Foxconn 8600 GT Overclocked Graphics Card Review

We have looked at several of Foxconn’s higher eng graphics cards over the last several months. Today we are going to look at one of the more affordable Foxconn graphics cards, the Foxconn 8600 GT Overclocked. Previously I have reviewed overclocked 8600 GT graphics cards from both EVGA and XFX so let’s see how well the Foxconn 8600 GT Overclocked compares performance wise.

Gallery

5 images

Benchmarks

Specifications
Foxconn’s 8600 GT Overclocked graphics card falls right in line with the overclocked 8600 GT cards I have tested previously including the XFX 8600 GT XXX and the EVGA 8600 GT Superclocked. Foxconn clocks their card at 560MHz on the core and 1620 MHz on the memory. The shader clock on the 8000 series of cards moves up from the stock speed when you overclock the core, but Foxconn doesn’t say what specific speed the shader core runs at. The card has 254MB GDDR3 RAM and 32 stream processors. This card is not HDCP capable.

Test Machine
The test machine I am using for this review has the following specifications:

• CPU- Intel QX6700
• Mainboard- XFX 680i
• RAM- PNY XLR8 2GB PC2-9384
• OS- Windows XP Pro SP2
• Display- Dell 30” UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC

3DMark06
The tests and benchmarks I will be using today include 3DMark06, FEAR, and Battlefield 2142. The first test up is 3DMark06, which I ran at default settings in 3DMark and default settings in the NVIDIA control panel. The test results were as follows:

• Total 3DMarks- 5355
• SM2.0- 2017
• HDR/SM3.0- 1927
• CPU- 4192
• Return to Proxycon- 18.273
• Firefly Forest- 15.345
• Canyon Flight- 16.870
• Deep Freeze- 21.668
• CPU1- 1.385
• CPU2- 2.030

To compare the EVGA 8600 GT Superclocked scored 5162 3DMarks and the XFX 8600 GT XXX scored 5357 3DMarks, making for a virtual dead heat with the Foxconn 8600 GT Overclocked.

FEAR
The next test up was with FEAR which I ran at max settings with a screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 with 4x AA and 16x AF. The FEAR in game test loop recorded the following information:

• Min- 20
• Avg- 36
• Max- 92

The percentages showed that 11% of the time frame rates were less than 25 fps, 60% of the time frame rates were 25-40 fps and 29% of the time frame rates were greater than 40 fps.

Battlefield 2142
The final test up was Battlefield 2142. I ran BF2142 at high settings with 4x AA and a screen resolution of 2048 x 1536. I used Fraps to record frame rate data on the single player map “Fall of Berlin.” Fraps recoded the following data:

• Min- 14 fps
• Avg- 18.607 fps
• Max- 23 fps

Final Thoughts
None of the 8600 GT cards are really cut out for high resolution gaming, they simply don’t have the muscle required. However, the Foxconn 8600 GT Overclocked is one of the fastest 8600 GT cards around and if you are looking for low cost DirectX 10 capabilities and the ability to play the latest games at moderate settings and resolutions the Foxconn 8600 GT Overclocked graphics card is a great way to do it. The only bad part about the Foxconn 8600 GT Overclocked is that the custom cooling solution Foxconn uses takes a card that is normally a single slot design and makes it take up two slots inside your computer.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

• Good performance
• Bundled software

Cons

• GPU heat sink is extra fat, blocks adjacent PCI slots

Verdict
The only really bad part about this video card is that for some reason Foxconn chose a dual slot cooling solution rather than going with a single slot card. Foxconn has priced their 8600 GT very competitively at $142 making this one of the biggest bangs for your buck to be had in the 8600 GT range from any NVIDIA partner.

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