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ASUS 8600 GT TOP
Conclusion
Never mind the fact that this card is on its way out, if you're tied to a budget it's clearly hanging on to its worth, and then some. Driver improvements have made up for last year's lackluster performance, but Asus went the extra mile to guarantee a "gaming experience" with this total-redesign 8600 GT. Asus' 8600 GT TOP only fails with relative value, compared to other 8600 GTs. By designing this card from scratch and then selecting the best-binned parts, they've added some steep costs over other companies' bargain-basement GTs, amounting to a price double that over their competitors. And none of the expense is recouped in the bundle, just the hardware--hardware perfectly capable of running recent titles with a good amount of shine turned on. So yes, it's an excellent 8600 GT, really it's worthy of TOP, though I might be inclined to check out Asus' other 8600 GTs as well--they share the same design improvements, only they're priced more accordingly. But tweakers with just one video card Benjamin can be happy knowing they've got the best card for their money, even if it's not a superb value. Pros Can be made silent or overclocked wildly Good looking heatsink, good looking PCB Asus' branding on top of Asus engineering In every way improved over the 8600 GT of 2007 Cons $100+ price tag Not nearly as great a deal as other 8600 GTs The heatsink looks like it should have some LEDs on it
Page 1: Introduction, The Card & Bundle
Page 2: Testing Methodology and Specifications Page 3: Testing - HL2 Episode 1 Page 4: Testing - F.E.A.R. Page 5: Testing - Company of Heroes Page 6: Testing - Prey Page 7: Testing - 3Dmark 06 & HQV Page 8: Performance Summary, Power & Noise, and Overclocking Page 9: Conclusion 
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