| Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Sonic NE/960TSX0202 |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Olin Coles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, 31 May 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB SonicNVIDIA has been getting very good at topping themselves with each new product launch. Just two short months ago, the dual-GPU GeForce 9800 GX2 arrived on-scene and crushed the competition. Mere days later the GeForce 9800 GTX launched and offered a decent price point for a modern replacement of the GeForce 8800 GTX. But all of these high-level products leave a big hole in the low- and mid-income segments of the enthusiast markets. Everyone like to game, right? It doesn't happen very often, but occasionally NVIDIA offers a rough diamond that compete with all of those polished gems. We last witnessed this phenomenon in the GeForce 8800 GT video card product launch. Back then, an upper-crust mid-level graphics card was handing out pink-slips to some of NVIDIA's most expensive crown jewels. So imagine the value in a card based on binned-down G92 GPU's but still delivers excellent performance with plenty of scalability for high-resolution monitors. Because it's part of the GeForce 9-series family, it can offer a vast array of multimedia capabilities, but without the cost of a higher level product. Enter the Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Sonic graphics card SKU NE/960TSX0202.
In the past, Benchmark Reviews has compared GeForce 8800 Graphics Performance: GT vs GTS vs GTX. In that article, it was shown that a more affordable 8800 GT could easily beat a heavily-overclocked 8800 GTS and close the gap with far more expensive 8800 GTX. Not much later we tested the ZOTAC GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition HDMI video card which in many tests performed very near to the more expensive 8800 GTX. So now that NVIDIA has realized that there's a growing market of multimedia enthusiasts who aren't ready to drop coin on a top-shelf graphics solution just to have HDMI or DisplayPort capabilities. This is why the Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Sonic graphics card proves that video cards don't have to be so narrow-minded. Powered by the NVIDIA G94 graphics processor, which is a scaled down G92 GPU with half the cores disabled, the Palit GeForce 9600 GT video card rakes-in higher mid-level performance at the price of low-end graphics. The new PCI Express 2.0 interface sends data at rates up to 5.0 GBps, which then uses the memory bus to build an enormous 1024 MB video frame buffer for smoother performance and realistic textures in PC games. The 1000 MHz (2 GHz DDR) video memory on the 9600 GT communicates with a fast 700 MHz G94 graphics processor through a 256-bit memory interface. For an extra performance boost during intense gaming situations, NVIDIA has designed the 9600 GT to offer 64 stream processors operating at the unmatched 1750 MHz shader speed. 
It seems like it was just yesterday that I bought my first discrete graphics card to outfit an overclocked Cyrix M2-300 6x86MX-based computer. Back in those Windows 98 (first edition) days of 1998 the term GeForce wasn't even in existence yet, and NVIDIA was called referred to as nVidia. So when I bought my first computer late that year, I would have never thought Quake II played on my RIVA TNT2 AGP video card would mark the last time I would spend money in an arcade. This was nearly ten years ago and since that time NVIDIA has developed several successful GeForce product lines, including the newly launched 9th generation. Compared to the older PCI Express x16 bus which it replaces, the new PCI Express 2.0 interface delivers 5.0 GBps of graphical bandwidth which amounts to twice the data throughput over the previous generation. In the new generation of PCI Express 2.0 compatible motherboards, such as the Gigabyte's GA-X48T-DQ6 we used for testing, this new technology delivers bleeding edge graphics while remaining backwards compatible with older PCI Express x16 motherboards. In the chart below, we have arranged the currently supported GeForce family of products beside the 9th- and 8th-generation parts. While the 9600 GT is the third-best 9-series GeForce product, it slips to forth in the current NVIDIA roadmap behind the 8800 GT. But here's the twist: Palit hasn't gone with the reference engineering, and the 9600 GT Sonic comes out of the gates with more speed and vRAM than any 8800 GT has ever seen.
