DirectX 10
Pixel Shader 4.0
Vertex Shader 4.0
Geometry Shading
Lumenex
PureVideo 2nd generation
32 Stream processors
SLI
128-bit HDR lighting
Quantum Effects Physics Processing
Unified Shader Architecture
OpenGL 2.0 support
Windows Vista
Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Video (1920x1080)
Two Dual-Link DVI outputs


Today, NVIDIA is fleshing out their 8xxx series lineup with mainstream versions of the 8xxx architecture. Key features of the 8600GTS and 8600GT include 32 Stream Processors (versus the 128 on the 8800GTX), 8 Texturing and Filtering Processors versus the 4 texturing and 8 filtering processors on the 8800GTX, 289 million transistors, the first NVIDIA cards on the 80 nanometer process, and full support for all DirectX 10 features including Pixel Shader 4.0, Vertex Shader 4.0 Geometry Shaders and more.

The key features of Pixel Shader 4.0 include 65,536 instruction slots versus >512 on Pixel Shader 3.0, Unlimited executed instructions compared to 65,536 or less on Pixel Shader 3.0, 32 interpolated registers versus 10 in Shader Model 3.0, 4096 temp registers versus 32 in SM 3.0, 16x 4096 constant registers versus 224 in SM 3.0 and dynamic flow control. NVIDIA cut down the number of Stream Processors from 128 on the 8800GTX to 32 on the 8600GTS and 8600GT. While this may seem to be a drastic move to cut costs, the 8600GTS does have twice the texture address units to Stream Processor unit’s ratio. NVIDIA says that clock for clock the G84 is more efficient than the G80, we’ll have to see how it plays out on the performance pages, but I would imagine that the performance will shock those wanting a huge jump from the current $199 video cards on the market. I’ve prepared a chart comparing the models of 8600GTS and 8600GT that I have tested and the reference clocked cards. You’ll notice that the difference between a 8600GTS and the 8600GT is simply in the core clock speed, the slightly different Shader Clock speed and the memory clock speed. In fact, XFX’S 8600GT XXX Edition should provide near the same performance as a reference 8600GTS as the clock speeds are very close. The EVGA 8600GT should be just a tad slower than the XFX card, but there are advantages that the EVGA card has that will likely see many buyers for their card. But I’ll cover the cards separately. I just thought it would be cool to have a sense of where the new cards in this review fit into the overall picture of NVIDIA’s new launch and the actual card performance will have to wait for that area of the review.