BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB Review

Posted March 9th, 2008 by John V.

Tech

Just recently released is the new successor to the middle / high-end 8600 GT series from nVidia.

- Dubbed the 9600 GT OC, it comes factory overclocked, and it packs a 256-bit memory interface (A *HUGE* improvement and bottleneck reduction from the 128-bit interface of the older 8600s)

The new card's other features include:

Support for PCI Express 2.0 (fully x16 compatible)
675MHz Core Clock
1700MHz Shader Clock
1800MHz Memory Clock
512MB GDDR3 RAM
64 Stream Processors
Support for Shader Model 4.0
A Texture Fill Rate of 21.6 billion / sec
Memory Bandwidth of 57.6GB / sec
Support for Microsoft DirectX 10 and lower
Support for Open GL 2.1 and lower
2 Dual-Link DVI-I, HDTV + TV Out
Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
HDCP and HDMI Capable

Please note that this card does require a connection with your computer's power supply, and the recommended rating for your PSU is 400 Watts. However, that recommendation is based off a fully-configured high-end PC running with an Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Processor, which requires a lot of power to run in the first place. So if you are only running one hard drive, one optical (disc) drive, and your motherboard, and a processor that wouldn't suck the life out of a vampire, then you can get away with running a 350 watt PSU. How do I know? I am doing exactly that, and it's been stable for over 24 hours now. I've run Crysis benchmarks 30 times, and not a single hitch has occurred!

In regards to the actual connecting of your card to your PSU, no worries if your PSU is non-PCI-Express compliant. BFG supplies a dual 4-pin Molex to 6-pin PCI-Express power adapter. All you have to do is plug two spare 4-pin connectors to the leads, and plug the 6-pin into your 9600!

Game performance with this card is amazing. There is a significant increase in framerates and framerate stability in all my games.

I can play World in Conflict, Supreme Commander, Command & Conquer 3, and all the Half-Life games and its associated mods (CounterStrike Source, Day of Defeat Source, etc) at max settings at 1280 X 1024. I have 2GB of system RAM along with an AMD X2 4400+ processor, just so you know.

One more interesting fact:

Best Buy lists this card for 229 USD. They ALSO list the older 8600 GT OC edition at 229.

Just be sure to use common sense and pick up the superior card for the same price!

I will update the performance of this card with more DirectX 10 games as they come along.

PM me if you're interested in exact framerates in particular games.

- John