Impressions of nVidia 9600 GPUs?

[welwynnick]

Just when I thought I had caught up with HD HTPCs, along comes another new generation of graphics cards. I see that nVidia have started introducing the new 9600 range, and the 8600GT that I thought I really wanted all along is confined to the scrap heap after a month.

Well, the 8600's were never well regarded by the gamer boys, which presumably helps explain their relatively modest prices. The 8600 was no real improvement over the 6600 & 7600, but the 9600 sounds like it might be a big step forwards.

So I wonder if it's worth holding out for. Has anyone round here got any experience, indirect or first-hand, of what these new cards are like? Performance with games? Performance with DVDs and especially BDs?

The NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600 GT GPU offers a powerfully immersive entertainment experience designed for extreme high-definition gaming and video playback. Play the hottest DirectX 10 games with awesome speed and watch the latest HD DVD and Blu-ray movies with brilliant clarity. Featuring next generation GeForce and PureVideo® HD technologies, the GeForce 9600 GT GPU puts amazing graphics performance within your reach.


Blackhawk Cargo
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare™ image captured on NVIDIA GPU. Provided by Activision.HD Gaming for the Masses
Get the most graphics bang for your buck with a GeForce 9600 GT GPU. With a 90% performance increase over the comparable 8 series graphics card , PC gamers everywhere can now enjoy games at extreme HD resolutions without breaking their wallets.

A Powerful Entertainment Hub
Experience the GPU’s power while enjoying HD movies or having a premium 3D user experience with Windows Vista and Windows Media Center. PureVideo® HD technology provides lifelike pictures and vibrant color while CPU-offload capabilities enable you to manage your photos and videos with ease.

Future-Proof Technology
Get up to 2x the performance with NVIDIA SLI® technology when paired with an identical 9600-based graphics card, and PCIe 2.0 compatibility ensures you’re ready for tomorrow’s games and 3D applications.

[doctorD]

The 9600 got decent reviews when it launced about 2 weeks ago. It is rumored that NVIDIA is not done with new releases and that somewhere around March 21 they will be releasing the 9800GX2 (a dual card) similar to AMD/ATi 3870X2 but will be 30-40% faster than the current 8800 Ultra. And a week later the 9800 GTX will release a week later.

Rumor has it that the 9800 GX2 will be around $450. Don't know if that is outside of your price range, but if it turns out that this is its price, then it will be good for this card. A spy picture showed the card being a 2 slot card with 2 DVI's, an HDMI port and an optical port. If the bench marks are good, I might be picking this up myself.

[un4gvn94538]

the pc i have came with a 8500 and playback from blus are awsome. but im thinking of upgrading for better gaming performance. just spent some time on thier site today and the 9600 doesnt seem like its for me. still looking at the 8800. waiting on a response from nvidia about what they consider high end pc to see wether or not i really need purevideo hd. maybe ill hold off til i hear about the 9800. the other thing i have to consider is the power supply and the requirements of the card.

[Lord_Phan]

6's are midrange cards. Second number is the number you want to look at in terms of power for gaming. The 8950GX2 is supposed to come out soon, that will be a good card. But I'll wait for the 9950GX2 to replace my 7950GX2 I think.

[welwynnick]

I'm using a 6600GT at the moment, and it seemed that nvidia didn't really move forwards with the 7600 & 8600, as far as gamers were concerned. The significance for many round here is the BD decoding support in the 8600, but the 9600 presumably has that as well. Plus better gaming capablity.

That inevitably makes it the new boy on the block that will attract attention, demand, and prices. I noticed that lesser versions of the 8800 seem to be going for about the same as the 9600, so I'm now thinking why not go for one of those instead?

Nick

[Riverside666]

STill using a 7950 I can't keep up anymore, lol. I was thinking about getting an 8800 and now I'm just dumbfounded.

[JESSE-INTERACTIVE]

I'm happy with my 9600GT. Bought this card a few weeks ago becuase of it's many choices of outputs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814261001
The card is huge though. I had to rearrange my raid connections to the motherboard in order to fit this sucker. It runs quite. I upgraded from an Nvidia 8500gt

I've got:
Samsung SyncMaster 226BW 22' MONITOR
Vista Home Premium
Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4GHz
3GB RAM
LITE-ON Blu-Ray/DVD ROM

I'm not a gamer but I can run Call Of Duty 4 on full graphic settings and it runs it pretty smooth at the 1650 x 1050 resolution. Spiderman 3 and Tomb Raider Anniversary ran well at full settings also.

I'm watching BluRay movies using CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra and it's impressive even at 720p.

