Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT: Features of a Video Card

The ninth generation of video cards from Nvidia was born in early 2008. The center of attention will be the chipset of the middle price category - GeForce 9600 GT. Characteristics, test results, general impression of stability of work - all this you can find below. As a result, you can decide on the choice of a budget video card.

History of appearance

In 2008, when AMD was busy with the release of budget video cards, Nvidia only had copies of the top-end version. Thus, they deprived themselves of the largest segment of consumers. The question arose about creating a competitor for the Radeon 3800 Series. The first thing we tried was to occupy this niche with a weaker version of the top-end GeForce 8800 video card. The amount of video memory was reduced to ridiculous 256 MB. And the board was released for sale. However, among PC users this modification of the video card has not gained popularity.

The profit from sales was negligible. All because the cost of such a top chip is high enough to cut its performance and sell at a low price. As a result, the ninth series came to the fore. Initially, production was planned to begin no earlier than a year later. In particular, this applies to the first Geforce 9600 GT. The characteristics of the video card are at an average level: between 8600 and 8800 GTS. From the AMD range, the 3800 series became a competitor.

The motto for increasing sales of 9600 GT was the following phrase: good performance for small money. From the review, you'll find out whether the statement was confirmed or not about the Nvidia 9600 GT, whose characteristics are impressive. This graphics chip has become a real founder of a whole generation of new chipsets that have brought even greater popularity to the company and significantly expanded the customer base both among customers of iron hi-end class and in the middle price segment.

Nvidia 9600 GT: specifications

So, let's see what the video card is like. The basis for it was the 8800 GTS chipset. Only trimmed by parameters. Since the 8800 GTS was just an interim development, the technology of which was used later in 9800. The base for the card was the G94 chipset, the same as in the 8800 series. You ask: why then it is much cheaper and what saves the manufacturer? The answer is quite simple. The 9600 GT cuts the number of streaming processes by half, compared to the older model. This allowed to significantly reduce the price. But the increase in performance was achieved due to the use of identical tires with a bit width of 256 bits. This allowed us to reach higher CPU and shader processing rates.

According to the manufacturer, the video card 9600 GT, whose characteristics are truncated, is more productive than the 8800 series by as much as 15%. That's a breakthrough in technology! A little later, we'll determine in practical tests: it's true or not. Also, the video card is equipped with 512 MB of internal memory, support for SLI mode (simultaneous connection to the system of up to three identical video cards running in parallel). It has a DirectX 10 interface and all the necessary connectors for connecting monitors, outputting images to a TV and so on.

External review of the video card

The board was slightly smaller than its predecessor, mainly due to the simplification of technology. This allows you to install it in a fairly tight budget building. After all, the 9600 GT (the characteristics of the middle-end level) must match its class, whatever one may say. Throughout the board area there are a number of holes that are designed to improve heat dissipation. From the top it is closed by a plastic casing with a radiator and one cooler. This is sufficient to maintain a stable low temperature even at high loads.

Test results

To conduct tests in games, the following stand was installed. Process from Intel - Core 2 Duo, dual-core with a frequency of 3 Hz per core. In addition, there were 4 GB of RAM, a 750 GB hard drive and an 500-watt Acbel power supply. Testing was conducted in those games that were relevant at the time of release of the 9600 GT. The characteristics of the bench computer also correspond to that time.

Based on the indicators in the games Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, Lost Planet. All of them were launched with support for DirectX 10 and at the maximum settings with Full-HD resolution. The first game (Crysis) behaved very badly - only 10 frames per second. Affects the budget of the model of the video card. In Call of Duty 4 and Bioshock, the game produces stable 40 frames per second at the maximum settings. This is already good for the average price segment of video chips. In Lost Planet it was comfortable to play at medium or low settings with the maximum screen resolution.

Power Consumption and Overclocking

Let's move on to power consumption. Engineers of Nvidia have managed to reduce power consumption by as much as 15%. Creators show by all means belonging to the middle class of video cards Nvidia 9600 GT: characteristics, power consumption, performance are at a good level for their price. Do not forget the creators of the video card and about the amateur experiment on their iron. Overclocking options decided not to touch. Therefore, at their own risk, owners can try to create from a board with an average performance of a real monster and conqueror of modern games.