ASUS EN9600GT TOP Video Card Review

Box, Bundle and Test System

Bundle

Asus has been using these very long boxes for their retail video cards for some time now and although they are a little awkward, they are less bulky than some other card boxes. The box does its job well, clearly noting what card it is and advertises that the card is overclocked and comes with an upgraded heat sink. It also shows that the card is PCI-E 2.0 and that it is HDCP ready.

The bundle shipped with the card is a little above the norm for a value card. There is the standard manual and driver disk, RGB cable, and power cable. Also included are a DVI-VGA adaptor, DVI-HDMI adaptor, and a SPDIF cable. Finally, we have a standalone manual explaining how to hook up the HDMI/SPDIF, a straightforward operation but something that oft goes overlooked by other card partners.

Test Setup

The test system was running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit with all available Microsoft updates including the hotfixes required for enthusiast video cards to run correctly. NVIDIA Forceware 169.28 beta drivers were used on all of the GeForce 8800 series graphics cards, and 175.16 used for the 9600 GT. ATI Catalyst 8.3 drivers were used for all ATI cards. All results shown in the charts are averages of at least three runs from each game or application used. Memory timings were set to 1000MHz 4-5-4-15. The XFX GeForce 8800 GTX were standard models and the GeForce 8800 GTS were the Palit 1GB Sonic SLI Video Cards.

Keep in mind that we are using FRAPS for many of our tests and the results can vary a few percent since these are not scripted runs.

Intel Test Platform
Component	Brand/Model	Live Pricing
Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad QX9770	Click Here
Motherboard	XFX nForce 780i SLI	Click Here
Memory	Crucial PC2-8500 2GB	Click Here
Video Card	See Above	Click Here
Hard Drive	Western Digital Raptor 150GB	Click Here
Cooling	Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme	Click Here
Power Supply	Thermaltake ToughPower 1000W	Click Here
Operating System	Windows Vista Ultimate	Click Here