We saw MSI mix it up just the other week with the GeForce 9600 GT video card by overclocking it and going down the aftermarket cooler route. Aesthetically speaking, the video card really didn't do a lot for us, but as we dived deeper into the testing of the card we became pleasantly surprised by the performance the cooler offered. The latest GeForce 9600 GT variant from MSI sports the same cooler along with an extra 512MB of GDDR3 memory, giving us a grand total of 1GB memory. The graphics card also carries with it the same overclock we saw on the 512MB model which should aid in getting some extra performance over the various stock clocked offerings from other manufacturers. - TweakTown

MSI GeForce 9600 GT 1GB OC Graphics Card Review

We've got a darker themed box on our hands this time around, across the bottom we can see the model in silver while up on the left side of the box we have the MSI branding. We continue to see the same kind of theme with the girls face in the middle. The top of the card makes mention of 1GB of memory, while going down the right side of the box we get some more detail. We again see the 1GB of memory mentioned along with it being stated it's GDDR3 based. Below this we have another little sticker that tells us that the card is overclocked. Unfortunately the speeds aren't stated on the front of the box, which is a bit a pitty.

With the package out the way it's time to check out the card. There really isn't anything different when compared to the 512MB model that we looked at just the other month. The big red cooler manages to take up most of the card and you can see behind it is the heatpipe and fins that help keep the card as cool as possible. Looking around the card there isn't anything out of the ordinary, the rear of the card has a single PCI Express power connector, while as we move across the top we have a single SLI connector. The card is of course a dual slot one thanks to the large cooler including two dual link DVI connectors.

We're really beginning to see more and more GeForce 9600 GT 1GB cards come to the market, but we continue to see that they offer no real performance increase when compared to their 512MB counterpart. With the 1GB offering and 512MB model offering the same overclock and the same excellent performing cooler, it's going to be hard to spend the extra money on a 1GB card when the 512MB offering is going to perform almost identically. With that said though, if you find yourself needing a 1GB card the MSI offering is a good choice for a few reasons. The included HDMI adapter is good which is capable of carrying sound.

The extra $30-$50 that you would spend by moving to the 1GB model could be spent on faster memory, more memory, a faster CPU or a number of other things. The MSI GeForce 9600 GT 1GB is a good card, but it doesn't represent the best value for money. With that said though, there is no doubt that people out there feel they must have 1GB of graphics card memory, and if that's the case then MSI could have the card for you here.