G94: Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT 512MB

Zotac GeForce 9600 GT 512MB AMP! Edition

In its standard configuration, the GeForce 9600 GT’s PCI bracket comes with a pair of HDCP-enabled dual-link DVI ports and a seven-pin analogue TV-out port. This supports S-video natively and there is support for component and composite connections via dongles.

There are the necessary dual crypto-ROM keys for each of the DVI ports, meaning there are four keys in total. Additionally, the GeForce 9600 GT supports both HDMI and DisplayPort natively, which will allow board partners to release custom configurations as they see fit.

What Nvidia doesn’t support natively though is audio – there is no built-in audio controller on G94 to take sound directly from the audio codec to the HDMI output, which means that you need a S/PDIF cable to carry the audio. The GeForce 9600 GT includes this on its reference design – it’s located right next to the SLI finger.


With this, Nvidia can carry audio over a native HDMI port and, like AMD’s R600 family GPUs, it can also carry the signal over DVI (on the reference design) if a special DVI-to-HDMI converter is used – i.e. one that can carry audio as well. While the solution isn’t quite as elegant as what AMD implemented on its Radeon HD 2000 and HD 3000 series’, it’s good to see that the connectivity is now available as standard on these cards.

Box and Bundle

Zotac’s box uses a familiar design that features a dragon although, unlike the one on the company’s GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition box, this one isn’t breathing fire. The card's credentials are clearly marked on the front of the box, with indications of memory size, memory bus width and output capabilities listed in prominent positions, while Zotac also makes it clear that this card is overclocked.


Inside the box, the card is packed securely in a vacuum formed plastic camshell and, to ensure that the surface mount components on the rear of the card aren't damaged during transit, it's held in place with a piece of foam that helps to stop the card from rattling around. On top of the camshell, Zotac includes a barebones bundle of extras which, based on past Zotac graphics card reviews, comes as no surprise.

It comprises of a six-pin PCI-Express power adapter, a component and S-video dongle, one DVI-to-VGA converter, a DVI-to-HDMI converter (which carries audio), a S/PDIF cable, a driver CD and a paper manual. Again, the lack of software is disappointing – we would have at least liked to have seen some DVD playback software.

Warranty

Zotac currently offers a two-year warranty that covers parts and labour on all of its products. In Europe, this is handled by PC Partner’s European service centre (in the UK) and is a fairly standard warranty in the region. This is a transferrable warranty and you're able to install a third party cooling solution on the card without voiding it – that's good to hear, but Zotac does warn that it is not liable for damage caused by a ham-handed third party heatsink installation.

We’d like to see something a little longer and that’s something we’ve certainly been passing back to Zotac. There were rumours of an extended warranty period, but those are yet to materialise some six months after the initial indication that a longer warranty might be on the cards. As always, we'll keep you updated on any news on this front.