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MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo Shader Overclocking Geforce 8600GT Videocard Review
MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo Shader Overclocking Geforce 8600GT Videocard Review - PCSTATS
Overall Rating:    86%
Abstract: MSI's NX8600GT Twin Turbo videocard is especially interesting, it's got push-button shader overclocking! By default the videocard comes pre-overclocked with its core running at 600 MHz and memory at 1600 MHz (stock is 540/1400).

 mfg'r link     category     date published     author    
  MSI    Video Cards   Nov.07.07   C. Sun  


Overclocking was once the bane of the computer industry, now it's the darling feature that all manufacturers talk about. As DFI has successfully shown, a brand can change its fortunes almost overnight by catering towards hardware enthusiasts. Even computer enthusiasts that don't overclock are often drawn to overclocking hardware due to higher quality components used in those products.

MSI has always supported the overclocking community, and these days its products have a large array of enthusiast grade options to salivate over. Considering how user friendly MSI's videocards are, even novice enthusiasts can get into the overclocking game without much difficulty. In some cases, with just the push of a button...

When it comes to buying a new videocard, there are a slew of GPUs on the market to pick from. Most consumers will quickly identify the GeForce 8600 series as the best value line, but scanning that section of the store shelf leads to a ton of different options. There are stock Geforce 8600-class videocards, pre-overclocked models, some with fancy heatsinks and others with killer game titles or extreme overclocking tweaks. MSI usually has options that cater to all three types, but this time around it has something even more special in store for you.

MSI's NX8600GT Twin Turbo videocard is especially interesting, it's got push-button shader overclocking!

Based on nVidia's DirectX10 compliant GeForce 8600GT GPU, MSI's NX8600GT Twin Turbo has 256MB of GDDR3 and is compatible with the PCI Express x16 standard. By default the videocard comes pre-overclocked with its core running at 600 MHz and memory at 1600 MHz (stock is 540/1400). Accessories include the standard TV output cables (for S-Video and Component output) and a DVI to analog converter. The Geforce 8600GT supports true 128-bit floating point high dynamic range lighting, OpenGL2, nVidia dual videocard SLI and 16x anti-aliasing technology.

At the back of the MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo is a little button with "TT" embossed on it. That button, when engaged, automatically bumps the GPU to 620MHz and shader clock speed from 1458MHz to 1512MHz. The NX8600GT Twin Turbo isn't quite ready for prime time yet, so I can't quote an official price. Knowing MSI, its NX8600GT Twin Turbo will be priced in the region of $140 CDN ($144 US, £70GBP).

MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo Videocard


Includes:

User's Manual, Driver CD, DVI to analog converter, S-Video Cable, Video Output Cable

As you can see the MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo is a dual slot videocard. It's large Arctic Cooling-like heatsink is quiet and expels the hot air out the back of the PC case. The VGA heatsink cools the GeForce 8600GT core and GDDR3 memory together. Temperature wise, in PCSTATS tests the Geforce 8600GT GPU hovered in the low 40Cs (according to nVIDIA's nTune utility). For this class of videocard that's a good GPU temperature.

Before we get into the Twin Turbo feature, you may have noticed that the NX8600GT Twin Turbo has blue DVI connectors. Is this a new standard? Nope, it's what MSI calls 'Mazarine DVI' and that means that the DVI port can output video signals up to 1920 x 1200 as well as digital audio when used with a special DVI-to-HDMI adaptor (not included). See this article for more information on Mazarine, and what it can do with HDMI.

To enable audio output through the MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo's DVI ports (audio is not delivered by DVI ports normally), you need to connect the NX8600GT Twin Turbo videocard to the sound card's internal SPDIF connector or motherboard's SPDIF header. That allows the audio to travel to the videocard and out through the DVI port. The DVI-to-HDMI adaptor then send both audio and video over a single HDMI cable to the television. Get yourself a DVI to HDMI converter and you'll only need the HDMI cable to connect your PC to your HDTV.

The implementation of Mazarine on nVidia videocards is not as good as ATi's solution, which has an integrated audio codec on the videocard PCB. The two pin SPDIF audio connector cable to go from the motherboard to sound card is not included. Any spare analog audio cable from an old optical drive should work fine.

How can you overclock the shader clock speed with a push of the "TT" button? That's next in PCSTATS review of the NX8600GT Twin Turbo...

© 2009 PCSTATS.com Next Page >


 Page 1:  — MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo Shader Overclocking Geforce 8600GT Videocard Review
 Page 2:  MSI Twin Turbo Away!
 Page 3:  Overclocking the MSI NX8600GT Twin Turbo Videocard
 Page 4:  Videocard Benchmarks: 3DMark05, 3DMark06
 Page 5:  Videocard Benchmarks: FarCry
 Page 6:  Videocard Benchmarks: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
 Page 7:  Videocard Benchmarks: Doom 3
 Page 8:  Videocard Benchmarks: Quake 4
 Page 9:  Videocard Benchmarks: FEAR
 Page 10:  DX10 Videocard Benchmarks: Call of Juarez
 Page 11:  DX10 Videocard Benchmarks: Lost Planet
 Page 12:  PCSTATS Maximum Videocard Overclocking Chart & Conclusions
 Page 13:  Verdict on MSI's Twin Turbo?
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