Galaxy GeForce 9600 GT LowPower LowProfile

FrgMstr

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Galaxy GeForce 9600 GT LowPower LowProfile - Today we have something a little different for you. We are taking a look at a brand new Low Power and Low Profile video card from Galaxy aimed at the HTPC crowd. The Galaxy GeForce 9600 GT LP LP is designed for small form factor systems such as those from Shuttle and Dell. We will be putting it to the test using NVIDIA’s PureVideo HD and CUDA along with power, temperature and overclock testing.

Update 6/10/09 - In response to our favorable article, Best Best has attached a $20 Instant Rebate to this card, bringing the price down to $120.00.

For those niche systems like the small form factor Shuttles and Dells, and even more importantly are the low profile home theater cases configured to fit in with other stereo components, the Galaxy GeForce 9600 GT LowPower LowProfile is perfect. For these, it seems like this video card will match it perfectly and improve your Blu-ray performance, DVD upscaling quality and performance, and transcoding performance while providing an HDMI port for connecting to your TV easily.
 
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not bad, I wonder what how this would compare with a 4670 using the same evaluation methods
 
I would have purchased a second 9600gt by now, but thanks to nvidia you can't use sli on intel p35 chipsets. Smooth move nvidia.
 
I'm not sure how much the power draw difference is between the 9600 and the 9800, but I'm quite pleased w/ this 9800.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187061

IMG]http://www.sparkle.com.tw/News/SP9600GT9800GT512LP/news_96_98LP.jpg[/IMG]

do not hotlink - Vertigo Acid


At $109.99 + shipping/tax at the Egg, I think its a better deal. If you can't sacrifice the adjacent slot next to your x16 slot then the 9800 might not be for you since its a double wide, but otherwise, its very quiet and cool. It works well in my HTPC case here.

Just something for those looking at a new card for their HTPC, to consider.
 
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not bad, I wonder what how this would compare with a 4670 using the same evaluation methods

I agree, since this is likely to be this card's main competition, along with the other 9600GT Greens that have finally made it to market.
 
I was wondering how loud the fan was? When using Arcsoft to upscale and offload the CPU, does the fan ramp up?
Also, I currently use a Gigabyte Passive 8600GT like many other HTPC enthusiasts, which will also do the PureVideoHD, but my card only has 32 shaders and 8 ROPs. I would be very interested to see during the upscaling application how the extra units could help. (but I understand you can't always test every scenario)
Thanks for the article, I too think SIMHD makes a difference but was wondering if I was being subjective. It was $10 more with Arcsoft 3, which in my book was worth it just knowing that the GPU was being better utilized.
 
So running this card at reference frequencies would be indicative of what a stock 9600GT would consume powerwise? It doesn't seem much different unless there is some other power saving feature on the card that a stock 9600GT lacks.

I have a 9600GT in my HTPC right now but I'm trying to shave off as much power consumption as possible. If it's just one or two watts difference then it wouldn't be worth it. If it's around 20-30 watts, then it might be worth a purchase.
 
So running this card at reference frequencies would be indicative of what a stock 9600GT would consume powerwise? It doesn't seem much different unless there is some other power saving feature on the card that a stock 9600GT lacks.

I have a 9600GT in my HTPC right now but I'm trying to shave off as much power consumption as possible. If it's just one or two watts difference then it wouldn't be worth it. If it's around 20-30 watts, then it might be worth a purchase.
Even with a normal 9600GT which has the PCIe connector, I doubt it uses much more power. I'd advise sticking with what you have rather than spending $80-140 for this new card. It would take quite awhile to gain back that amount by using less power.
 
How come Best Buy was mentioned ? Do users here at [H] buy their video cards from there ? I know that Futureshop (which is in Canada and owned by Best Buy) usually sells their video cards $60-100 more than what I would pay in an actual PC store. I guess I am just wondering why one would choose Best Buy.
 
How come Best Buy was mentioned ? Do users here at [H] buy their video cards from there ? I know that Futureshop (which is in Canada and owned by Best Buy) usually sells their video cards $60-100 more than what I would pay in an actual PC store. I guess I am just wondering why one would choose Best Buy.

