MSI puts DDR2 in 8600 GTs, calls them 8600 GSs. We won't get fooled again!

Posted By: Steve McBarnes - 03:06:50 Thu, January 17, 2008

In the parser today there were two 8600 GS cards from MSI just sitting there. Taunting me. Forcing me to investigate so that I could decide where to put them in the database since I have never heard of the 8600 GS before. In the end I came to the conclusion that they are simply 8600 GTs with 400MHz DDR2 (instead of 700MHz GDDR3) and no SLI connector. The core speed and shader speed are the exact same as the 8600 GT.

What I find strange is the need for MSI to make up the 8600 GS name for these. They already have two 8600 GTs that have 400MHz DDR2 on them and guess what? They fricken called them 8600 GTs! Why the ruse MSI? Why are you trying to confuse us?

MSI NX8600GS-TD256E
MSI NX8600GS-TD512E

8600 GS
MSI NX8600GT-TD256E/D2
MSI NX8600GT-TD512E/D2

8600 GT

13 Comments

Thursday, January 17, 2008 4:20:00 PM

Aside from there being 8600 GTs with DDR2 already, as you've pointed out, and that this naming scheme was not created by nVidia, it actually makes sense to call it the 8600 GS, just as the only real difference between the 7600 GT and 7600 GS was DDR2 RAM.

Thursday, January 17, 2008 6:40:29 PM

anonymous
guest

Not a bad idea, but the problem right now is that almost every company(check sparkles homepage, they have at least 15 versions of 8600gt)already has 8600GTs with ddr2 and like you said everybody still calls them 8600GT.I think nvidia should have issued a 8600GS spcification when those cards were launched.It would be with ddr2 and lower core clock.But they wanted to go higher so they made the 8600gts and the cheaper core 8500gt instead wich both rate low on the bang for buck score but bring nvidia higher profit.

Thursday, January 17, 2008 8:18:31 PM

anonymousD
n00b

.....................................waste of time and money

Friday, January 18, 2008 7:02:14 AM

WhistleHeat
n00b

When I built my first computer in summer 2006, I spent about one month researching the video card to make sure I got the best one I could. Now, I'm not sure if anyone new to the subject could make a good decision because of the absolute confusion in naming. Of course, if they found this site it would become a lot easier to make an informed choice. I know I've been happy with my 7600GTs

Friday, January 18, 2008 7:34:51 AM

wyz135
Senior Member

usually nvidia cards with this 2 letters GS means it's for Money-Saving gamer who don't really want to spend much money

Friday, January 18, 2008 12:47:05 PM

Mach5Motorsport
guest

The gold heat sink is soooo sparkly. No wonder that's a "GT" as opposed to the dull silver heat sink on the "GS"

gah....8600 series....why bother at all.

Friday, January 18, 2008 1:01:38 PM

anonymousD
n00b

indeed. same with 2600's

Friday, January 18, 2008 10:56:25 PM

Phantomdagger
guest

Silly MSI... it's confusing enough with their Nvidia cards being red...

Saturday, January 19, 2008 12:37:45 AM

wyz135
Senior Member

The gold heat sink worth more than the card...lol

Saturday, January 19, 2008 11:29:40 AM

CiniMins
guest

I think you are a bit outdated.These midrange cards's drivers have improved tremendously since their launch 1 year ago.They perform about as good as 7900GT/x1950pro cards in dx9 games and can play dx10 games reasonably well.

Saturday, January 19, 2008 2:33:52 PM

Radiator
Senior Member

Yay.. another piece of crap .
Well , the 7600 GT had a much higher core clock than the 7600 GS aswell... so this isn't exactly the same as with the last generation .

Saturday, January 19, 2008 8:36:10 PM

anonymousD
n00b

on par with 1950/7900 in dx9? om g plz send some over :D

Sunday, January 20, 2008 12:02:30 AM

anonymousP
guest

@CiniMins

The 8600 GTS can perform ALMOST as good as an x1950 Pro in DX9 games. The 8600 GT does not. The 8600 GS, so named, wouldn't stand a chance.

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