DirectX 10

Since little in the world of DX10 has changed since I wrote about it last (yesterday) I will be quoting from my last review.

"Even 5 months after Vista's release, there is still little call for DX10 compatible hardware as there is so little that supports it. Company of Heroes is the only game that supports it (as far as I am aware). Until more games come out that support this technology, its nothing to get exciting. Don't get me wrong, it's always nice to have extra features - especially future proofing ones - but its not going to be one that changes your gaming experience any time soon."

Noise and Cooling

Cooling wise the GTS is fantastic. Even when under full load the VF-900 kept the card running at a chilly, 55 degrees C. Noise wise the attached cooler is also very effective and is whisper quiet during normal operation. The only real noise that emanates from the card is a minor buzzing under load, but it isn't anything that would annoy the average user.

As a side note, if you want to increase cooling power ever more with this card, simply unplug the 3pin header from the card and plug it into a spare motherboard slot. This will increase fan speed and therefore improve cooling. This does however, make the cooler much noisier and it can clearly be heard above case fans.

Cost

At about £140 the 8600GTS is quite a steep jump from the £90 8600GT or even the only slightly slower, £110 x1950 Pro. Also, considering an 8800GTS 32mb is nearly 50% faster for only an extra £40 or so, the GTS is pretty darn expensive for its performance.