HDMI is an acronym getting thrown around a lot more these days. We have to wonder though if it's one of those features that people are actually using. It's a bit like VIVO, everyone seemed to want a VIVO card a few years ago, but from what we have seen and heard rarely did people actually make use of the video input feature. HDMI has been on TV's for quite a while now, but until the release of the PlayStation 3 there wasn't really many devices which used it so the port would go to waste on the back of your brand spanking new digital TV. Digital TV users might currently find themselves with a home theater PC which utilizes a standard VGA cable, the other popular choice is a DVI to HDMI cable. - TweakTown

MSI GeForce 8600 GTS Diamond Plus Board Review

The good news is that if you're using the former but think it's time to go digital connectivity between your home theater PC and TV, we might have just the card for you. MSI had a Diamond Plus version of the GeForce 7600 GT which seemed like a bit of an instruction to HDMI on video cards, though this time around it looks a whole lot more professional on the GeForce 8600 GTS Diamond Plus. The first thing to look at is the front of the box, this is of course pretty standard for an MSI graphics card. We have the big MSI branding and logo running down the left side with some kind of armour wearing character.

Across the bottom we have the giant text which lets us know the card is a GeForce 8600 GTS and in this case the Diamond Plus version. The right side of the box has some of the main features. We also have a sticker on the front which lets us know that a full version copy of Company of Heroes comes with the card. Turning the box over we have an explanation on some of the key features. Moving inside the package and checking out the cables, we have one of the best packages we have seen for a mid-range card. This is really one of the best packages we have seen, and the inclusion of the HDMI cable is great.

Moving onto the card, the first thing you notice is the rather beefy aftermarket cooler. We have the normal SLI connector which we see on all GeForce 8600 series cards, but the biggest surprise comes with the power connector for the card. For some reason MSI have opted to use a standard 4-pin molex connector instead of the typical 6-pin PCI Express connector we find more often. While this is nice, to be completely honest even the cheapest power supplies offer a PCI Express power connector these days, so the benefits of using the standard molex connector aren't really as big as they once would've been.

Out of the box the card had a lot going for it, even before we opened the package we thought that it was going to be a great choice for home theater enthusiasts all over the world. Unfortunately our thoughts did change as we got further into testing the card. HDMI connectivity is great and its biggest use is really for the home theater PC crowd, the problem is the card is loud! Generally noise is something the same crowd are trying to avoid. Performance is good, it's the same as any stock GeForce 8600 GTS card, the problem however is that now the Radeon HD 2600 XT it doesn't look as good as it did a few months ago.

The choice between the GTS and Radeon HD 2600 XT is going to be a tough one, especially when you put price into the equation. When you weigh it all up the card is a great choice for a certain type of users. This pretty much gives off the feeling that the card isn't going to be a great seller. True home theater PC people are probably going to be looking closer at the Radeon HD 2600 PRO with its built-in HDMI, and mid-range performance junkies are going to find themselves looking at the standard GeForce 8600 GTS as they don't want to spend the extra dollars which comes with a card sporting HDMI.