About the Company: Palit Multimedia Inc
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| Product Series | XFX 8800 GS | Palit 9600 GT | FOXCONN 8800 GTS | MSI 8800 GTX | ZOTAC 9800 GTX Amp! | ||
| Stream Processors | 96 | 64 | 96 | 112 | 128 | 128 | 128 (x2) |
| Core Clock (MHz) | 680 | 700 | 600 | 700 | 610 | 756 | 600 (x2) |
| Shader Clock (MHz) | 1700 | 1750 | 1200 | 1700 | 1350 | 1890 | 1500 (x2) |
| Memory Clock (MHz) | 800 | 1000 | 1030 | 1000 | 1000 | 1150 | 1000 (x2) |
| Memory Amount | 384 MB | 1024 MB | 640 MB | 512 MB | 768 MB | 512 MB | 512MB (x2) |
| Memory Interface | 192-bit | 256-bit | 320-bit | 256-bit | 384-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit (x2) |
3DMark06 Benchmark Results
3DMark is a computer benchmark by Futuremark (formerly Mad Onion) to determine the DirectX performance of 3D game performance with graphics cards. 3DMark06 uses advanced real-time 3D game workloads to measure PC performance using a suite of DirectX9 3D graphics tests, CPU tests, and 3D feature tests.
3DMark06 tests include all new HDR/SM3.0 graphics tests, SM2.0 graphics tests, AI and physics driven single and multiple cores or processor CPU tests and a collection of comprehensive feature tests to reliably measure next generation gaming performance today.
Here at Benchmark Reviews, we believe that synthetic benchmark tools are just as valuable as video games, but only so long as you're comparing apples to apples. Since the same test is applied in the same controlled method with each test run, I believe 3DMark is a very reliable tool for comparing graphic cards against one-another.
Low-resolution testing allows the graphics processor to plateau maximum output performance, which thereby shifts demand onto the system components. At the lower resolutions 3DMark will reflect the GPU's top-end speed in the composite score, indicating full-throttle performance with little load. This makes for a less GPU-dependant test environment, is helpful in measuring the maximum output performance in the test results.
Using a 1024x768 resolution as a starting point, the maximum settings were applied which for these tests includes 8x Anti-Aliasing and 16x Anisotropic Filtering. Without question the GeForce 9800 GX2 outperforms every other competitor by a great margin of difference, as it should for a video card housing two G92 GPU's. But let's focus on the GeForce 9600 GT at the other end of the spectrum, since it costs a fraction of the price.
This was the first test we ran on the 9600 GT, and it came as a surprise to see the 1GB Sonic outperform the older 8800 GTS in both tests. The SM 2.0 score of 3861 was significantly better than the highly-overlclocked XFX 8800 GS Alpha Dog edition, and just a few points higher than the grossly-overclocked Foxconn 8800 GTS. Still, the 9600 GT was outperformed by the ZOTAC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! Edition with a score of 4346. Despite 75% fewer processor cores, it was impressive to see the Palite 9600 GT come within 11% of the most overclocked 8800 GT available.
Bumping the GPU strain up a notch with 1280x1024 resolutions the scores remain relatively comparable in terms of performance ratio. Once again, the GeForce 9800 GX2 completely annihilates the competition with major-GPU muscle, but the rest of the pack still manages to keep up the pace with decent results.
The Palit 9600 GT Sonic edition maintains the same general performance ratio behind the heavy-hitters, and still largely outperformed the 8800 GS in the SM 3.0 tests. The ZOTAC GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! Edition video card kept ahead of the 9600 GT by 13% in the HDR/SM 3.0 tests.
While the entire G90-series GPU is PCI Express 2.0 compatible, the older G80-based GPU's are not. There doesn't seem to be any immediate advantage shown in our tests using the Gigabyte GA-X48T-DQ6 motherboard.
Finishing up the series of synthetic benchmark tests under heavy load, the Palit 9600 GT easily defeats the XFX 8800 GS Alpha Dog edition and overclocked Foxconn 8800 GTS video cards in shader model 2.0 testing. On the other hand, ZOTAC's 8800 GT AMP! Edition video card showed a prevailing strength against the aging GeForce 8800 GTS and was behind the GTX family by only 2%. In these 1600x1200 tests the Sonic 1GB 9600 GT just couldn't match the power of an AMP!'ed GT, but in the big picture it came within 18% of the 8800 GTX in the shader model 2.0 tests.
Already, things are beginning to look pretty good for the unique 9600 GT. If you take the 3DMark06 tests at face value, the 9600 GT easliy outperforms the 8800 GS and GTS, and comes within reach of the other much more expensive competitors. Since the 8800 GT we use for testing is outrageously overclocked, it stands to reason that the Sonic 9600 GT would compare equally against a reference version of the 8800 GT. But in our next section we begin real-world testing on a cadre of popular video games known for taxing the graphics processor, and this lineup might change. Our first up is Crysis, so please continue on...
