http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/05/the_best_gaming_graphics/
I like this site.
Yeah that's a good source to check for reviews before purchasing any hardware. And from my experience they seem to be pretty knowledgeable source. I most always go there to check before buying hardware for my machine. Good Lead!
Anyone have experience or opinions about the GeForce 8600 GT? I'm looking at this one - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229
I can say that XFX are probably the best GPU manufacturer ever, next would be BFG the ASUS, then Sapphire and so on. It's probably the best in the series for the price but personally I think I'd shell out a bit more and go for an 8800 GT. or a 9600, I tested on for London Mafia and got stunning results with HDR and anti aliasing applied.
As the review says it runs a bit hot, which will affect frame rates if you're running resource intensive games like Crysis or Call of Duty 4, but with good airflow it'll be alright. The clock speeds are pretty good, as I say, the 8800GT and 9600 run near to or at 2000MHz memory clock and 750 MHz core clock, which is really good, also with DX10 they now have these shader clocks, which you won't really be taking advantage of yet but I have it on good authority that if you buy Alan Wake when it's released you will definately need a GPU with a well tuned shader clock. ;D
Thanks, PG. I'm making do with a 300W power supply and that's why I'm staying closer to below average.
Just received a PNY 8600GT from buy.com for $35 AR. Low power requirements were an important criterium and though I can still work just fine with my existing 6600GT, for this price I could not resist. The most graphics intensive applicationI use is Rome: TW, so even the 6600GT was fine at max settings. This card should last a long time :)