GeForce 9600 GSO 384 MB review | Point of View

Right, let's talk dirty tech chatter for a minute. As you guys have been able to notice the next best thing to the 9600 GSO is the 9600 GT; which launched at prices ranging from $169 to $199 with special edition cards (faster clocked) more expensive. Now let's take a dump ... ehm, BIOS Dump!

$ffffffffff Display adapter information
$ffffffffff ----------------------------------------------------------------
$0000000000 Description : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO
$0000000001 Vendor ID : 10de (NVIDIA)
$0000000002 Device ID : 0610
$0000000003 Location : bus 1, device 0, function 0
$0000000004 Bus type : PCIE
$000000000f PCIE link width : 16x supported, 16x selected
$0000000009 Base address 0 : cc000000 (memory range)
$000000000a Base address 1 : b0000000 (memory range)
$000000000b Base address 2 : none
$000000000c Base address 3 : ca000000 (memory range)
$000000000d Base address 4 : none
$000000000e Base address 5 : 00009c00 (I/O range)
$ffffffffff ----------------------------------------------------------------
$ffffffffff NVIDIA specific display adapter information
$ffffffffff ----------------------------------------------------------------
$0100000000 Graphics core : G92 revision A2 (96sp)
$0100000001 Hardwired ID : 0610 (ROM strapped to 0610)
$0100000002 Memory bus : 192-bit
$0100000003 Memory type : DDR3 (RAM configuration 00)
$0100000004 Memory amount : 393216KB
$0100000100 Core clock domain 0 : 555.428MHz
$0100000101 Core clock domain 1 : 1350.000MHz
$0100000006 Memory clock : 799.200MHz (1598.400MHz effective)
$0100000007 Reference clock : 27.000MHz

When we dump the BIOS we notice that the GSO lacks the sexy 256-bit memory bus that the beefier product has, yet some extra shader processors make up for that. Judging from the specs we see we should be able to push the product close to 9600 GT performance in resolutions up-to 1280x1024, after which the 9600 GT definitely will be the faster product.

Thanks to the 65nm - G92 based graphics processor, the 9600 GSO sports support for two dual-link HDCP enabled DVI-I outputs. Both HDMI and DVI support, HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) which will be a requirement for protected content. In the long run; the card would support DisplayPort connectors fine as well, this obviously being board-partner dependant. The card as tested today actually comes with a full-fetched HDMI connector. These models are as expensive as the regular Dual-DVI product.

Point of view will get you a pretty standard product bundle with the basics included, hey at an advertised suggested retail price (MSRP) of 99 EUR, you really can't expect an overhaul with a game-bundle or anything. Some nice additional value definitely is the three year warranty.

Included in the packaging are the card, manual, driver CD, sub-d adapter, 6-pin to molex power converter and an SPDIF pass-through cable should you want to utilize digital lossless audio through HDMI.

Alright, let's have a peek at power consumption, heat levels and test all that other good stuff before we dive into the benchmarks. But not before we set aside some specifications. Hey, I love my charts man.