Gainward's award winning High-Performance/Wide-Bandwidth hardware design is powered by NVIDIA's GeForce 8600GT GPU integrating high-speed DDR3 memory which offers enhanced,... more...leading-edge performance for the 3D enthusiasts.
Advantages: high performance at low price Disadvantages: Instructions not clear
Not being too sure on the quality of Gainward I was hesitant in buying this card but was swayed by the price and performance ratings.
This time I won't go into the basics and history and go straight in to the review of the card.
~ The Package ~
Mine came in the exact box next to the title, it's a large box and the card is then encased within another box so I would say is well protected.
In the box came the card and all the cables you need for standard monitor or digital and power.
~ The Card ~
At first sight I was quite impressed, it has a red PCB and black heat sink and fan with a large mesh type casing around it. Normally I would rip off the stock heatsink and fan and replace it with a high performance one, no need to here as it cools the card very well.
I noticed straight away that it has dualDVI but it ...
Advantages: Runs all games out at the moment at very high speeds Disadvantages: May show to be weak when newer games come out in a years time
The 8600gt is the perfect card to introduce your computer to the dx10 experience. The card may not obviously be as fast as the 8800 yet It has the capabilities to run all the new games at formidable speeds. I can run call of duty 4 and gears of war on full settings and crysis on high and it only ended up costing arounds £90 unlike the 8800 which can shoot up to prices as high as £300. The card has 1gb video memory suitable for any game which is perfect for storing large amounts of textures. The card installs easily taking less than 5 minutes to insert and gives tremendous power towards any game Yet if you've ever heard this card is bad it is definatly a blatent lie. It's capabilities are expansive and every game will run under its command. A great buy for anyone who wants an affordable jump into the next gen graphics style. ...
Advantages: Fast, Good Overclocker Disadvantages: Competitors like the 7900GT/7900GTO virtually the same price
The Gainward 7950GT "GoldenSample" is one of the fastest 7xxx series graphics cards on the market, and Gainwards card doesn't dissapoint!
It runs on a PCI-e connector, however as it draws more power than the slot can provide it needs an extra power connector on the side. This is NOT compatible with an AGP board, and does need a beefy power supply (i recommend 400+ watts).
The card has a dual slot cooler - that is to say that it takes up the width of one slot, and then the fan on the card takes up the space of another slot. The fan is quiet and looks sleek, however the card has a black piece of metal on top to make it look sleek and i've found that while this has no affect on temperatures, it's not helping the airflow and does nothing but take up unnecessary room in my case, however it was easy to remove with a screwdriver ...
2 x VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) ( with adapter )
Compatible Slots
1 x PCI Express x16
Miscellaneous
Cables Included
2 x DVI-VGA adapter
1 x HDTV cable
Compatible with Windows 7
"Compatible with Windows 7" software and devices carry Microsoft’s assurance that these products have passed tests for compatibility and reliability with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7.
Package Type
Retail
Software / system requirements
Software Included
Drivers & Utilities, Gainward EXPERTool
OS Required
Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP, Microsoft Windows Vista
Recommended Power Supply
350 W
Peripheral / Interface Devices
CD-ROM
System Requirements Details
- RAM 256 MB
Manufacturer's product description
Gainward's award winning High-Performance/Wide-Bandwidth hardware design is powered by NVIDIA's GeForce 8600GT GPU integrating high-speed DDR3 memory which offers enhanced, leading-edge performance for the 3D enthusiasts.
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