ECS N8600GTS-256MX+

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GeForce 8600 GTS is a well-balanced SKU, marrying reasonable performance to decent multimedia attributes. It takes in DX10 compliance, including a unified shader approach which will paint better-looking pixels in upcoming titles. However good its technological underpinnings may be, NVIDIA has set a high price for the GPU, and partners are struggling to retail boards at much less than £150.

ECS has done a commendable job in releasing an overclocked GTS SKU, the £145 N8600GTS-256MX+, at the same street price as others' stock-clocked efforts.

The intrinsic problem in recommending it lies with just how much DX9 performance you can gain for around £40 less. Both the Radeon X1950 Pro and GeForce 7900GS occupy that space and both offer performance which is no worse, and often better, than the overclocked ECS GeForce 8600 GTS.

Had a greater number of DX10 titles been on the shelves right now, you'd switched to Vista, and the street price been £20 or so lower, we'd happily recommend it. The multimedia enhancements alone make a compelling case, but the overall proposition is such that you currently are paying more for lower framerates, and that's hard for an gamer to stomache.

Bottom line: The ECS N8600GTS-256MX+ carries sound technology that's not currently leveraged due to a lack of DX10-programmed titles. The price is also a little high when compared to the previous generation's star performers and too close to the GeForce 8800 GTS 320. Hardware that's compromised by a lack of software.

HEXUS.certification

ECS N8600GTS-256MX+

HEXUS Where2Buy

TBC.

HEXUS Right2Reply

ECS had the following to state about our review of its graphics card:

'ECS ELITEGROUP Computer Systems would like to thank Hexus.net for the feedback provided from the professional and thorough review of our 8600GTS graphics card.

ECS set out to provide an 8600GTS that differentiates itself from the others on the market whilst adhering to our company motto of providing cost effective high quality products. We believe we have achieved this by providing an 8600GTS with one of the best price/performance ratios in the market hence we are very please and thankful to Hexus for presentating us with the ‘Hexus Labs Gaming Certification’.

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HEXUS Forums :: 3 Comments

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Posted by MSIC - Wed 09 May 2007 07:44

Seems like a fair review, and totally expected.
One more to add to the pile.

I imagine that you will be revisiting this however, when DX10 (& relevant games) come out. I hope that some scales re-balance then.

Posted by dangel - Wed 09 May 2007 08:59

Would of been nice to see how you rated it in Vista too - I have one and the drivers are terrible..

Posted by d19z - Wed 09 May 2007 23:14

Hexus reviews are always a must read for a unbias comparision and cover points where most of the other reviewer sites don't go making them unlike, unlike some of the other sites out there.

No offence, but it's difficult to exact the differences, when such a fast CPU is used, as it makes ground for a lacklustre gfx card.

For such big numbers, this card still fails to impress me, and nvidia should have atleast included 48 shaders to deem this as mid range…

I will sit out a whole generation with my 7900GTO now…