the 8800GT @ $200 really puts pressure on ATI to reduce the price of the HD 3870 X2. It's really hard to justify the HD 3870 X2 for $450 when you can get the same performance from a 9600GT SLI setup for $340.

IMO HD 3870 X2 should be priced at around ~$349.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Do you know why it does so well with only 64 shaders? Have they somehow made each shader more powerful? I know I read something about them having higher shader clockspeeds.

I was wondering the same thing. What if... 9800 GTX comes equipped with 256 of them? That would be a nice rabbit out of the hat. Would make up for the 1+ year wait on a new flagship...

 

[v8envy]

Except for one minor problem: SLI capable chipsets are only available from nvidia. And they're not very good, not to mention only available on obscenely priced boards.

If I had to have a multi-GPU solution (read: high res 30" display, need to crank settings) I'd have to go with the 3870x2 (or x4), simply because Skulltrail is just too out there. Until SLI is available on Intel chipsets the price of midrange/low end NV cards is immaterial. CF is the only game in town for multi-GPU unless you're a masochist.

(edit: oops, I was talking about 775-socket boards. I guess AMD fans can do SLI)

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: v8envy
Except for one minor problem: SLI capable chipsets are only available from nvidia. And they're not very good, not to mention only available on obscenely priced boards.

If I had to have a multi-GPU solution (read: high res 30" display, need to crank settings) I'd have to go with the 3870x2 (or x4), simply because Skulltrail is just too out there. Until SLI is available on Intel chipsets the price of midrange/low end NV cards is immaterial. CF is the only game in town for multi-GPU unless you're a masochist.

(edit: oops, I was talking about 775-socket boards. I guess AMD fans can do SLI)

Ermm, not good how? Is there something I should know about my 650i SLI? Is someone spreading porky pies? (Not meaning you, as I am sure you just heard this from somewhere else.).

I paid 120.00 for my P5N-E SLI back in April '07.
Overclocks decently, no hardware incompatibilities. I have had a RAID 1 (mirror) running for a few months now. Any mobo in particular you are referring to that is not very good? A particular chipset maybe?

 

[Avalon]

I was under the impression that the 9600GT does so well compared to an 8800GT because it still has the same number of ROPs and bandwidth. Having a higher shader and core clock just help to mitigate the lack of shader processors.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: v8envy
Except for one minor problem: SLI capable chipsets are only available from nvidia. And they're not very good, not to mention only available on obscenely priced boards.

If I had to have a multi-GPU solution (read: high res 30" display, need to crank settings) I'd have to go with the 3870x2 (or x4), simply because Skulltrail is just too out there. Until SLI is available on Intel chipsets the price of midrange/low end NV cards is immaterial. CF is the only game in town for multi-GPU unless you're a masochist.

(edit: oops, I was talking about 775-socket boards. I guess AMD fans can do SLI)

There's nothing wrong with SLi Socket 775 boards.

They get good reviews, and I have had literally zero problems with them myself.

What do you feel the advantages of non nForce chipsets are?

Besides "higher overclocking" anyway- because anybody with a mid 2GHz Intel cpu is just as well off as anyone else.

As far as Crossfire being the "only game in town"
there's the small matter of it being slower than a single card a lot, and usually slower than the much lower priced 9600GT SLi set.

I don't know, you've said some things, but could you please link us to reviews that back up your claims?

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: Avalon
I was under the impression that the 9600GT does so well compared to an 8800GT because it still has the same number of ROPs and bandwidth. Having a higher shader and core clock just help to mitigate the lack of shader processors.

I agree with that line of reasoning.


However, I have a question...

How good an upgrade option is 9600GT SLI from 8800GTS 320MB?
This of course compared in price/performance to the not yet available cards (Yes I know we have no numbers on the new ones but just by judging off the 9600GT).

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: nRollo

Originally posted by: v8envy
Except for one minor problem: SLI capable chipsets are only available from nvidia. And they're not very good, not to mention only available on obscenely priced boards.

