XFX 8400 GS 256mb
The card - close up
Published: 7th August 2007 | Source: XFX | Price: |
XFX 8400 GS close up
The XFX 8400 GS is a half-height graphics card and as such is totally suited to HTPC and Media Centre PC's. With an attractive black PCB the card starts off on a good foot with me. The cooler is pretty small and bordering on tacky looking but I don't think this card was exactly made for a case with a window. This slightly budget appearance is made worse by the piece of wire connecting the VGA output to the PCB.
The XFX 8400 GS is a half-height graphics card and as such is totally suited to HTPC and Media Centre PC's. With an attractive black PCB the card starts off on a good foot with me. The cooler is pretty small and bordering on tacky looking but I don't think this card was exactly made for a case with a window. This slightly budget appearance is made worse by the piece of wire connecting the VGA output to the PCB.
The memory isn't covered with a cooler and really the whole card looks like a classic budget card. Still, the fact that the card is half height will be a total plus to many who want a decent performing card in their thin media centre.
The chip has a small shim on it and unlike the 8800 chip is actually "naked" with no IHS.
The Cooler
The main point of contention people may have with this card isn't really its diminutive size, it's the cooler XFX have chosen to put with it.
The fan that is on the card is a very small size fan and although quiet at idle, makes a loud high-pitch whining noise when at full load. On a positive note the temperatures were 47°C at idle and 56°C load with a rather hot 27°C ambient.
The chip has a small shim on it and unlike the 8800 chip is actually "naked" with no IHS.
The card has DVI, VGA and S-Video for output, providing all that you should need for input into pretty much any type of monitor/TV. If only XFX had included more cables in the box it would be a complete package really.
The Cooler
The main point of contention people may have with this card isn't really its diminutive size, it's the cooler XFX have chosen to put with it.
The fan that is on the card is a very small size fan and although quiet at idle, makes a loud high-pitch whining noise when at full load. On a positive note the temperatures were 47°C at idle and 56°C load with a rather hot 27°C ambient.
As you can see the thermal paste is applied pretty well acrss the GPU but as you can also see the heatsink is literally a block of aluminium.
Moving on from the rather basic fare the card gives us, let us see how it performs.
Moving on from the rather basic fare the card gives us, let us see how it performs.
Most Recent Comments
Aye indeed. I think the card fits well in it's niche and really is great vfm
It's hard to look at a card like this when you're playing around with uber high end stuff all day but I think I gave it a fair shout and it performed well for it.
Hope y'all think it's a fair review
Quote
It's hard to look at a card like this when you're playing around with uber high end stuff all day but I think I gave it a fair shout and it performed well for it.
Hope y'all think it's a fair review
Quote
CSS Valid
The card and packaging are as I expected. I`ve got 3 cards in this range previously (meaning below the x600), the 7300, 6500, 6200 (one of those may be wrong number) from XFX and they`ve pretty much been packaged as u`ve described. Box about the size of the card, low profile and the only difference being a passive old-skool looking sink. (which they seem to be implying the 8400 will have in the future)
I know this is around £30, but as time goes by it`ll push £20 as close as it can - especially around the dawn of the 98xx arrivals. There after u`ll catch them for less than £20. (I bought some of the above for £15-£18 pfft)
This card is what it is, as were the previous ones, I think we should appreciate that. It`ll work in a working desktop very well, a workhorse server type pc that u just basically want a display, and has the benefits of crossing to u`r htpc with some added kick.
£20-£30 - and knowing what u`r buying it for, they fill the gap for me. I am a little supprized it doesn`t play C&C a bit better, usually tho with this range of card u can get away with shutting everything down to minimum u can get away with it - but u have to appreciate that that is what u are doing.
Fits in the market well for me.Quote