BFG 8600 GTS OC2 Review - PAGE 11

Even if you just quickly glanced at the benchmarks, you'd see it for yourself: the BFG 8600 GTS OC2 is one fast GTS card. Although it has clock speeds set a little lower than the XFX 8600 GTS XXX, this BFG 8600 GTS OC2 is the fastest GTS card that we have yet tested in our lab, by the benchmarks, with AA/AF. The only benchmarks that the BFG did not come up on top were X3, where it pratically tied the XFX GTS, and Company of Heroes, where the HD 2600 XT blew away the competition.

Still, the 'big unknown' remains with all of these DX10 cards: how are they going to perform half a year from now? Right now, it's very difficult to judge, because all of these DX10 cards have hit the market well in advance of most DX10 games. However, these initial mid-range DX10 cards, even this overclocked BFG, seems just a little underpowered. They won't break a sweat with today's games, but, come Quake Wars, Gears of War, and Age of Conan, it remains to be seen if these cards have enough power. The last thing you want to happen is to drop $250 dollars on a brand new graphics card now, only to have it underperforming in less than a year's time.  

These unknowns leave the BFG 8600 GTS OC2 in a hard place: this is a very solid card, with a good heatsink and good relative clock speeds, but at the same time, it is not easy to recommend. This is because the price premium you have to pay for the overclock seems a little too high. Take a look at this following chart. It outlines what kind of bang you get, for your hard-earned buck:   

 The dollar-per-frame index is not the final say in passing judgement on these cards, but in the BFG 8600 GTS OC2's case, it does tell us a lot. Doom 3 is getting a little long in tooth now, but the engine still scales well, so it is still a good bench for determining overall GPU performance. And, as you can see, for three of these cards, every Doom 3 frame will cost you between $2.36 and $2.62 -- but for the BFG 8600 GTS OC2, a Doom 3 frame just up to the $3.30 mark.

The bottom line is that the BFG 8600 GTS OC2 is the king of the mid-range castle -- but it's an expensive castle. Someone purchasing this card will benefit from having one of the -- if not the -- fastest 8600 GTS cards out there, but they will also be missing out on some of the better deals available, from cheaper 8600 GTS offerings, or even cheaper X1950 Pro's for those who have no interest in DX10. And if you did decide to get ahold of a BFG 8600 GTS OC2, that small taste of performance may leave a bitter taste in your mouth, knowing that a much faster 8800 GTS 320 MB card would've only cost you a little bit more.

With the BFG 8600 GTS OC2, you will not be let down by its performance, but you might be let down by its price. Prices do change though -- later in 2007, it's possible that this card might become just what you are looking for. But until then, the BFG 8600 GTS OC2 is hard to recommend.