Joined on 01/21/07
update
Pros: System:Dell Dim 3000 P4 2.8ghz 533fsb 1gb Kingston ram 500w Dynapower psu. I added a new psu to get the 250W Dell psu out & allow overclocking safely.With Ati's overclocking utility this card really performs for PCI.
Cons: Don't use Diamond's drivers or overclocking utility.Neither would work correctly.Their O.C. utility would just crash my box & require a hard reboot to work again.
Overall Review: FEAR now runs smoothly OC'ed to 520 mhz & 272mhz mem.The OC utility shows a maximum overclocking of 700mhz., but I don't want to fry the card.Doom 3 runs great on ultra quality with evarything on max.My fx5200 card would not get anywhere close to this performance
fan sucks(air that is)
Pros: Cheap, free shipping,moves a fecalload of air.Quiet on low settings.Will suck the proverbial chrome off a bumper hitch on high.
Cons: Supplied rheostat bkt.
Overall Review: Took the control knob and switch out of the supplied bkt.and mounted in top of case after drilling 3/8 hole.Moves more air on low than old 80mm on high and quieter.
256 bit memory?
Pros: XFX's site lists this card as having a 256 bit memory bus and all other 8600gts's w/ a 128 bit.Which is correct?
Cons: dom safety
Better than I expected
Pros: This card is way better than I had been led to believe by several reviews I have read.It replaced an FX5200 in my dell 3000 2.8ghz p4 1g ram pc and has put it completely to shame.I had tried to run Prey w/ my old card and all it would do on the lowest settings is look horrible and lock up, stutter etc.With the new card it will play it on all high settings as smooth as silk.Far Cry on all high is awesome.This card is finicky about Fear though.But if you view the Fear read me file and use their tips, you will be able to play it at about medium settings after a little tweaking.
Cons: If you turn all settings to performance you will have issues.It worked best for me with the auto adjust feature.Also my 3D settings image preview does not work but that could just be a software issue.
Overall Review: I think this card is an excellent value for pci pc's.I was thinking of buying a new $1000 pc but after installing this card will wait a few more years.