In many respects looking at the EVGA 8600GT is like looking at the XFX card, as the PCB design is nearly identical. One difference is apparent though. A 19-fin fan covers the graphics chip on the EVGA card, with a small heatsink surrounding the fan. EVGA has their logo, along with the key features of the card on the heatsink



The clock speed of the EVGA 8600GT is at 575MHz, which is 35MHz faster than NVIDIA set their reference card at, but slower than the XFX 8600GT. Interestingly, the card has a higher memory bandwidth than the reference 8600GT as well of 1.5GHz effective, which would mean that the card would have similar bandwidth to the XFX card. One thing to notice when looking at the performance of the 8600GT from EVGA is whether it comes close to the performance of the faster clocked XFX card.



One thing EVGA offers that no other video card manufacturer offers is the opportunity to trade up your video card within 90 days of purchase. In other words, if you buy the 8600GT from them and find you want more performance, you can “Step Up” to a faster card, paying the difference in price from what you paid for the original card and the MSRP of the new card.



EVGA also offers a Lifetime Warranty on their retail video cards that have been registered within 30 days of purchase. If you register your card, and have a problem, call EVGA. Their message boards are full of positive stories on their tech support. EVGA offers a 24/7 Toll-Free telephone number for those that are having issues and need to speak to a support technician.