STALKER was the first game I tried on the 8600GT from XFX and EVGA. The performance in this first person shooter was pretty good with DirectX 9.0 Dynamic Lighting playable mostly at 1024x768 with no problems. The game requires a beefy video card and the 8600GT is a good choice for those wanting visual fidelity in this demanding game. SLI allowed this game to run at 1280x1024 with 2x AA, an incredible

Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars is the latest RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game in a long-running series started in 1995 by Westwood Studios and was released last month from Electronic Arts. The game is a lot of fun if you like C+C, with new units, a new playable race the Scrin and the return of Kane, one of PC games’ best characters of all time. The 8600GT ran the game without issue. The game has a 30fps framerate cap, meaning that 30 frames a second is what you get as long as the card can handle it.

Need For Speed Carbon is the latest game in the Electronic Arts series that features racing on the streets with a variety of cars. The 8600GT was able to play this game with 4x AA and 16x AF at 1280x1024 with little problems. The framerate on a racing game is ok if its 24-30 fps and that’s what you get with this card. SLI mode does not increase performance as the frame rates were within the FRAPs differential.