If I had to have a multi-GPU solution (read: high res 30" display, need to crank settings) I'd have to go with the 3870x2 (or x4), simply because Skulltrail is just too out there. Until SLI is available on Intel chipsets the price of midrange/low end NV cards is immaterial. CF is the only game in town for multi-GPU unless you're a masochist.

(edit: oops, I was talking about 775-socket boards. I guess AMD fans can do SLI)

There's nothing wrong with SLi Socket 775 boards.

They get good reviews, and I have had literally zero problems with them myself.

What do you feel the advantages of non nForce chipsets are?

Besides "higher overclocking" anyway- because anybody with a mid 2GHz Intel cpu is just as well off as anyone else.

As far as Crossfire being the "only game in town"
there's the small matter of it being slower than a single card a lot, and usually slower than the much lower priced 9600GT SLi set.

I don't know, you've said some things, but could you please link us to reviews that back up your claims?

Saying that nVidia's Intel chipsets are good is really not an accurate statement at this point.

First off are the problems that 680i users had; I don't remember what they were and I haven't personally owned one, but I remember a lot of users needing to RMA their boards.
Now a lot of users are finding that they spent $200 on a motherboard that won't work with the new 45nm Quads.

Just take a look on newegg. A 780i motherboard costs $250. Even a 750i board costs $160 and there are few options.

You can get a good P35 board for well under $100; recently there has been deals for an IP-35E for $60AR. You can get a 650i for around $80, but it's not going to get anywhere near 500FSB.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: nRollo

Originally posted by: v8envy
Except for one minor problem: SLI capable chipsets are only available from nvidia. And they're not very good, not to mention only available on obscenely priced boards.

If I had to have a multi-GPU solution (read: high res 30" display, need to crank settings) I'd have to go with the 3870x2 (or x4), simply because Skulltrail is just too out there. Until SLI is available on Intel chipsets the price of midrange/low end NV cards is immaterial. CF is the only game in town for multi-GPU unless you're a masochist.

(edit: oops, I was talking about 775-socket boards. I guess AMD fans can do SLI)

There's nothing wrong with SLi Socket 775 boards.

They get good reviews, and I have had literally zero problems with them myself.

What do you feel the advantages of non nForce chipsets are?

Besides "higher overclocking" anyway- because anybody with a mid 2GHz Intel cpu is just as well off as anyone else.

As far as Crossfire being the "only game in town"
there's the small matter of it being slower than a single card a lot, and usually slower than the much lower priced 9600GT SLi set.

I don't know, you've said some things, but could you please link us to reviews that back up your claims?

Saying that nVidia's Intel chipsets are good is really not an accurate statement at this point.

Neither is saying that they aren't good. You mention a P35 board? Am I mistaken, or are the PCI-e slots limited to 1x 16x & 1x 4x? Or is that only the board apoppin has?

Check this out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131142

ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i SLI 114.99
you will have to flash the BIOS to revision 803 if you want it to work with the new 45nm line of core 2 duo's.

This kind of blows your 250.00 mobo theory out the window.

I can flash my mobo that I bought last April to ver. 803, and drop a Wolfdale into it.

All it takes is a little research (about 3 minutes worth) to save yourself from marketing.

250+ dollars suddently reduced to 114.99. It's magical.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: Avalon
I was under the impression that the 9600GT does so well compared to an 8800GT because it still has the same number of ROPs and bandwidth. Having a higher shader and core clock just help to mitigate the lack of shader processors.

So if the 9600GT does this well with 64 shaders, what would it do with 128? ROPS and bandwidth being equal..

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: SteelSix

Originally posted by: Avalon
I was under the impression that the 9600GT does so well compared to an 8800GT because it still has the same number of ROPs and bandwidth. Having a higher shader and core clock just help to mitigate the lack of shader processors.

So if the 9600GT does this well with 64 shaders, what would it do with 128? ROPS and bandwidth being equal..

This is the question of the week. Indeed.

 

[Piuc2020]

Originally posted by: SteelSix

Originally posted by: Avalon
I was under the impression that the 9600GT does so well compared to an 8800GT because it still has the same number of ROPs and bandwidth. Having a higher shader and core clock just help to mitigate the lack of shader processors.

