Conclusion

With 128 combined stream processors and its higher core and shader clock speeds, the GeForce 9600 GT SLI setup outperformed the GeForce 8800 GTX in all of our benchmarks. In fact, the SLI cards even outran the GeForce 8800 Ultra in the bulk of our testing. Only in BioShock with 4xAA did the GeForce 8800 Ultra reign supreme, and in that case the difference was only 2-4%.

Never before have we seen a mainstream GeForce card put together this kind of showing with SLI, it really is a remarkable achievement to see a pair of sub-$200 cards outrun a card that costs twice as much. Previously we were lucky to see two cards of this class run even with a $400 board: 3.5 years ago, two GeForce 6600 GTs were just a hair slower than one GeForce 6800 GT.

Now some would argue that this is due in part because there’s been so little innovation on the high-end of the graphics segment lately. This argument is definitely true. The GeForce 8800 GTX is over one year old now, and the 8800 Ultra is merely a higher clocked version of the GTX. So these cards have remained at the top of the market basically unchallenged for quite some time now. In fact, we really haven’t seen the high-end segment of the graphics market this stagnant since the days of the 3dfx Voodoo 2!

On the other hand, it is refreshing to see that innovation in the mainstream segment continues to advance. After all, there aren’t many people who can afford to spend $400 on a new graphics card every 12 months.

With the debut of the GeForce 9600 GT, expect the GeForce 8800 GT and 8800 GS to slowly disappear. With its higher clock speeds and larger frame buffer, the 9600 GT is generally faster than the GeForce 8800 GT 256MB anyway, so we doubt this GPU will be missed by many. Going forward we would like to see NVIDIA produce a more affordable G94 card with slower clocks (GeForce 9600 GS perhaps?), but for the time being the GeForce 8600 GTS will occupy the slot below the 9600 GT in NVIDIA’s lineup. The GeForce 8800 GT 512MB will remain a viable alternative to the 9600 GT at the $230+ price point.

In any case, NVIDIA’s truly got a winner with the GeForce 9600 GT. Whether you plan on purchasing one card or two, this GPU redefines what you typically expect out of a mainstream graphics card. Especially once the 9600 GT is overclocked!