X-bit labs

Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT: Worthy Rival to ATI Radeon HD 3000 (page 4)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 03/07/2008 | 10:33 AM ]

Gainward Bliss 9600 GT 512MB GS

Package and Accessories

Nvidia’s new graphics card is represented by a Gainward Bliss 9600 GT 512MB GS in this review. It differs from the reference card, though. The product comes in a classic glossy cardboard box. The picture on the front of the box is traditional but the overall design has changed greatly since earlier products from Gainward.

The text on the box tells all the technical information necessary for the buyer: the amount of graphics memory, the version of the PCI Express interface, the type and number of connectors, and the note that the card belongs to the Golden Sample series and has pre-overclocked GPU and memory frequencies. The included game Tomb Raider: Anniversary is mentioned as well.

The packaging quality is high. The graphics card is packed into a bubble wrap and lies in an individual box firmly fixed within the main one. It is protected well enough against possible damage during transportation or storage. The two compartments of the main box contain the following accessories:

• 2 x Molex→6-pin PCI Express power adapter;
• S/PDIF adapter;
• Optical S/PDIF cable;
• Brief installation manual;
• CD disk with drivers and full user’s manual;
• CD disk with CyberLink DVD Solution;
• DVD disk with Tomb Raider: Anniversary game.

There is everything here you can expect to find included with a modern graphics card except for a DVI-I → HDMI adapter, which is not necessary because the card offers an appropriate connector. As opposed to the Gainward Bliss 8800 series, the Bliss 9600 GT uses an internal SPDIF connection because the card doesn’t offer a mini-DIN port. It’s the first time we see an optical S/PDIF cable included as a graphics card’s accessories.

The CyberLink DVD Solution disc might be helpful, especially as the Gainward Bliss 9600 GT 512MB GS would be a perfect choice for a multimedia center, if it contained up-to-date versions of the software. Moreover, this disc does not contain the main and most demanded component, the PowerDVD player. The included game, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, is all right, even though not very new, either.

So, the packaging and accessories of the Gainward Bliss 9600 512MB GS are overall good and might be even better if the company supplied more modern software.