Low-end VGA shootout - 8500GT, 8400GS, 2400XT, 2400 PRO
Author: Vedran Dakic
Date: 06 Sep 2007

We had to be pretty patient to get our hands on some of these cheap entry-level cards but in the end we managed to get them all. And it's a time of "firsts" - first Zotac card ever to come to IT-review.net Lab and the same thing with Xpertvision's 8500GT Super 512MB. Well, you gotta start somewhere. This serious money-making segment of the market (along with mainstream) is pretty interesting, having in mind the fact that AMD came very late with their competitors to the market...

So, let's take it from the top, 8500GT by XpertVision being the first. This affordable and yet a bit "upgraded" 8500GT card (512 MB memory). With 128-bit memory interface and 512MB memory, of course you can't expect this card to compare to 8600 and 8800 series, but you can surely expect it to be better then all of the other cards reviewed today. Also, this is a passive solution which is something we always commend, since we all like our peace and quiet when we get home. The heatsink on this card is huge (two-slot card), but it does the job pretty well.

Second card is Zotac's 8400GS, a 64-bit 800MHZ card with DDR2 memory that's really designed for entry-entry level market. This is also a passive card that tends to heat up to some high-60's (68 degrees Celsius on our test, outside the case). In the box, you get usual goodies and HDMI adapter, which is something pretty unusual and only seen with AMD's cards. But Zotac has lately been pushing for HDMI stuff so we're not really surprised.

AMD's competitors in this shootout are Gecube's 2400XT and PRO cards. Both with 256MB of DDR2 memory, small and a bit noisy cooler, these cards are latest AMD's products for the low-end market. Unlike NVIDIA-based cards, GPU's on these babies are done in 65nm process, which in turn means lower power consumption which is always commendable.