If I'm not mistaken, all hardware reviewed on the [H], unless otherwise noted, is purchased off the shelf/through e-tailers like any other consumer to avoid getting 'optimized' ones directly from a manufacturer/vendor. But again I could be wrong.
 
Even with a normal 9600GT which has the PCIe connector, I doubt it uses much more power. I'd advise sticking with what you have rather than spending $80-140 for this new card. It would take quite awhile to gain back that amount by using less power.

Exactly my point. Part of the cost could be offset by selling off my current 9600GT but I could probably forgo that by underclocking it and having the same effect.
 
Interesting review.
Would it be possible to have a future article that compare players with GPU-acceleration for difference in performance & image quality, so we know what player gives us the best experince/bang-for-buck?
 
Awesome to see some CUDA apps even if this GPU is a little on the weak side to show an advantage over a quad core CPU. I'd really REALLY like to see CUDA or OpenCL app performance done in the future, whether in dedicated articles or along with games in GPU reviews. It's one area that I'm very interested in because the major use for quad cores over dual cores for most people is video encoding, if CUDA or OpenCL acceleration really takes off we could have dual core CPUs and yet still have powerful encoding ability through GPUs. Don't forget to check the output for visual problems though, that way you get paid to watch a movie too. ;)
 
I have a 9600GT in my HTPC right now but I'm trying to shave off as much power consumption as possible. If it's just one or two watts difference then it wouldn't be worth it. If it's around 20-30 watts, then it might be worth a purchase.

It depends on how often your HTPC is turned on and how often the video card is actually being stressed. For the sake of simplicity, let's assume Blu-Ray / X.264 decoding is just as stressful as playing a game and the HTPC will be continuously playing video 24/7. Let's also assume the difference in power consumption is 30w and you pay the national average of about $0.11 per KWH.

Doing some quick math based on the above scenario, the electricity cost savings per year will be 30w savings x 24 hours of contintous video decoding x 365 days x $0.11 per KWH = $28.90 savings per year.

Assuming a $110 price tag, it will take you 3.8 years of continuous usage to break even. Assuming you actually do keep your HTPC on 24/7 most of the time it will be idle so the actual power savings would most likely be minimal.
 
Not the same card - that's the previous version which requires the 6-pin power connector. A user had one in his HP Slimline and reported it to be quite loud.

Would have been nice to see some actual dB measurements from the device though, especially one geared towards home theater use.
 
Kyle, dunno if you noticed yet but you called best buy "best best" in your post.
 
Can't you get a 4850 for like $79 now? Makes the 9600gt seem pointless, especially at 120 AR.
 
Can't you get a 4850 for like $79 now? Makes the 9600gt seem pointless, especially at 120 AR.

This is not meant for the same situation... this is the fastest low-profile card you can get, and now it doesn't require additional power... technically the 9800GT is faster but I don't think they have a low-power, low profile version of that just a low-profile
 
All I'm finding is listings on ebay from the UK and Australia. This card isn't that old....

I don't think this is the exact same card (since it requires a power connector), but it looks similar:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162016

I think someone linked it earlier in the thread.

There is also another brand on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500103

Lastly, there is also one Low-profile 8800GT here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187061


I think I've seen some companies like BFG and PNY release low-power 9800GT cards (i.e. no 6-pin power connector like all of the ones listed above), but they are full-size cards.
 
I don't think this is the exact same card (since it requires a power connector), but it looks similar:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162016

I think someone linked it earlier in the thread.

There is also another brand on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500103

Lastly, there is also one Low-profile 8800GT here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187061


I think I've seen some companies like BFG and PNY release low-power 9800GT cards (i.e. no 6-pin power connector like all of the ones listed above), but they are full-size cards.

Yeah, I have been taking a look at all those. The trouble is that I'm stuck with a 300w power supply in a slim HTPC case. I'm worried about the PSU not being able to handle a regular 9600GT or a 9800GT.
 
Wow, I know this is a very very old bump... But I'm just amazed at the fact that the reviewer never once mentioned this card being 256bit. Thats some epic oversight considering this being a low profile card and guess what, some people use these machines for 1080p gaming too, not just blueray playback. :rolleyes:
 
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