Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS

Nvidia System Setup

• Asus EN8600GTS TOP 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 745/2290MHz using Forceware beta 158.16
  
• BFGTech GeForce 8600 GTS OC 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 710/2020MHz using Forceware beta 158.16
  
• BFGTech GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 550/1600MHz using Forceware 97.92 WHQL
  
• BFGTech GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 550/1600MHz using Forceware 97.92 WHQL
  
• Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 650/1600MHz using Forceware 93.71 WHQL
  
• Nvidia GeForce 7900 GT 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 450/1320MHz using Forceware 93.71 WHQL
  
• Inno3D GeForce 7900 GS iChiLL – operating at its default clock speeds of 550/1500MHz using Forceware 93.71 WHQL
  
• Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 450/1320MHz using Forceware 93.71 WHQL
  
• Asus EN7600GT 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 560/1400MHz using Forceware 93.71 WHQL

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (operating at 2.40GHz - 9x266MHz); Asus Striker Extreme motherboard (nForce 680i SLI); 2 x 1GB Corsair XMS2-8500C5 (operating in dual channel at DDR2-800 with 4-4-4-12-1T timings); Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 200GB SATA hard drive; OCZ GameXtreme 700W PSU; Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2; DirectX 9.0c; Nvidia nForce 680i SLI standalone drivers version 9.53 WHQL.

ATI System Setup:

• ATI Radeon X1950 XTX 512MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 650/2000MHz using Catalyst 7.1 WHQL
  
• Connect3D Radeon X1950 XT 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 621/1800MHz using Catalyst 7.1 WHQL
  
• ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 580/1400MHz using Catalyst 7.1 WHQL
  
• PowerColor Radeon X1950 Pro SCS3 – operating at its default clock speeds of 575/1370MHz using Catalyst 7.1 WHQL
  
• Connect3D Radeon X1900 GT 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 575/1200MHz using Catalyst 7.1 WHQL
  
• Asus EAX1650XT 256MB – operating at its default clock speeds of 575/1350MHz using Catalyst 7.1 WHQL

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (operating at 2.40GHz - 9x266MHz); Asus P5W DH Deluxe motherboard (975X Express); 2 x 1GB Corsair XMS2-8500C5 (operating in dual channel at DDR2-800 with 4-4-4-12 timings); Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 200GB SATA hard drive; OCZ GameXtreme 700W PSU; Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2; DirectX 9.0c; Intel inf version 7.22 WHQL.

Notes:

• Due to complications with a Steam update, our usual Half-Life 2: Episode One benchmarks did not work at the moment. So, for the time being these results have been omitted.
  
• The drivers used on the various Nvidia graphics card configurations are the latest available for each particular platform on Windows XP Professional.

A quick thanks...

I don't normally 'thank' manufacturers publicly for loaning hardware to us, but due to some unforeseen personal circumstances, I found myself in Taiwan for this launch. With the help from Asus, BenQ, BFGTech, Intel and PowerColor, I was able to build an identical pair of systems to the ones I use for graphics testing in our offices. As soon as I realised how long I was going to be in Taiwan, the boys in the bit-tech office mirrored my hard drives, and made it possible for me to directly compare my results to those I had already obtained in the UK.