Gigabyte GeForce 8600GT 256MB

A few months back we looked at the Gigabyte GeForce 8500GT 256MB graphics card, which was a factory-overclocked $100 graphics card from Gigabyte that came topped with a passively cooled copper heatsink. Today we are back with Gigabyte as we look at their step-up from the 8500GT, which is the 8600GT GV-NX86T256D. The Gigabyte GV-NX86T256D uses Silent-Pipe II technology, which is a dual heat-pipe solution that benefits from the computer's natural convection design to offer maximum performance with minimum noise.

Aside from the Silent-Pipe II found on the Gigabyte GeForce 8600GT (GV-NX86T256D), this G84 GPU also supports OpenGL 2.0, Microsoft DirectX (permitting you are a Microsoft Windows user), 256MB of GDDR3 video memory, NVIDIA SLI support, PureVideo technology, and two dual-link DVI-I with HDTV output support. The Gigabyte 8600GT is also RoHS compliant. The NVIDIA 8600GT is positioned between the GeForce 8500GT and 8600GTS as one of their midrange components in the GeForce 8 series.

Included with the Gigabyte GV-NX86T256D was a free copy of Supreme Commander, Windows driver CD, two DVI to D-Sub VGA dongles, 8600GT user manual, video output adapter, and the PCI Express card itself. Supreme Commander is a PC real-time strategy game that is the successor of the Total Annihilation game from over a decade ago. Unfortunately, there is no native Supreme Commander client and WINE currently fails to work.