Today's official unveiling of the XFX GeFORCE 8600 GTS/GT XXX and GeFORCE 8500 GT will mark another NVIDIA GPU launch, their newest revisions of the G80 architecture which are the G84 and G86. These new parts now complete NVIDIA's DX10 8000 series lineup with midrange and budget cards long before ATI has even launched their flagship R600 series. Now if you think these cards are nothing more than midrange variants of the 8800 you are in for a pleasant surprise as NVIDIA has also upgraded and improved the video support in these parts to improve HD video (h.264) performance for users with midrange systems.
The GPU naming scheme may seem a bit confusing as the G86 core is actually used for the 8500 GT and the G84 core is used for the 8600 GTS/GT. Seeing how both the G84 and G86 will slot into the mid to low range of NVIDIA's new lineup, the core names are certainly going to confuse some people who use the simple logic that the higher number means a faster core. However, this is the last any of you will probably hear of the core names as cards will be referred by their respective consumer names. NVIDIA will also launch three other new cards for April in addition to the G84 and G86 - two of which are of the low-end variety, 8300 and 8400 series created for OEM manufacturers only.
NVIDIA's new drivers will also be released within the same time frame as the new cards. NVIDIA has been highly touting these drivers, especially when relating to Windows Vista. They have promised a May release for the drivers which will include 8600/8500 compliance, SLI / DirectX10 compatibility and HDTV overscan compensation among other things, many of these features long awaited by Vista users.
The GeFORCE 8600 GTS will be on retail shelves immediately following its release on April 17, 2007. However finding an 8600 GT or 8500 GT may be a bit harder as they've been scheduled for an alleged "soft-launch" (product release without firm availability). This is the first "soft launch" from NVIDIA in a while and some of you may wonder what happened to the pioneer and fervent supporter of the beloved hard launch. NVIDIA addressed this very question in a press briefing and points to security concerns as one of the prime suspects. Hard and Soft launches aside, the GeFORCE 8600 GTS will have a MSRP between $199 - 229 US while the 8500 GT will cost about half that. The price for the 8800 GT will fall somewhere in between there.
XFX's version of the 8600 GTS XXX, which we received for review, is an overclocked edition of the 8600 GTS and will cost $239.99 USD, while the regular 8600 GTS costs $199.99 USD. We also received an 8600GT late into our review and will be posting a review of that shortly.
forums
send article 
hardware newsletter 
article comments (10)
Digg this!
del.icio.us