Gigabyte GeForce 8600GTS 256MB

Conclusion:

Under Linux there is quite a large performance delta between the GeForce 8500GT and 8600GT, however, there is a much smaller difference between the 8600GT and 8600GTS. In Quake 4 with the less demanding settings, the performance between the GT and GTS were quite similar, but once introducing Enemy Territory: Quake Wars in a more demanding environment this slightly higher-end card was able to step-up its game. The overclocking of the GV-NX86S256H wasn't the best, as while Silent-Pipe III had done an efficient job while the GPU and memory were running at their stock frequencies, but (of course) upping the frequencies resulted in heightened temperatures.

Compared to the ATI Radeon HD 2600PRO 256MB graphics card, under Linux right now the GeForce 8600GT and 8600GTS are better offerings if you are after OpenGL performance. On the open-source side, Nouveau developers are still having GeForce 8 challenges while with the ATI R500/600 series its outlook is dramatically different thanks to the latest Radeon and RadeonHD drivers. The Gigabyte GeForce 8600GTS (GV-NX86S256H) is currently selling for about $160 USD, which is a reasonable price for this card. The NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS is capable of handling the latest Linux-native games, in addition to a fluid Compiz Fusion experience, and respectable video playback capabilities aside from the lack of XvMC support.