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With the advent of the new NVIDIA G80 GPU, we have seen another amazing leap forward in PC graphics performance. And as usual, NVIDIA has rolled out some more mainstream iterations of that particular GPU.  Earlier this week the G84 and G86 GPUs officially launched in the form of the 8600 GTS/GT and 8500 GT.  Today we're the more affordable of the 8600 cards, a XFX 8600 GT.

Built around the NVIDIA G84 GPU core, this budget card promises some considerable performance at a reasonable price. In comparison, our very recent review of the XFX GeFORCE 8600 GTS XXX edition card lead us to discover that in some cases, newer isn't necessarily better. Despite the newer architecture and new naming scheme, the reduction of Stream processors within the G84 core (the 8500 series holds the G86 core) revealed a significant impact upon overall performance.

But this doesn't necessarily mean that the GeFORCE 8600 series (and the 8500 series) won't find a home in the boxes of conservative/cost conscious consumers. There is a place for the mid to low end card, and NVIDIA hasn't released a new card in this price range since the GeForce 6600 GT or 7600 GT. So while it has been months since there has a been a low-range release, it all depends on the 8600 GT to be a worthy successor to the previous generations.