Passive 8600 on Newegg

LinuxSam · Post by **LinuxSam** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:44 am

I was looking for a new graphics cade to replace my old ATI X1300 PRO. While surfing around, i came across this card on Newegg,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127310

MSI Nvidia 8600, 512mb, and a PASSIVE heatsink.

Is the stock heatsink good enough to keep it cool and quiet?

I have an Antec Solo case with one 120 mm fan in the back.

Thanks

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:14 am

Hello,

I doubt that they would sell a card that overheated in a reasonably ventilated system. I am using this 8600GTS (which runs faster/hotter, IIANM) in a Solo with no issues whatsoever.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:32 am

512mb DDR2.
it's not as fast as DDR3.
But the video card is not expensive.

LinuxSam · Post by **LinuxSam** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:44 am

Hello,

I didn't realize that it was GDDR2.

It just so happens that they also sell a Nvidia 8600gt 256mb GDDR3 for the same price. Would that card be faster.

First card: (512 GDDR2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127310

Second card: (256 GDDR3)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127293

Please let me know which card would be better,

Thanks

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:46 am

The DDR3 version is faster.
According to some guy from a forum in my country:
3DMark03 (1024x768). AM2 4000+, 2GB DDR 667MHz
- XFX 8600 GT 512 MB DDR2: 11700
- XFX 8600 GT 256 MB DDR3: 14500

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:32 pm

Tom's Hardware wrote:NOTE: Avoid the DDR2 versions of the 8600 GT! The GDDR3 versions are the recommended cards, DDR2 equipped 8600 GTs will be notably slower.

Lucas82's post already covered this, but I wanted to give another source of info. So the GDDR3 version is faster.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:42 pm

Larger amounts of memory are necessary only for high resolutions.
"A contrario sensu", in medium resolutions faster memory is better than lots of memory.
Anyway, 512MB of GDDR2 is only marketing strategy. You'll need a much better card (with faster memory) to benefit from 512MB.

BTW, I don't understand how reviewers from Xbitlabs and Anandtech compare 8800GT 512MB vs. 8800GT 256MB and say the later is so much worse, when the 256MB are clocked at 1400MHz and the 512MB are almost 2000MHz. Obviously it's an unfair competition.

revloc8 · Post by **revloc8** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:12 pm

I bought the 256MB version back in Dec. I had the problem of deciding between 512 ddr2 or 256 ddr3. The deciding factor was that I have a max resolution of 1280x1024 on my 19" LCD and thus have little need for more than 256mb RAM. Not to mention the fact that its faster as has been pointed out. Later, if I decide to get a bigger monitor, I will more than likely also have to get a newer video card as well, but thats fine by me.
Overall, it is a good card for the price and 100% silent! Just dont expect to crank up the res. on games like Crysis. The "toughest" game I play is WoW which this card handles fine even with max settings and my max res.
I am currently having an issue with it which may or may not be the fault of the card. See my post: viewtopic.php?t=46953

bman23 · Post by **bman23** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:00 am

I have this same card in an antec solo case and it works perfect. The hotest it will get is while playing COD 4. 42c at rest and 56c while playing COD4.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:00 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

I doubt that they would sell a card that overheated in a reasonably ventilated system. I am using this 8600GTS (which runs faster/hotter, IIANM) in a Solo with no issues whatsoever.

Neil,

Which 8600GTS are you using? Also, are you using DirectX 9 or 10?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:47 am

Hello,

I have this Gigabyte:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125063

It has WinXP SP2; so does that make it DX9?

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:02 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,

I have this Gigabyte:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125063

It has WinXP SP2; so does that make it DX9?

Yes, XP comes with DX9 and you would have to download DX10.

At least one review on Newegg about the 8600GTS mentioned something about a buzzing noise, and I have read Gigabyte has had coil whine with some of their 8600GT passive cards. I am wondering if that 8600GTS would fit in my system (see my specs below) and if there would be an issue with buzzing or coil noise?

I guess it would be an improvement over my passive Gigabyte 7600GT, but I don't know for sure, do you?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:46 am

JVM wrote: I guess it would be an improvement over my passive Gigabyte 7600GT, but I don't know for sure, do you?

In tests 8600 GTS has been around stock 7900 GS, slightly loosing to it in some occasion, slightly beating it another. Differences are less than 15% in anycase. So yeah, 8600 GTS is improvement over 7600 GT.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:51 am

thejamppa wrote:
JVM wrote: I guess it would be an improvement over my passive Gigabyte 7600GT, but I don't know for sure, do you?
In tests 8600 GTS has been around stock 7900 GS, slightly loosing to it in some occasion, slightly beating it another. Differences are less than 15% in anycase. So yeah, 8600 GTS is improvement over 7600 GT.

What about some reports of buzzing or whine? Seems there was an issue with Gigabyte 8600 series that some cards exhibited noise. Do you have any information about that?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:53 am

JVM wrote:
thejamppa wrote:
JVM wrote: I guess it would be an improvement over my passive Gigabyte 7600GT, but I don't know for sure, do you?
In tests 8600 GTS has been around stock 7900 GS, slightly loosing to it in some occasion, slightly beating it another. Differences are less than 15% in anycase. So yeah, 8600 GTS is improvement over 7600 GT.
What about some reports of buzzing or whine? Seems there was an issue with Gigabyte 8600 series that some cards exhibited noise. Do you have any information about that?

Some peoples say there is whine and such. The question is if you can hear it. As sound is subjective that is quite hard actually test. One option is to take regular 8600 GTS and slap Arctic Cooling Accelero on it.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:56 pm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125070

i'd prefer that card TBH.

