XFX 9600 GT Alpha Dog XXX Video Card Review

Features & Specifications

The XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog has a 740MHz core clock speed, 2GHz memory clock and a 1750 MHz shader clock. The card shares all the other feature in common with the other 9600 GT cards I have looked at including HDCP compliance and 512MB of GDDR3 RAM. The only visual difference in the XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog and the other 9600 GT cards from NVIDIA is that the Alpha Dog edition uses a special heatsink that looks different from the stock cards.

Test Machine

I am using a new test machine for this review and future reviews going forward. The system uses the following components:

• Mainboard- XFX 790i Ultra
• CPU- Intel QX9770
• PSU- Top Power 1100W
• RAM- 2GB Aeneon DDR3
• OS- Windows Vista Ultimate

Benchmarks & testing

To test the XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog I will be using 3DMark06, Crysis, and Bioshock. The first test up is 3DMark06.

3DMark06

For 3DMark06 I used all stock settings in the 3DMark06 application and stock settings in the NVIDIA control panel. The XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog scored as follows in 3DMark06:

• Total 3DMarks- 11720
• SM2.0- 4909
• HDR/SM3.0- 4489
• CPU- 4628
• Return to Proxycon- 38.707
• Firefly Forest- 43.107
• Canyon Flight- 38.968
• Deep Freeze- 50.814
• CPU1- 1.527
• CPU2- 2.245

With the comparisons to other cards, keep in mind that the previous cards I have reviewed have been done on a different test machine which will affect the numbers to some extent. The XFX 9800 GX2 I tested scored 16227, the XFX 9600 GT scored 11397 3DMArks, and the PNY 9600 GT scored 11367 3DMarks.

Crysis

The first game test up is Crysis, which I ran at 1920 x 1200 with 2XAA and all settings on medium. I used Fraps to record frame rate data from the initial beach insertion to the fight with the first enemies. Fraps recorded the following frame rate data:

• Min- 13 fps
• Avg- 21.231
• Max- 35 fps

Bioshock

The next game test up was Bioshock. I ran Bioshock at 1920 x 1200 with all settings on high and all options turned on. I used Fraps to record frame rate data and got eh following information:

• Min- 32 fps
• Avg- 47.68
• Max- 63 fps

Final Thoughts

It’s very interesting to me that when Bioshock first launched you needed a top end video card in the $500 range to run the game at this level of detail. Today you can do it for under $200. XFX has priced the XFX 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog at only $169.99 and bundled it with one of the hottest games on the market, Call of duty 4: Modern Warfare. I bought that game a few weeks back for $50 alone. XFX is simply offering one of the best video cards in performance for dollars available and throwing in a game any PC gamer wants in his collection to boot.