NVIDIA's mainstream attack - 8600, 8500, 8400, 8300 - 8600GT
Author: Luka Rakamaric
Date: 17 Apr 2007

Taking on the role of 7600GS, the weaker model of the 8600 series uses the same components, but is clocked much more conservatively. Its core operates at 540 MHz and the Stream Processors at 1.19 GHz. The memory is also DDR3 unlike the reference 7600GS, but it is clocked at ?only? 700 MHz, or 1400 MHz effective. At press time, we found out about some custom-cards on the way, as well - XFX's, operating at 620MHz core and 1.60 GHz Stream Processors and EVGA's, operating at 540MHz core and 1.4GHz SP's. With a 128 bit bus, the memory bandwidth is 22.4 GB/s. The market success of this card will depend greatly on NVIDIA?s pricing policy in distinguishing the GT from the GTS. As things stand now, the GT will range from $149-$159 and the GTS from $199 to $229. That will make the GT a very attractive offer, but it might make the GTS a bit too expensive for what it can do at the same time. Of course, performance is not the only thing separating the two cards, but also the built-in features. HDCP is not supported, although manufacturers have the option to implement it. HDMI can also be implemented. When compared to the last generation of 7600GT, the new series is optimized for situations that were a killer for the older cards. HDR is now causing a lot less performance loss, and CSAA (coverage sampling antialiasing) can provide better antialiasing result at only a fraction of a load when compared to the standard multisampling (MSAA) mode. The G84 also supports angle independent anisotropic filtering, ensuring that all textures in a scene are crisp.