NVIDIA Launches GeForce 9600 GT

[Deep -xCross-]

NVIDIA Launches GeForce 9600 GT

GeForce 9-series to bring G94 to the market

Exactly one month ago NVIDIA leaked GeForce 9600 GT benchmarks with very attractive results. The G94-based graphics card gave the current high-end GeForce 8-series cards and AMD's HD3800-series a run for the money using beta drivers coming short in only a few benchmarks.



Though the 9600 GT will be the mid-range card in the D9x graphics family, with such impressive performance over the previous generation, many have already proclaimed the G94 the pinnacle of price-performance in the series.

Tomorrow NVIDIA will officially launch the 9600GT and the cost will attract the masses. Between $169 and 189 the 9600GT will compete with the 8800 GT in performance but the newcomer adds a number of new features from an architecture standpoint.

The 9600 GT's stock configuration will be a core clocked at 650MHz with a shader clock speed of 1625 MHz and 512MB of 1800 MHz memory. Utilizing a 256-bit bus, the reference 9600 GT is able to pump data through its veins at 57.6 GB/sec. These numbers are subject to change, of course, depending on the manufacturer of the card and what memory is used since NVIDIA only designs the reference cards. Additionally, the 9600GT's G94 processor features 64 unified stream processors, twice the number found on the last generation 8600GT.

The card will require a 6-pin power connector and will consume around 95W of power in a single-card setup. The reference design had a single slot design but third party card manufacturers may decide to throw in some extra cooling hardware in their designs for extra heat dissipation since there are reports that the G94 runs hot under the single slot heat sink fan solution.

The reference board will also feature two dual-link DVI outputs and a single multi-out video connector for output to a high-definition TV.

As far as performance goes, NVIDIA claims a couple 9600 GT's in SLI mode will perform slightly better than a single 8800 GTX. With the cost of an 8800 GTX still above the $400 price point, the 9600 GT SLI setup is a better investment. Just to mention it, NVIDIA states the 9600 GT puts out twice the frame rates as the 8600GTS when comparing SLI performance.

AMD announced price cuts on its high-end offerings today. The Radeon HD 3870, which was priced at $249, has dropped to $189 while the HD 3850 dropped $30 from its original $199 price point to a down to earth $169 to better compete with the GeForce 9600 GT.

Initial benchmarks claim the GeForce 9600 GT is extremely competitive with the AMD Radeon HD 3850. Overclocked versions of the GeForce 9600 GT barely edge out AMD's highest offerings with current drivers.

[EBL.Mantis]

AMD has already reduced the pricing of HD 3850 to 169$ amd HD 3870 to 189$ in response to Nvidia's release of the 9600GT.

[Z]

nice... the battle for mainstream triumph between nVidia and ATI rages on!! all the better for the consumers..