Overview - 8600GT
ASUS EN8600GT
NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT, 256 MB GDDR3Core / Shader Clock : 540 / 1188 MHz
Memory Clock : 351 MHz (702 MHz GDDR3)
Overall Score: 80 points
As we said before, the are notable differences between the ASUS EN8600GTS and EN8600GT. First and foremost is the absence of the additional heatsink on the top of the card. Second is the number of heatpipes connecting the base of the heatsink (making contact with the core) and the heatsink itself. Then of course, there's the absence of a 6 pin ATX power connector, which is the norm for GeForce 8600GT cards. As you can see below, there's also no heat sinks for the memory chips. The heatsink used also take up space from the slot next to your PCI-E x16 slot of choice on your motherboard.
Just like the ASUS EN8600GTS, the bundle is also quite 'sparse', consisting of a DVI-to-analog dongle, an HDTV cable, a CD case and two CDs for drivers and manual. So again, ASUS is betting on the silent aspects of this card. We've seen what the beefed up ASUS EN8600GTS can do, so of course we're slightly skeptical about this card's thermal performance. It is after all uses the same basic design, but lets see how it makes out.
It is cooler at 76° Celsius with very little airflow. The absence of an ambient temperature sensor is unfortunate, but it shouldn't be that different to the level we saw with the GeForce 8600GTS cards. In retrospect, we think the heatsink should've done better, since the GeForce 8600GT core runs at much lower frequencies. Now, lets see how it does with a little bit airflow.
62° Celsius - pretty much on the level we saw with the ASUS EN8600GTS. We expected something lower, with the same level of ambient temperature. So, tis very likely actual temperature within a case with good airflow will be something between these two results. Much like the ASUS EN8600GTS, we think ASUS could've done something extra with the bundle and / or thermal performance of the heatsink. Though silence is gold, relying on silent cooling alone won't be enough.
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