Published in Reviews

Gainward 8600 GT SLI with 2GB of memory

by on08 November 2007

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Review: Two Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD cards tested

 

We've just recently tested a Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD card that has a massive 1024MB of memory, and today we'll show you how this card performs in SLI. After all, seeing an SLI setup with 2GB of graphics memory isn’t something you see every day.

Although memory size would let us believe that we’ve got a killer card on our hands, the fact that memory is GDDR2, and not too fast, either, speaks for itself. We know that memory speed affects overall graphics cards’ performance, but quantity plays a part ,as well.

Just like all the 8600 GT’s, Gainward Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB will provide pleasant gaming and then some. Although very few applications and games benefit from this much memory, the card shines when it comes to media editing or texture storage in graphics applications. You can find out more about the card in our recent Bliss 8600 GT TV DD review, here. Today we’ll show you how SLI handles 2048MB of memory.

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The card looks like this, it is dual slot and has no additional power. The cooler is quiet.

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Gainward Geforce Bliss 8600 GT 1024 MB TV DD

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8600 GT SLI with 2GB of memory


We compared this card with an 8600 GT with GDDR3 memory running at stock speeds – 540MHz core and 700MHz memory (effective 1400MHz). The second card in the table is 8600 GTS which costs a bit more, but it outperforms 8600 GT’s. The GTS card runs at 675MHz core and 1000MHz memory (effective 2000MHz).

Gainward 8600 GT 1024MB runs at 600MHz, and that’s just a bit slower than 8600 GT stock speed. GDDR2 memory on this card is, of course, slower, and it runs at 500MHz (effective 1000MHz). 

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Futuremark results

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Futuremark tests don’t quite show the real power of graphics cards, but they do show a part of it. 8600 GTS is better than 8600 GT, while two Gainward cards score similar results.

Geforce 8600 GT SLI 2048MB is a winner. It beats 8600 GTS by about 33 percent and scores over 60 percent better than single 8600 GT. However, gaming should put this memory to the real test.

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Games

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Gainward 8600GT 1024MB GDDR2 memory outperforms 8600 GT with 246MB of GDDR3, but it still can’t handle the 8600 GTS.

Compared to a single card, SLI scored an almost 100 percent performance increase at 1600x1200. One card scores 31.8, whereas SLI scores 63.1 FPZ. Company of Heroes, it seems, really likes the SLI setup. 8600 GT 2048MB SLI scores up to 88 percent better than 8600 GTS. Different resolutions score more than 70 percent.

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World in Conflict is quite graphics intensive and with all the effects on, it might even chew up 8800 Ultra. As you can see, 1024x768 ensures pleasant gaming on all cards. At this resolution SLI is faster than a single card by 40 percent, and compared to 8600 GTS it’s 22 percent faster. Two GT cards’ results are almost identical.

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F.E.A.R. really likes fast graphics cards but memory speed plays an important factor, too. However, we still managed to bring Gainward 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD card to the winner’s podium.

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Results wise, higher resolutions brought the SLI setup closer to the 8600 GTS. F.E.A.R. at 2048x1536 is just too much for the G84. At 1600x1200 with antialiasing and aniso filter on, Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB SLI is 78 percent faster than a single card and 32 percent faster than 8600 GTS card.

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Conclusion

Gainward puts this card in the performance range, so 1024MB of memory is yours for the taking. If the card had GDDR3 memory it would have been much more appealing, but also much more expensive. With GDDR2 memory at 500MHz (effective 1000MHz), this card is a good choice, but not many games can make use of this much memory – besides, gamers usually prefer memory speed.

Bliss 8600 GT 1024MB TV DD card in SLI shows its power, and compared to a single card some games show a performance increase of up to 98 percent. Everyone who likes to show off their skills can definitely do so with this card. However, if you don’t feel like showing off with 1GB of graphics memory, then you might try with 2GB – provided that you buy two of these, of course. Still, if your work requires size of graphics memory, then buying this card is a no brainer.

Last modified on 09 November 2007
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