MSI is great and all, but the Silent Pipe just seems to be a better card to me.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:27 pm

i have a gigabyte 8600GTS silent pipe.
it does make a coil whine and buzzing while active (moving windows, running videos and programs).
i sent a question to GB for help, they didn't answer (yet).
you can defiantly hear it in a silent system (my system is nosier then before - since i replaced my rear fan to a sflex 1200 at 5v, and replaced my zalman 460 with the corsair VX450W - and i can still hear it).
the way i found to solve it temporally was to under clock the card to the lowest Mhz - which effects performance very much but at least it's unnoticeable.
beside it's not a powerful card, you can get silent editions of the ati 3850\70 which are better.

p.s if someone knows how to deal with it place help me!

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 3:05 pm

I've got the MSI ddr3 version. Stays cool enough for what it is, but isn't often taxed as it's in my htpc.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:42 pm

You can not use DX10 with any Windows version older than Vista, it's a well known fact. Don't know about 2008.

Edit: At least not officially.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:07 pm

bonestonne wrote:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125070

i'd prefer that card TBH.

MSI is great and all, but the Silent Pipe just seems to be a better card to me.

Looks like that MSI may be a better choice than the Gigabyte card since no reports of whine.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:45 am

i wouldn't recommend the gigabyte 8600 (GT\GTS) - i think they both have the same whine problem.

Wibla · Post by **Wibla** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:48 am

I have an Asus 8600GT 256MB silent, no coil whine, and doesnt run very hot in my Solo.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:51 am

Since I have the 7600GT, the only passive upgrade I can see that makes any sense is going for a 8600GTS (I am strictly nVidia), although I don't know if I would gain much from that upgrade. As far as the 8600GTS, MSI and ASUS would be choices because Gigabyte apparently has quality control issues with their 8600GTS.

One major concern I have is if that ASUS would fit in my case because of my heatsink/ fan combo; in fact, I don't even know if that MSI card would fit. I will have to open my case and see how much clearance there is for those cards.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 7:04 am

Wibla - maybe it's just the GTS generally (or maybe mine specifically..)
JVM - to bad you're just nVidia - the 3850\70 are very nice.
in any case, here's something to help you decide (performance wise) -
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:12 am

Lt_Dan wrote:Wibla - maybe it's just the GTS generally (or maybe mine specifically..)
JVM - to bad you're just nVidia - the 3850\70 are very nice.
in any case, here's something to help you decide (performance wise) -
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

Wibla has the ASUS version of your card.

Not sure what I'm going to do, but it will be a passive card if I change. Are those ATI cards, 3850/70 available as passive?

One other question, why did you buy a 8600GTS instead of going for ATI?

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:44 am

How come no one is even mentioning the 9600 GT as an alternative, not even by those who prefer nVidia? It's faster and uses less power. Sure, a bit more expensive, but not that much. Some people have complained about buzzing noises, but the same goes for some 8600 models. The 8600 is just very inefficient compared to the 9600.

Have I missed something?

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:01 am

Mats wrote:How come no one is even mentioning the 9600 GT as an alternative, not even by those who prefer nVidia? It's faster and uses less power. Sure, a bit more expensive, but not that much. Some people have complained about buzzing noises, but the same goes for some 8600 models. The 8600 is just very inefficient compared to the 9600.

Have I missed something?

Not all 8600 models exhibit that buzzing noise, only the ones from Gigabyte as far as I know.

Why not the 9600? Because the person who started this thread, and the discussion so far, is about passive designs, such as the 8600 series from Gigabyte, ASUS, and MSI. I don't think there is a passive 9600 GT available.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:14 am

JVM wrote:Why not the 9600? Because the person who started this thread, and the discussion so far, is about passive designs, such as the 8600 series from Gigabyte, ASUS, and MSI. I don't think there is a passive 9600 GT available.

I know this is a 8600 thread, but then people started mentioning ATI cards as an alternative, but not the 9600, which made me believe that the latter one was no good for some reason.
There are at least four passive 9600 GT available: Sparkle, Gigabyte, Asus and ECS (with Accelero S2), all with different designs.
The Gigabyte card have been available for at least a month here in Sweden, forum member bomsy has one.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:11 am

Mats wrote:
JVM wrote:Why not the 9600? Because the person who started this thread, and the discussion so far, is about passive designs, such as the 8600 series from Gigabyte, ASUS, and MSI. I don't think there is a passive 9600 GT available.
I know this is a 8600 thread, but then people started mentioning ATI cards as an alternative, but not the 9600, which made me believe that the latter one was no good for some reason.
There are at least four passive 9600 GT available: Sparkle, Gigabyte, Asus and ECS (with Accelero S2), all with different designs.
The Gigabyte card have been available for at least a month here in Sweden, forum member bomsy has one.

I just found the review on this site for ASUS 9600GT Silent and I am quite impressed! I haven't checked prices, but that card looks much better overall in terms of performance and value than the 8600GTS. In fact, after reading that review and the review of ATI's 3850, I would say forget the 8600GTS and buy one of the other two cards. While the ATI 3850 has a fan, the review said it was inaudible in most systems, which sounds good; however, I wonder how that fan will hold up over time.

You certainly have given me something to think about, and I thank you for bringing the 9600 GT into this conversation.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:23 am

Thanks!

Anandtechs review is interesting, it says the 9600 GT is about twice as fast as the 8600 GT, while still using a little less power.

It's obvious to me that the first generation mid range DX10 cards from both ATI and nVidia wasn't very good.
They were just made to be sold with the fact that they supported the next big thing, DX10 (and for HTPCs).
But they were not competitive at all in terms of real gaming performance. The HD 3800 and the 9600 GT brought back the competition.