Zotac 9500GT Zone Edition

Proof that ugly lumps of metal can have form and function on a modern graphics card.

For the third month in a row, we have another 9500GT. Is this the one that will finally win our approval?

Running the G96 core with 32 stream processors at a clock of 550MHz, this is a pretty standard offering. That is, until you look at the speed of the memory – bumped up 300MHz over the reference card to give you an effective 1600MHz memory speed. This is due to the card’s ‘Zone’ branding, indicating that it is a thoroughly tweaked card with a serious overclock. There is 512MB of memory here too, plenty for most users, and certainly will not hold you back – the core is the bottleneck here.

The PCI bracket of the card is anodized a gunmetal grey colour, and the dual DVI ports are a fluoro yellow that look quite snazzy. The PCB is more or less aqua, and has a SPDIF port to allow the included DVI>HDMI adaptor to transmit sound. Perhaps the coolest part of this card however is the silver passive cooler. With a large number of thick fins, and plenty of spacing between them, this allows the card to be cooled without added airflow. We tested this on our testbed, and recorded an idle temp of 47, and a load of 62. This even allows for some overclocking, and your temps will most likely be lower in a case due to the more focused wind tunnel of moving air.

This card’s Performance is, on average, about half a frame per second faster than previous variants, most likely due to the significant memory speed increase. Game performance is rather poor, but you wouldn’t really buy this card for that – home theatre is where this card is really suited. Whack one of these silent beasties in your ‘puter, and you’ll be able to enjoy HD movies and infrequent gaming at a hugely reduced noise level.

The bundle with this card is pretty decent too, with all the cables you’d need to attach it to a TV or monitor. No external power is needed, as this can be sucked out of the PCIe slot without too much fuss. Sadly, no game is included to satiate your game-lust, but it does come with an extended five year warranty – just register the card on the Zotac website within two weeks of purchasing. This is bloody good, and something that few manufacturers do.

So you’re getting a passively cooled, overclocked, five-year-warrantied card for a reasonable price, and we think this is something definitely worth considering for any quiet computer.

Noise Measurements – where are they?
One of the great things about a passive cooler is just that – it’s passive! This means that the card will not make any of the usual whirring noises you’d expect from cards, and certainly nothing as loud as the Leadtek 9500GT from Issue 93.