Product Listing

XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatal1ty

By Vincent Chang - 11 Jul 2007

Conclusion

Conclusion

Having a celebrity endorse a product may not be a surefire way of success but it has been shown to raise the profile of the company tremendously, hence the enormous amount of endorsement deals nowadays. Of course in the case of Jonathan 'Fatal1ty' Wendel, his field of professional gaming is only in its infancy so there is understandably some skepticism over whether it can become the next major sports and entertainment outlet for the masses. Nevertheless, Wendel has already staked a name for himself as a pioneer in the short history of the sport, from being the first full time professional gamer to his remarkable success in channeling his gaming prowess into building a brand name with multiple endorsement deals with hardware manufacturers.

As some marketing experts will tell you, lending your name to the right product is crucial to avoid diluting or damaging the brand name. Although there are some Fatal1ty branded products that we won't touch at all, XFX's Fatal1ty GeForce 8600 GT is thankfully not one of those. XFX has long cultivated an enthusiast image with extreme, overclocked editions bundled with some of the latest, popular games, making it a good fit with the Fatal1ty branding. Though we were initially surprised by the decision to brand a mid-range card (the original GeForce 7600 GT Fatal1ty) instead of the typical high-end products one would associate with a top gamer, we have to admit that the implementation has been very well done.

Silent and deadly, the XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatality has the same characteristics as the celebrity endorsing it. Expect to pay a premium for the marketing but it's no doubt a very solid choice in its category.

And this has carried over to the updated GeForce 8600 GT version, which looks unchanged outwardly due to the reuse of the same passive cooler and the matte black PCB. This is a card that doesn't need to be hidden within the chassis while its raw performance too will earn it a place among enthusiasts who are not gunning for the high-end GeForce 8800 series (which can be due to their high price, power and physical size). Due to its overclocked frequencies, the XFX approaches the performance level of a GeForce 8600 GTS in our benchmarks and even surpassed that once we jumped in with our own overclock. No doubt the temperatures will likely be higher in such cases but the XFX has been stable in our testing so far and the higher temperatures should still be acceptable for most users, considering its speed and more important, the silent passive cooling onboard.

So what's not to like about this celebrity endorsed superstar GeForce 8600 GT? For one, the package is almost non-existent; there are no games and the accessories will surely rank among the most minimal we have seen. For a premium edition card, we wished that XFX had bundled something more so that consumers could really feel that they are getting their money's worth. As it is, the XFX GeForce 8600 GT Fatal1ty already commands a higher price in retail compared to the vanilla GeForce 8600 GT, with prices estimated to be around US$169. That is at least US$20 more than the recommended retail price of the GeForce 8600 GT at launch and with some vendors discounting their cards to around US$125, the price margin may be greater than the overclocking or the passive cooling advantages. Meanwhile, a typical GeForce 8600 GTS could be had for around US$189 and some less frilled versions costing even less than the XFX! This places the XFX in close competition from the faster card. In short, this is a graphics card with the performance to match its nice exterior and Fatal1ty branding but we can't help thinking that it could have been much more with a better package to justify its higher price.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.