ASUS intros OC gear, companion 8600 GT video card
updated 09:25 am EDT, Tue July 3, 2007
ASUS OC gear 8600 GT
ASUS today backed up its EN8600 video line with the addition of the OC gear, its previously revealed bay-mounted hardware overclocking tool. A bundle of a GeForce 8600 GT graphics card and the new device will give mid-range gamers the opportunity to overclock the card using a physical dial rather than a software utility. Users can also tap the dial to change over to fan speed or volume control, and can check on frame rates or GPU temperatures.
The NVIDIA card included with the system is also friendly to boosts in clock speeds, ASUS says. Unlike the reference design, the EN8600GT in the bundle includes -1 RAM that allows for a dramatic memory overclock; testing saw a 30 percent speed improvement in 3DMark06, the company claims. A larger and newer fan/heatsink hybrid also helps drop temperatures as much as 14C (57F) lower than on a stock model, providing the extra headroom for a speed boost to the core itself.
Similar to most ASUS announcements, the company makes no mention of a price or when the OC gear and its accompanying card will be available. Both should be available in North America, however, and their creator notes that the OC gear will also ship separately to provide overclocking for other compatible ASUS cards.