Crysis Benchmark Results
Crysis uses a new graphics engine: the CryENGINE2, which is the successor to Far Cry's CryENGINE. CryENGINE2 is among the first engines to use the Direct3D 10 (DirectX10) framework of Windows Vista, but can also run using DirectX9, both on Vista and Windows XP.
Roy Taylor, Vice President of Content Relations at NVIDIA, has spoken on the subject of the engine's complexity, stating that Crysis has over a million lines of code, 1GB of texture data, and 85,000 shaders. To get the most out of modern multicore processor architectures, CPU intensive subsystems of CryENGINE 2 such as physics, networking and sound, have been re-written to support multi-threading.
Crysis offers an in-game benchmark tool, which is similar to World in Conflict. This short test does place some high amounts of stress on a graphics card, since there are so many landscape features rendered. For benchmarking purposes, Crysis can mean trouble as it places a high demand on both GPU and CPU resources.
Low-resolution testing allows the graphics processor to plateau maximum output performance, which thereby shifts demand onto the system components. At the lower resolutions 3DMark will reflect the GPU's top-end speed in the composite score, indicating full-throttle performance with little load. This makes for a less GPU-dependant test environment, is helpful in measuring the maximum output performance in the test results.
Even without Anti-Aliasing turned on, Crysis keeps the top four competitors around 60 FPS. It's clear that the CryENGINE2 is a heavy hitter, as the insanely overclocked ZOTAC 8800 GT AMP! Edition outperforms the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB by over 26% and the 8800 GTX by almost 3%. But without a real strain on the GPU, these products all compare relatively well across the field (except for the 8800 GTS 640 MB, which looks to be a sinking ship despite some outrageous overclocking).
With a full gigabyte of vRAM available to its frame buffer, the Palit 9600 GT Sonic should show some improvement as the demands increase. What comes as a surprise to me is how the single (overclocked) G92 9800 GTX was able to outperform the two G92 GPU's inside the GeForce 9800 GX2, which did not shine so bright in this low-resolution test.
At the 1280x1024 resolution which mirrors what gamers using a 19" LCD monitor would experience, the results are still excellent yet begin to near the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable performance. The aging G80-based GeForce 8800 GTS unit takes a pretty heavy hit, and drops below all other products tested. In terms of general performance, all of these products maintain the same performance ratio as before.
While 3dMark06 showed the 9600 GT to be superior to the 8800 GS, they look a lot more even in Crysis. Additionally, the ZOTAC 8800 GT AMP! Edition video card is running with the most expensive products available in this test, although nowhere near the performance of the 9800 GX2 which is beginning to pull away from the pack with more than a 22% lead.
Thanks to the AA optimizations in the G90-series GPU, all of the products based on this chip with easily outperform both of the older G80 GPU's by a significant margin as the resolution is raised and bandwidth demands are increased. It's obvious that the new 65nm G90 core architecture is to be credited, and perhaps the new PCI Express 2.0 interface which allows twice as much graphics data bandwidth also played its part. Either way, our benchmarks below certainly indicate that the older technology doesn't even come close to the level of performance in a high-pressure Crysis regardless of clock speeds or vRAM.
Surprisingly, the three GeForce 8800 series products maintained a rather constant performance ratio between one-another throughout the Crysis benchmark tests. While the overclocked ZOTAC GeForce 9800 AMP! Edition clearly outperformed the AMP!'ed 8800 GT by nearly 14 frames per second on average, the Palit GeForce 9600 GT actually improved as the demand increased. At the end of our Crysis testing, the 1GB of video frame buffer didn't seem to make a serious argument for the Palit product as it performed nearly the same as the 8800 GS it walked over previously, and the ZOTAC 8800 GT AMP! Edition which walked over it was humbled.
In our next section, Benchmark Reviews switches to video-output only benchmarking, and uses Lightsmark for an apples-to-apples comparison of performance.
