rjdriver wrote:I have read many of your reviews, and generally find them very helpful. However, your conclusion to this one is strange. The 8800GT bested the 9600GT in every single test, sometimes by a good margin, and sometimes by a slim one, yet you conclude that the "best bang for the buck" is the 9600GT. There was a time when the 8800GT cost between $200.00 and $300.00, but today you can generally find it right in the same price range as the 9600GT. The 1GB versions are a bit higher, approaching $200.00 and over, but your comparson was of 512MG cards. And at that level, the are priced vitually the same.
You had a single complaint about the 9600GT -- that it's fan was very loud.
The major complaint about the 8800GT was that it ran very hot, and it could have used a higher CFM fan like the one in the 9600. But most card makers solved that issue be releasing a version using a beefier, but not louder, fan. It takes up two slots, but if you can spare the room, this is the card to get
So, if you absolutely have to have a single slot card, don't mind the noise, and don't have a very well ventilated case, the 9600GT might be a better choice. But if you spare that extra slot, an 8800GT with a bigger than stock fan is a much better bang for the buck in my opinion.
Bob
You do make a rather good point. The 8800GT I was using currently retails for around $160 however the 9600GT is currently retailing for $120 on Newegg. The price I mentioned in the article was quoted from PriceGrabber, perhaps my mistake was not mentioning the lowest possible price for th card. Considering how both cards come with a bundled game, there is no difference between the two packages so it comes down to solely hardware performance. Both cards come with a factory overclock so in this case the 8800GT is slightly faster than the 9600GT at their box clocks.
In the end it all comes down to price/performance and I believe my mistake was simply quoting the wrong price. I'd still say the 9600GT is a good deal and this particular variant would stomp a default 8800GT. I will openly admit though that I prefer the 8800GT over the 9600GT as the stock heatsink on the Gigabyte 9600GT is a nice Zalman heatpiped heatsink with a lowspeed fan. The XFX 9600GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition(mouthful?!) however is a great choice for someone popping a card into an OEM box or a box with a questionable powersupply and I still stand by this.
Glad to see people are actually thinking and not simply reading and accepting what they read. This was my first review here so I'm still getting settled in, hoping the quality of my reviews will keep growing. Now back to finishing up a review using liquid nitrogen