So if the 9600GT does this well with 64 shaders, what would it do with 128? ROPS and bandwidth being equal..

It would be equal to a 8800GTS (G92) and it would only pull farther in tests where AA is used.

That is all.

 

[imported_dingdong]

Originally posted by: SteelSix

Originally posted by: Avalon
I was under the impression that the 9600GT does so well compared to an 8800GT because it still has the same number of ROPs and bandwidth. Having a higher shader and core clock just help to mitigate the lack of shader processors.

So if the 9600GT does this well with 64 shaders, what would it do with 128? ROPS and bandwidth being equal..

nothing more than a overcloked 8800GTS 512

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Extelleron


Saying that nVidia's Intel chipsets are good is really not an accurate statement at this point.

First off are the problems that 680i users had; I don't remember what they were and I haven't personally owned one, but I remember a lot of users needing to RMA their boards.
Now a lot of users are finding that they spent $200 on a motherboard that won't work with the new 45nm Quads.

Just take a look on newegg. A 780i motherboard costs $250. Even a 750i board costs $160 and there are few options.

You can get a good P35 board for well under $100; recently there has been deals for an IP-35E for $60AR. You can get a 650i for around $80, but it's not going to get anywhere near 500FSB.

NVIDIA's chipsets are good, when the 680i was launched it was the board to have.

Extreme OCers had some difficulty with early revisions, as I recall, but often as not the problems were more related to their memory than the chipset.

As noted in my post, you don't need to be anywhere near a 500MHz FSB to have superior gaming with SLi.

You buy multi-GPU solutions for GPU limited gaming, not CPU limited gaming.

 

[Tempered81]

I've also heard a lot of complaints about nvidia sli motherboards on various forums, although I have never owned one. Just seems everyone likes to recommend p35 boards when doing penryn overclocking. You can't get sli on a p35 afaik.

I'm sure nvidia chipsets are great for mild oc's and never give problems. But there should be a reason that 3 people in the post alone have mentioned hearing problems with nvidia boards.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003


Neither is saying that they aren't good. You mention a P35 board? Am I mistaken, or are the PCI-e slots limited to 1x 16x & 1x 4x? Or is that only the board apoppin has?

Check this out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131142

ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i SLI 114.99
you will have to flash the BIOS to revision 803 if you want it to work with the new 45nm line of core 2 duo's.

This kind of blows your 250.00 mobo theory out the window.

I can flash my mobo that I bought last April to ver. 803, and drop a Wolfdale into it.

All it takes is a little research (about 3 minutes worth) to save yourself from marketing.

250+ dollars suddently reduced to 114.99. It's magical.

Are you picking on me?
... again? What did i ever do to you but occasionally disagree respectfully?


afaik *all* p35's have this minor limitation ...
- do you somehow prefer 8x + 8x ... or to spend bigger bucks on a 16x + 16x MB ?

i picked *mine* because i love overclocking my CPU to at least 3.25Ghz *completely stable* with the incredible array of performance and tweaking options it offers ... Crossfire was just a cheap option at the time [yes, i got a GREAT deal on my MB - as usual :roll:] that i planned to use IF there was a good bang-for-buck solution [there was and there will be more] to scale at least 33%. ... and my BIOS is already flashed for wolfdale

--that said in my 'defense', there is nothing wrong with your MB whatsoever

[imo]

 

[adlep]

My Nvidia 650i based MSI P6N SLI-FI is very good. Overclocks very well, great layout, and super stable...
All of that for only $120.00 a year ago

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
I've also heard a lot of complaints about nvidia sli motherboards on various forums, although I have never owned one. Just seems everyone likes to recommend p35 boards when doing penryn overclocking. You can't get sli on a p35 afaik.

I'm sure nvidia chipsets are great for mild oc's and never give problems. But there should be a reason that 3 people in the post alone have mentioned hearing problems with nvidia boards.