Lightsmark Frame Rates
Stepan Hrbek is the mastermind behind Lightmark 2007, a program that allows you to benchmark real-time global illumination. Natural lighting makes artificial graphics life-like and real. Computers get faster, but rendering more polygons doesn't add value if lighting still looks faked, so insiders know that the next big thing is proper lighting; aka Realtime Global Illumination.
Typical workloads in real-time rendering will shift, and Lightsmark simulates it. Global Illumination renders often take hours, so is your computer fast enough for real-time?
Before Lightsmark, real-time global illumination was limited to small scenes, small resolutions, small speeds, specially crafted scenes with handmade optimizations. Lightsmark breaks all limits at once, running in reasonably sized scene (220000 triangles) in high resolutions at excellent speed.
Lighting is computed fully automatically in an original unmodified scene from 2007 game World of Padman. This benchmark is not tweaked for Lightsmark, and contains all sorts of geometrical difficulties with extra rooms hidden below the floor.
This scene places medium to low demands on a graphics card processor and tests the maximum speed with which the scene can be properly displayed at each resolution. At the lower resolution, the large frame buffer does not come to offer the same benefits. A larger video memory means a longer round-trip for information, and when the resolution is low that trip needs to be completed very quickly.
This is our first evidence that matching the video card to the rest of your hardware is just as important as matching it to the task. Notice from this test that Lightsmark doesn't favor the goliath 9800 GX2, or any particular GPU generation more than another. In fact, our GeForce 9800 GX2 was outperformed in every single Lightsmark test by the snappy AMP!'ed 8800 GT and 9800 GTX video cards.
After all of the Lightsmark tests were complete, I'm sure these results aren't going to indicate anything particular to most readers. As I mentioned before, the frame buffer has a whole lot to do with the speed of rendering. The larger the frame buffer, the longer it will take to complete the strobe of informaton. So how does this relate to you and your choice of hardware or video games?
With Crysis tested at 1600x1200, the frame buffer was not as critical as raw processing power. It helped, but obviously it didn't make a margin of difference since the results were nearly identical for the two cards above and below the Palit 9600 GT. In Lightsmark, information is passed through the buffer and called on very quickly, and the only thing which was going to benefit this test was the appropriate ratio of Stream Processors to vRAM. In terms of performance, this test offers very short but taxing graphics, and only the most nimble products with capable muscle can take advantage. You will see this experience to be relative to 3D game titles using older engines such as COD4, Doom 3, or Quake 4.
In the next section we change gears and test to compare our group of video cards in Supreme Commander.
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance Results
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is a standalone real-time strategy computer game expansion to Supreme Commander, developed by Gas Powered Games and published by THQ. Because it is a standalone expansion, it is possible to play without owning Supreme Commander. Forged Alliance adds new game play features to the game, several new units for the three preexisting factions, and is further optimized for increased performance beyond that of the original game.
Supreme Commander makes extensive use of two technologies relatively unused in video games prior to its release, namely multi core processing and multi monitor displays. When detecting a multi-core processor, the game assigns a specific task, such as AI calculations, to each core, splitting the load between them. Supreme Commander is one of the first games to specifically support dual and quad core processors in the game.
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance may not offer the first-person shooter experience that many gamers prefer, but the graphics are among the most demanding possible. Even so, there begins to be a trend showing which places high demand on the graphics card as evidenced by mutually low minimum frame rates.
Unlike the other games we test, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance does not use a short in-game benchmark to determine a score. In these tests, Supreme Commander plays an entire round of the game from start to finish and generates composite scores based on this lengthy test. This composite score is based on two factors: sim and render.
In the chart depicted above, Supreme Commander calculates a SupComMark score for the video rendering. The exact formula is a mystery, and since the scores are all comprised of very high numbers the information begins to look very similar. Despite this, there are some differences worth noticing if you pay attention to the numbers. I could have probably subtracted about 7000 points from this test, so that the chart would look more useful, but then I would probably get complaints about the inaccurate scores. At any rate, the lowest man in the test group is none other than our featured product. This puts a strain on my ability to recommend this product, but it could still be too early to tell.
Once the average frame rate scores were calculated, there seemed to be three levels of performance shown in the chart above. The Palit Sonic 9600 GT was the leader of low mid-level graphic cards, while the nearest-neighbor (AMP!'ed) 8800 GT rubbed elbows with the 8800 and 9800 GTX. At the very top of the food-chain was the only real stand-out: the GeForce 9800 GX2, which rendered the majority of frames much faster than the others.
