ECS 9600GT

[pat]

A few days ago I received the ECS version of the 9600GT, the N9600GT-512MX-P. I like this card, bought it at newegg link as you can see in the pictures it has no fan and uses the Arctic Cooling Accelero S2. So it goes without saying the thing makes no noise and does a good job of keeping the card cool, my idle temperatures are 47 C. and under load, using the Video Card Stability Card Test, from the The Freestone Group and running it for 30 minutes, temperature rose to 70 C. well within specs. After the test, temperatures fell back to 47 C. after about three minutes.

It plays Oblivion at 1680x1050 widescreen just fine and that's just about the most demanding game I have. Video playback is great and watching TV using media center is very clear. The benchmark results show 460 FPS for what that's worth, just a few behind the 8800GT reference board at quite a bit less money, I paid $149.

I did also pick up one of the   Arctic Cooling Turbo Modules but it looks like I may not need it although I will eventually put it on as the weather warms up.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the card the price was reasonable, it's certainly quiet and it does everything I need it to do. The only down side is the warranty is not as good as say XFX or EVGA with only a three year warranty and the third year parts only. 

[Buffalo2102]

A 3-year warranty is plenty on today's PC parts IMO.  By the time it expires you will be able pick up a replacement for about 10 bucks and everybody else will be running with the new 99,000,000GTXSI with 8GB of DDR5 memory.

Buff; and a dry-ice cooler.

[pat]

Yeah, you got that right.

I did go ahead and install the turbo module and what a difference that makes. Idle temps are now 32-34 c. and under full load they hit 45 C. and stay right there. The fans are so quite I have to open the case to make sure they are running. This thing is just right for a quiet solution.

[Carskick]

Sounds like you are quite happy with it. That's great!

I've been considering a new video card to replace my 7600GT, the 8800GT and 9600GT have been my primary considerations. After much comparison of them, and similar ATI offerings, I think I am going to get the 512MB 880GT. The benchmarks I have seen show it more powerful than the 9600GT, though it is slightly more expensive, and has no silent option, which is fine for me.

I will wait a bit in hope of the newly released 9800 series will drive 8800 prices down a bid. My 7600GT is not a huge bottleneck, so I am not in a real hurry, though Call of Duty 4 at my LAN parties would definitely be better with a newer card. My 2.45Ghz dual core Athlon has yet to be a bottleneck, dispite reviews pointing to the superiority of core 2 duos. However, I think the faster CPU only really makes a difference in games with the best video cards. And I could probably overclock my CPU more if I really felt it a limitation.

Anyways, enjoy your new card!

[pat]

Thanks Cars.

Actually ECS does make a similar version of this card using the 8800GT, link it uses the Accelero S1 and includes the turbo module. I had strongly considered this model as well but in the end decided to just go with the 9600GT version. There is a generous rebate going on the 8800Gt model though.

[Carskick]

That is one crazy heatsink!

I think I'd rather save a little money and get a noisy fan. ;)

With a promotion code newegg sent me, I could currently get an XFX 8800GT for $207 shipped with a $30MiR. I almost bought it the other day, but I tihnk I will wait a month or so and see if the 8800GTs come down to $150-170 + a MiR. Call of Duty runs fine at 1280x1024 with most settings on normal, but shadows off. Shadows kill performance on my card. CoD4 doesn't have high, only normal and low for some reason.

Nice thing about computers is you never really miss a good deal, becuase if you're not in a hurry, a better deal will be just around the corner, else something better will come out for the same price.