Hearing, and having, are two different things. I can attest only to 650i SLI. And I can happily state that I haven't had any cause for being upset with my purchase. Ask the 3 people that posted about problems if they own any.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003


Neither is saying that they aren't good. You mention a P35 board? Am I mistaken, or are the PCI-e slots limited to 1x 16x & 1x 4x? Or is that only the board apoppin has?

Check this out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131142

ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i SLI 114.99
you will have to flash the BIOS to revision 803 if you want it to work with the new 45nm line of core 2 duo's.

This kind of blows your 250.00 mobo theory out the window.

I can flash my mobo that I bought last April to ver. 803, and drop a Wolfdale into it.

All it takes is a little research (about 3 minutes worth) to save yourself from marketing.

250+ dollars suddently reduced to 114.99. It's magical.

Are you picking on me
... again? What did i ever do to you but occasionally disagree respectfully?


afaik *all* p35's have this minor limitation ...
- do you somehow prefer 8x + 8x ... or to spend bigger bucks on a 16x + 16x MB ?

i picked *mine* because i love overclocking my CPU to at least 3.25Ghz *completely stable* with the incredible array of performance and tweaking options it offers ... Crossfire was just a cheap option at the time [yes, i got a GREAT deal on my MB - as usual roll;] that i planned to use IF there was a good bang-for-buck solution [there was and there will be more] to scale at least 33%. ... and my BIOS is already flashed for wolfdale

--that said in my 'defense', there is nothing wrong with your MB whatsoever

[imo]

LOL, no, not picking on you. It's only that you are the only person I know of with a P35 that I could use as a reference. That's the only reason I mentioned your board.

My P5N-E has quite a lot of overclocking options as well. I am not an o/c'ing pro by any means, so i seldom even utilize half of the options available. But i did manage to run my 6420 on a Freezer 7 pro, at 3200MHz. I think that was at 400fsb at stock voltage. Stock memory timings. I am certain, if i knew more about it, i could get it higher.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003


Neither is saying that they aren't good. You mention a P35 board? Am I mistaken, or are the PCI-e slots limited to 1x 16x & 1x 4x? Or is that only the board apoppin has?

Check this out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131142

ASUS P5N-E SLI 650i SLI 114.99
you will have to flash the BIOS to revision 803 if you want it to work with the new 45nm line of core 2 duo's.

This kind of blows your 250.00 mobo theory out the window.

I can flash my mobo that I bought last April to ver. 803, and drop a Wolfdale into it.

All it takes is a little research (about 3 minutes worth) to save yourself from marketing.

250+ dollars suddently reduced to 114.99. It's magical.

Are you picking on me
... again? What did i ever do to you but occasionally disagree respectfully?


afaik *all* p35's have this minor limitation ...
- do you somehow prefer 8x + 8x ... or to spend bigger bucks on a 16x + 16x MB ?

i picked *mine* because i love overclocking my CPU to at least 3.25Ghz *completely stable* with the incredible array of performance and tweaking options it offers ... Crossfire was just a cheap option at the time [yes, i got a GREAT deal on my MB - as usual roll;] that i planned to use IF there was a good bang-for-buck solution [there was and there will be more] to scale at least 33%. ... and my BIOS is already flashed for wolfdale

--that said in my 'defense', there is nothing wrong with your MB whatsoever

[imo]

LOL, no, not picking on you. It's only that you are the only person I know of with a P35 that I could use as a reference. That's the only reason I mentioned your board.

My P5N-E has quite a lot of overclocking options as well. I am not an o/c'ing pro by any means, so i seldom even utilize half of the options available. But i did manage to run my 6420 on a Freezer 7 pro, at 3200MHz. I think that was at 400fsb at stock voltage. Stock memory timings. I am certain, if i knew more about it, i could get it higher.

i hate being made an example of ... if i don't know why

FIRST of ALL, i would NOT even listen to the 'detractors' on your motherboard ... it is a fine board and there are always "trade offs" unless you want to spend $300 for one with the 'kitchen sink'

Secondly ... secondly ... secondly ... wait ... there is NO 'secondly' if you take my advice to IGNORE the nitpickers