Supreme Commander proved to be a harsh gaming engine for video cards, and Crysis certainly applied some heavy pressure, but let's see how World in Conflict holds up against our performance testing in the next section.
World in Conflict Benchmark Results
The latest version of Massive's proprietary Masstech engine utilizes DX10 technology and features advanced lighting and physics effects, and allows for a full 360 degree range of camera control. Massive's MassTech engine scales down to accommodate a wide range of PC specifications, if you've played a modern PC game within the last two years, you'll be able to play World in Conflict.
World in Conflict's FPS-like control scheme and 360-degree camera make its action-strategy game play accessible to strategy fans and fans of other genres... if you love strategy, you'll love World in Conflict. If you've never played strategy, World in Conflict is the strategy game to try.
World in Conflict offers an in-game benchmark; which records the minimum, average, and maximum frame rates during the test. Very recently another hardware review website made the assertion that these tests are worthless, but we couldn't disagree more. When used to compare video cards which are dependant on the same driver, the in-game benchmark works very well and comparisons are apples-to-apples.
A cautionary word about maximum frame rates is necessary, however. Although these readings are worth noting, the maximum frame rate is nearly worthless in determining GPU power. The reason for this is simple: those maximum frame rates are collected from scenes with little to no movement and practically no graphical processing demand. Obviously this shifts the importance over to the minimum frame rate, which will indicate how smooth the performance will remain under heavy demand.
In all of our previous tests I have compared the factory overclocked Palit 9600 GT against a wide spectrum of products, but I have tried to emphasize a more direct comparison with the 8800 GS, GTS, and GT. In these final tests, I hope to see some evidence that places an importance on high amounts of vRAM, or it might just come down to price and performance in my conclusion.
First tested was the 1024x768 resolution in WiC, which relates to gamers using a 17" LCD monitor. Based on the test results charted above, it's clear that WiC doesn't place a limit on the maximum frame rate (to conserve wasted power) which is good for full-spectrum benchmarks but bad for electricity bills. The critically important minimum frame rate results indicate a shared lead between the 8800 GT AMP! Edition, ZOTAC 9800 GTX AMP! Edition, and GeForce 9800 GX2 video cards, which also carried over to higher average frame rates as well. To my surprise however, the Palit 9600 GT actually showed a prevailing strength against the others, and more closely matched itself with the top-level video cards.
With a balanced demand for CPU and GPU power, the 1280x1024 resolution proved to be the turning point for performance. Palit's 9600 GT was beginning to gain its second wind against overclocked XFX 8800 GS Alpha Dog Edition video card, but was still short of matching the powerhouse 8800 GT AMP! Edition. Also notice how the GeForce 9800 GX2 posts minimum frame rates not very much higher than the others and barely above the 30 FPS mark, which proves that even under moderate demand World in Conflict is still incredibly demanding.
At the highest graphics quality settings the Masstech engine of World in Conflict begins to really strain all of the GeForce products. At the 1600x1200 resolution, not even the crown-jewel GeForce video cards can deliver a 30 FPS minimum frame rates, which is a little discouraging considering the price tag they wear. Taking a broader look at the average frame rate, the overclocked Foxconn 8800 GTS still proves that it has game and maintains a credible pace against the GeForce 9600 GT, but it seems that the Palit Sonic just can't quite compete with other overclocked video cards with more shader cores.
It's been a long run of tests for the Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Sonic video card, and in the next section I offer my conclusion and final rating for this product.
GeForce 9600 GT Final Thoughts
It's never easy to hit the consumer "sweet spot". On paper the G94 GPU fits exactly where it should: between the 8800 GT and 8600 GTS. But with half of its physical cores disabled, I begin to suspect that there is only so much to be done for performance before you have to either fish or cut bait. While I admire that Palit could take the G94 up to 700 MHz, part of me wonders if it was made easier because of the disabled cores. Equally impressive is the incredibly high shader clock speed of 1750 MHz, which certainly managed to show they could hold their own weight against fully-enabled video cards. But the one item that the Sonic 9600 GT touts is the very same item that concerns me: the 1 GB video frame buffer.
