Review by Kyle Kerley - June 1, 2007

CONCLUSION

Reviewing these cards served as a good reminder that things are not always as they appear on the surface. Sporting only 256MB RAM and 128-bit memory buses, both the 8500 GT and 8600 GT appear as though they would have terrible gaming performance as the bottom lined, worsened when adding high resolutions and/or antialiasing to the mix. However, both cards performed admirably given their specs and the 8600 GT definitely showed that mid-range is not something to be scoffed at.

While the 8600 GT is an unexpected powerhouse more than capable of handling some of today's most demanding games at even the highest resolutions, the 8500 GT is simply underpowered with its much slower DDR2 RAM and diminished GPU core clock speeds. It would make an ideal card for gaming on resolutions below 1600x1200 with no antialiasing, however anything higher is simply going to need a more powerful card. Gamers on a budget looking for a card that gives Direct X 10 support and can handle demanding games incredibly well up to 1920x1200, look no further than the 8600 GT which is an absolute steal for what it's sold for.

The 8600 GT has certainly earned it's Home Run Hardware Award while the 8500 GT simply fell short of the wall and ended up with a Base Hit.

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