Okay, first a little commentary on the GeForce 9600 GT in generic; it's just a good product. I mean, I'd still prefer a 8800 GT or 8800 GT 512MB GTS over this product, but for a mid-range product priced in this segment you get to have good performance at an acceptable price. Depending on what kind of model you purchase, prices will range from 160 to 200 USD, and expect the prices in EUR to be roughly the same, maybe slightly lower. By doing so NVIDIA places a very competitive product under the sub-200 USD price range, making really nice gameplay affordable for a large and broad audience.

XFX however truly is bringing some magic here as the XXX model can be purchased at roughly 165 USD already. It's just a really fair price, especially considering you get the complete version of Company of Heroes (DX10) included, which is just good value.

Next to that this triple-x edition of the card brings in another 10% performance due to it's faster than reference clock speed. Also when you add another 5- to 10% when you manually overclock the card a bit further, you can see the true value kick in as the accumulated end result is a 20 to 25% faster than reference product, and that's not a small amount. Remember, these XXX edition have been pre-tested, yielded & qualified for good overclocking results.

Fact is that for the 160-175 bucks you get the opportunity to play modern games at really good framerates up-to a resolution of 1600x1200, armed with very good image quality settings. After 1600x1200 things will get a little tricky for the more intensive games; but granted anything higher than 16x12 means entering the high-end segment anyway. So yeah, really good bang for your buck is what the GeForce 9600 GT will deliver.

XFX however surprised me and caught me off guard. The XXX card we tested today, though 100% reference based, is clocked pretty high. When I checked pricing and warranty on the card this is what surprised me; the card has a suggested vendor price of 160-175 USD and comes with two years warranty. Where other 'pre-overclocked' models will cost you roughly 200/210 USD.

The GeForce 9600 GT Triple-X edition seems to be a rock-solid product, reference based yet offered with a good overclock. Expect above baseline performance, yet what makes this card incredible is the competitive pricing. Very much recommended.

Check some of the shops as they offer rebates you can deduct of these prices.