| Currently Supported GeForce Products | GeForce 9 Series Family | GeForce 8 Series Family | ||||
| GeForce 9800 GX2 GeForce 9800 GTX GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB GeForce 8800 GT GeForce 9600 GT (Featured Product) GeForce 8600 GTS GeForce 8600 GT GeForce 8500 GT GeForce 8400 GS GeForce 7300 GS |
GeForce 9800 GX2 GeForce 9800 GTX GeForce 9600 GT (Featured Product) GeForce 9600 GSO GeForce 9400 GT GeForce 9300 GS GeForce 9300 GE |
GeForce 8800 Ultra GeForce 8800 GTX GeForce 8800 GTS (640 MB, 512MB and 320 MB) GeForce 8800 GT GeForce 8800 GT for Mac GeForce 8800 GS GeForce 8600 GTS GeForce 8600 GT GeForce 8500 GT GeForce 8400 GS |
Keeping in mind that I write these articles with a middle-of-the-road voice, I understand that there are readers that occupy the most technical understanding to the novice who is brand new to this industry. So it's sometimes very difficult to explain away a product feature and expect both sides to understand my perspective... but I do my best. With regards to the 1 GB frame buffer that Palit equips the GeForce 9600 GT Sonic Edition, there are several different angles to consider.
At one end of the spectrum, you have a reduced number of cores operating at a dramatically increased speed. This would lead you to believe that an 'oversized' video memory falls in-line with the rest of the card; or rather that it has the extra vRAM because it's so much faster elsewhere. I tend to think of this the same way as someone who puts huge monster-truck sized tires on their pickup truck. If that truck is running with a V-8 engine, that's one thing, but the 9600 GT is more like a Honda V-TEC 4-cylinder.
On the other end, you must consider the future of video games. While there are very few games that utilize more than 512 MB of video buffer, there are presently none that can take advantage of 1024 MB (1 GB). This doesn't mean that there will never be, because at the NVIDIA Editors Day 2008 event a few weeks ago I witnessed several games that might challenge this notion. So presuming that video games might make use of a 1 GB frame buffer, will it be within this products lifetime and would this product show any advantage? Just more angles to consider, and more questions raised.
But even still, let's pretend you're already using an G80-based 8800 series graphics card; because there are some additional benefits worth considering. To begin with, you're not going to enjoy games such as Crysis, which made a clear distinction between generations. But beyond gaming, you may also be unprepared for that day in the near future when DirectX 10.1 (or the upcoming DX11) resides on your operating system. Finally, there's the potential for using this HDMI-ready solution for something other than video games - such as a home theater PC. There's a longer list of reasons to support the justification in replacing an older G80 video card with the 9600 GT; even beyond using it inside an HTPC for your home theater.
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DisplayPower Digital media output
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HDMI Audio and Video Output
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Expanded bandwidth of PCI Express 2.0
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Performance potential in SLI mode using AFR technology
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PureVideo HD hardware acceleration of high-definition movies
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Dual-stream picture-in-picture streaming content
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Full High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) support
Palit NE/960TSX0202 Conclusion
Palit NE/960TSX0202 Conclusion
Since Palit hasn't been available to the North American market for very long, the new look may seem out of place at first. Each manufacturer spends a significant amount of time branding their name to an identity. For example: Gigabyte has a Final Fantasy-looking female heroine on their products, XFX has an armor clad Werewolf, and ZOTAC has a Dural look-alike from VirtuaFighter. So it might seem particularly interesting that Palit picked a frog; or a robo-frog to be more accurate. But since fancy characters are not enough to win me over, Palit has also kept the consumer informed by adding important product details and specifications on the packaging. The retail box offers an inviting design and attractive layout, along with some important product data on the back. The colors and information all seem exciting, but I'm not quite sold on that frog.
When NVIDIA first launched the GeForce 9600 GT product line, I wasn't exactly impressed with thin single-card reference design. There just wasn't much more to the card than a thin PCB covered by a shroud of plastic. So I'm thankful that Palit went to the design table and recreated their own version of the 9600 GT from the PCB up. I've already admitted my love for the burnt orange color they used, so it's no surprise that I'm a big fan of the appearance, but the added RAM heatsink really sets the appearance of this product apart from the rest. Since the I/O header panel is loaded with connections, the Sonic 9600 GT looks the part of much more expensive GeForce products without the hefty price tag.