[solskei]

If you're a gamer, get an 8800. It's better. Not by a whole lot, but it is. Kinda irritating the way companies number things. If it's 9something it should be better than the entire 8 line... but whatever. If you're using it to watch dvd's and blu-rays.... does it really matter? o_0 Just get a graphics card that's not an old piece of crap. A $100 one at Best Buy will be just fine.

[Obiit]

If your not a gamer try an ATI HD2600XT. It plays blu-ray great and will still allow you to run most modern games fine - i play Team Fortress 2 and it looks real smooth even on a full 24 player map. They are also cheap now the new 3 series is out

[Aaron]

Ya, but can it run Crysis on high :P

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by welwynnick

I'm using a 6600GT at the moment, and it seemed that nvidia didn't really move forwards with the 7600 & 8600, as far as gamers were concerned. The significance for many round here is the BD decoding support in the 8600, but the 9600 presumably has that as well. Plus better gaming capablity.

The 9600GT is just a slightly cutdown version of the 8800GT. It's lightyears beyond the performance of the earlier 8600 series.

Originally Posted by welwynnick

That inevitably makes it the new boy on the block that will attract attention, demand, and prices. I noticed that lesser versions of the 8800 seem to be going for about the same as the 9600, so I'm now thinking why not go for one of those instead?
Nick

If you want to do any gaming and can get an 8800GT (512MB) for near the cost of the 9600GT, get the 8800GT. They use the exact same GPU, with the same excellent video capabilities for Blu-ray, but the 8800GT has more shaders (112 vs. 64) and are typically clocked slightly higher. Although if you REALLY want a gaming card, then you might want to hold off for the upcoming 9800 series which will outdo the 8800GT. If gaming isn't a priority, then the 9600GT is a great card... but wait for the prices to settle down.

[welwynnick]

Originally Posted by JadedRaverLA

The 9600GT is just a slightly cutdown version of the 8800GT. It's lightyears beyond the performance of the earlier 8600 series.

If you want to do any gaming and can get an 8800GT (512MB) for near the cost of the 9600GT, get the 8800GT. They use the exact same GPU, with the same excellent video capabilities for Blu-ray, but the 8800GT has more shaders (112 vs. 64) and are typically clocked slightly higher. Although if you REALLY want a gaming card, then you might want to hold off for the upcoming 9800 series which will outdo the 8800GT. If gaming isn't a priority, then the 9600GT is a great card... but wait for the prices to settle down.

JadedRaver, thanks for the invaluable input, as ever. I bought an 8600GT recently, but I'm not sure that was the right thing to do. It's quiet and cheap, but I think there's a reason for that.

I'm tempted by an 8800GT now, but a 9800 would probably be a bit rich for only an occasional gamer. Funny, but things seem to go a bit quiet on the 9800 front?

Anyway, can someone clarify for me what an 8800GT can do with HD video? I recall that the 8800 family can run nVidia Pure Video HD, and I recall the 8500 & 8600 off-load MPEG2, AVC and a bit of VC1 decoding from the CPU. But are there any constraints these days on which of the 8800 family can do HD video decoding?

Cheers, Nick

[DC_Street]

Originally Posted by Aaron

Ya, but can it run Crysis on high :P

thats a negative

I'm not that impressed with the 9600, I've never been impressed by the 600 series

my 8800GT in which I only paid like 50 bucks more for will destroy the 9600 with no problem, so I'm sticking with the 800 series

[JESSE-INTERACTIVE]

Originally Posted by Aaron

Ya, but can it run Crysis on high :P

Originally Posted by DC_Street

thats a negative

I'm not that impressed with the 9600, I've never been impressed by the 600 series

my 8800GT in which I only paid like 50 bucks more for will destroy the 9600 with no problem, so I'm sticking with the 800 series

Funny you say that DC_Street because I'm running Crysis on HIGH with my 9600. Runs smooth

[supersix4]

card looks good its nice to see prices coming down for decent cards. I think casual gamers might be better off spending a little more, then having to spend like 150 here and then another 150+ later if your forced to upgrade bc of a game or something down the line.

[DC_Street]

Originally Posted by JESSE-INTERACTIVE

Funny you say that DC_Street because I'm running Crysis on HIGH with my 9600. Runs smooth

I'd like to see that

[NATEDOG0215]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

the pc i have came with a 8500 and playback from blus are awsome. but im thinking of upgrading for better gaming performance. just spent some time on thier site today and the 9600 doesnt seem like its for me. still looking at the 8800. waiting on a response from nvidia about what they consider high end pc to see wether or not i really need purevideo hd. maybe ill hold off til i hear about the 9800. the other thing i have to consider is the power supply and the requirements of the card.

Yes, stick with the 8800's they rock. The 9600's suck!! The 9800's are too spendy right now, but they are great cards! The 8800's are the best bang for your buck right now!