PNY Verto GeForce 9600 GT Graphics Card Review

Today we are taking a look at the recently released PNY 9600 GT video card. The PNY 9600 GT is stock clocked meaning that the card is not overclocked from the factory. The 9600 GT is the first video card in the 9000 series from NVIDIA.

Features & Specifications

The PNY 9600 GT is compatible with PCI Express 2.0 and has 512MB of GDDR3 memory with a 256-bit memory interface. The memory frequency is 1800 MHz and the memory bandwidth is 57.6 GB/sec. The core clock of the PNY 9600 GT is 650MHz and the shader clock is 1625 MHz. The card has 64 stream processors. Blu-ray playback is possible with the PNY 9600 GT because it is HDCP compliant.

Test Machine

The test machine used for this review has the following components:

• CPU- Intel QX6850
• Mainboard- XFX 680i
• PSU- PC Power and Cooling 1KW
• Display- Dell 30-inch
• OS- Windows XP Pro
• RAM- 2GB DDR2 PC6400

Benchmarks & Testing

To test the PNY 9600 GT I will be using 3DMark06, Crysis, Bioshock and Quake Wars. The first up is 3Dmark06.

3Dmark06

I ran 3DMark06 at default settings in the application and in the NVIDIA control panel. The PNY 9600 GT scored as follow on 3DMark06:

• Total 3DMarks- 11367
• SM2.0- 4643
• HDR/SM3.0- 4402
• CPU- 4688
• Return to Proxycon- 37.395
• Firefly Forest- 39.997
• Canyon Flight- 39.803
• Deep Freeze- 48.230
• CPU1- 1.549
• CPU2- 2.271

For comparison the XFX 9600 GT I reviewed recently scored 11397 3DMarks, a virtual tie thanks to the same clock speeds and features of the two cards. The XFX 8800GTS 512MB card scored 14012 3DMarks and the XFX 8800 GT scored 13546 3DMarks.

Quake Wars

The first gaming test up was with Quake Wars. I ran Quake Wars at a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 with 2X AA and all settings on high. I used Fraps to record frame rate data on a single player Africa refinery map. Fraps recorded the following frame rate data:

• Min- 50
• Avg- 59.288
• Max- 62

Crysis

The next gaming test up was the system killer known as Crysis. I ran Crysis at a screen resolution of 1600 x 1200 with all settings on medium. I used Fraps to record frame rate data from the original beach insertion until the fight with the first enemies. Fraps recorded the following frame rate data:

• Min- 22 fps
• Avg- 40.824 fps
• Max- 63 fps

Bioshock

The final game test up was Bioshock, which I ran at 1920 x 1200, all settings on high with high detail post processing on, high detail shaders on and distortion on. I used Fraps to record frame rate data while playing the Fontaine Fisheries level where you leave your weapons behind. Fraps recorded the following frame rate data:

• Min- 26 fps
• Avg- 40.158 fps
• Max- 55 fps

Final Thoughts

After all the dust settled from the testing the PNY 9600 GT performed very well. The card was a virtual tie with the XFX 9600 ‘GT, which is to be expected considering that both cards have the same clock speeds and features. PNY lists its 9600 GT for $179.99 and the card performs well for the money. If you want a single slot video card at under $200, the 9600 GT is a great option.