The craftsmanship and construction of this card are what set it apart from others. To begin with, Palit has taken its role as a NVIDIA AIC (Add-In Card) partner seriously, and engineered a whole new upper-half of the GeForce 9600. Add to this the fact that they managed to load 1024 MB worth of GDDR3 onto the PCB, and you can see how dedicated they are to their craft. I think the most impressive thing I've noticed about Palit products is the extremely well-tuned performance testing which screens out possible failures and thus reduces the overall RMA rate. I recall having to return six different BFG 7900 GT's before getting a good one because there were capacitors rolling around inside the package, and by the time I had played the ship-at-your-expense game I had added up a huge expense on top of the initial purchase price. With less than 1% return rate, it's good to know I won't have a bad experience with Palit products.
In regards to product performance, I have evaluated the GeForce 9600 GT Sonic graphics card as a whole. In video game performance, it did well enough to remain competitive against some of the larger video cards, but it didn't impress me against the overclocked 8800 GT. It's worth noting however that while 'testing' this product with the game Titan's Quest, previous graphics cards such as the GeForce 8800 GTS and 8800 GS both have all exhibited a rubber-banding effect as the large-scale scrolling world is drawn. This wasn't the case with a 1 GB frame buffer available to the Palit GeForce 9600 GT. Additionally, other large scale worlds such as those found in Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures also seemed to play very well with the large amount of GDDR3 available to it. But this is all just the gaming side of my rating, because once you take into account the myriad assortment of multimedia connections like DisplayPort and HDMI, you begin to take notice of this video cards other functionality. Performance displaying HDMI content from my Blu-ray Disc player worked flawlessly, and when DisplayPort finally replaces HDMI the Sonic 9600 GT will be prepared for the future.
All of these ratings are well and fine, but ultimately the price tag decides the bottom line. Initially the Palit GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Sonic Video Card NE/960TSX0202 was available for as low as $160, but then for some reason the prices actually increased across the entire GeForce 9600 GT product line. Presently the Palit 9600 GT 1 GB Sonic Edition is available at NewEgg for $177.99. This makes it very tough on my value rating, since the ZOTAC 8800 GT AMP! video card that consistently outperformed the Sonic is now available at NewEgg for $146.99 ($126.99 after rebate). If you're looking for outstanding performance from video games at an equally impressive price the Palit GeForce 9600 GT Sonic is by no means a bad decision, but the added 1 GB video frame buffer isn't going to make a difference in most games and there are other products worth considering. If gaming isn't your sole focus, then the multimedia capabilities matched to 3D performance is well worth the price.
In conclusion, the Palit GeForce 9600 GT makes a very good choice for gamers who want to step-up into PCI-Express 2.0 and take advantage of DisplayPort or full HDMI audio/video output. The Sonic NE/960TSX0202 provides excellent cooling improvements over other single-slot solutions, and will work very well in HTPC environments where airflow and noise are kept to a minimum. I won't dispute that the benchmark results we recorded were no better than the 8800 GT, but the gaming experience in large-scale world-based games actually made great use of the large video frame buffer. While value is a relative subject, the performance and functionality appear to have some credence in relation to the product cost. If you're a gamer on a very tight budget, than the 9600 GT is an excellent product worth consideration, but the other half of its value comes from home theater application.
Pros:
+ Very good AA/AF performance in DirectX 9 games
+ Supports DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0
+ 700 MHz GPU / 1750 MHz Shader / 1000 MHz GDDR3
+ Features NVIDIA PureVideo HD Technology
+ HDMI Audio and Video supported for HDCP output
+ Extremely quiet fan under normal operation
+ DisplayPort technology offers future-proof functionality
+ Fan shroud enclosure offers improved airflow
+ 16x Coverage Sampling Anti-aliasing (CSAA) algorithm
+ Supports NVIDIA SLI functionality
+ Large 1024 MB (1 GB) video frame buffer
+ 5 GBps PCI Express 2.0 graphics interface
Cons:
- Large video frame buffer not utilized by many games
- Requires two expansion card slots
Ratings:
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Presentation: 8.75
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Appearance: 9.50
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Construction: 9.50
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Functionality: 9.00
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Value: 7.50
Final Score: 8.85 out of 10.
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