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Reviews for XFX GeForce 8400 GS Graphics CardnVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 450MHz - 256MB GDDR2 SDRAM - Retail - MPN: PVT86SWAHG 
By member:
taimaishuu916
- Oct 23, 2007
XFX GeForce 8400GSStrengths: Excellent upgrade from an agp video card. Very quiet! Best budget card to invest it. Weakness: No fan. This was a big upgrade from my agp video. This thing rocks. Great graphics for playing older games. Great video card to watch movies on. Great thing is that it has its own 256mb dedicated memory just for video! I hated on board video. 100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
yanusbfd
- Feb 5, 2008
Pretty nice budget cardStrengths: Cheap with rebate, good analog output quality, quiet Weakness: 64-bit memory path, gets hot I've just finished trying out a trio of low-end PCIe graphics cards based on NVIDIA chips, and this is the third of the batch that I fired up. I like to keep a range of spare components around in the case of failures in my main systems or in those of my friends and family, and these three cards could all be had for ridiculously low prices thanks to manufacturer rebates. 100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
karaktu
- Nov 16, 2007
Good all-around light gaming/HTPC/desktop card w/...Strengths: 1) Cheap! As little as $25 AR - 2) 256MB dedicated RAM with up to 512MB total via shared system memory - 3) Low-profile - 4) Silent Weakness: 1) Gets hot, especially if you have limited air flow - 2) Low profile kit costs an additional $9.99 + shipping (at TigerDirect) - 3) Not much of a gamer with 64-bit 333MHz memory Although it has problems with 1080p resolutions and isn't good for anything other than light gaming (or older titles), this card is perfect for the market/price point that it serves. 100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
bottomfeeder11
- Oct 23, 2007
GeForce 8400 GS Video Card (256MB, PCI Express x16,...Strengths: Very quiet considering it has no fan which I thought it was going to have! Price for the amount of features the graphics card has is excellent. Was surprised that it did handle most gaming. Weakness: The heat issue. The features of the card when I bought it listed a fan as a feature on the card, when I received the card it had no fan. I bought this to put into a brand new build, on an Asus board. The main reason was to acquire a Vista compatible graphics card that would be the best card for a HD home theater system. I was also interested in multiple monitor support. I'm not a huge gamer so that end of the deal was not a big problem, however, the few games I did play on the system this card handled, albeit, a little hot. All in all I'm very pleased with this card. I've been running it for two weeks. Down the road I may install a cooling fan to cool things down. 100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
stockshowgypsy
- Jan 31, 2008
XFX GeForce 8400 GSStrengths: silent, economic card for HTPC Weakness: runs hot This directX 10 card is suitable for non intensive tasks. Not a good gamers card. Low profile bracket is available but card needs adequate ventilation. 75% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
msdibble
- Feb 8, 2008
8400 GS Blackout Problem?Strengths: Reasonalbly Priced Weakness: Not sure yet - but suspect blackout source (heat?) I have a new, Vista Dell 530 desktop. I have replaced this card once, added memory (PC6400@4G's), replaced monitor once and installed new 650W power supply - Screen still blacks out/returns in higher-motion activity (like games & vid-streams). It's driving a Samsung 2220WM larger LCD. Any thoughts on problem source or compatability? Thanks Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
Ranyuncho
- Jan 29, 2008
decent cheap cardStrengths: silent, cheap Weakness: not to much 3d power this is a good basic card but not for games for movies, office and 2d its a winner it does get pretty hot but i wouldnt worry too much for less than 30 its a decent card just don expect the world from it Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
deshwasi
- Jan 29, 2008
Geforce 8400GS video cardStrengths: inexpensive, quiet, good hi-def performance Weakness: not ideal for gaming This is a excellent PCI-express video card that is inexpensive and yet performs very well on video watching applications. well-suited for a home theater PC. its not a high-end gaming card but works well for normal day-to-day use. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
Justus5
- Jan 29, 2008
Value-oriented video cardStrengths: DX10 compatible, passive cooling Weakness: Not really for gaming This card runs quietly, but the passive heatsink without a fan allows for some heat build-up. Decent case cooling is necessary. With those limitations, the card presents good value for most uses, particularly for those interested in quiet computing. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
jwkoda
- Jan 10, 2008
XFX GeForce 8400 GS Video CardStrengths: Silent, Inexpensive, easy to Install, Compatible with DirectX 10 Weakness: Runs hot This is a good card for home theater applications. It can be had for a bargain price with the available rebates. It is silent with a large heatsink and no fan. It is compatible with DirectX 10 and is very easy to install. I don't recommend it for heavy gaming use. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
Tiberium
- Dec 30, 2007
Good Budget Video CardStrengths: Quiet, low price Weakness: Bad performance in games I bought this budget card to upgrade my budget PC. It performs most tasks adequtely, but is really sluggish when handling games and scanned images. Playing BFME2, a relatively old game, is less than smooth using this card; and scanned images of larger file size take forever to load. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
rinkugaya
- Dec 2, 2007
Good Card for Videos and low end gamesStrengths: Price, Dedicated Ram, Video quality, vista compatibility Weakness: No fan. Very Good card for the price. I had an old X1400 in my laptop but this one rocks. The biggest drawback is that this one really runs hot. The specifications on buy.com say it has a fan but the actual product recieved came without a fan. Also the box says 450mhz and SLI but I could not run this one at 450mhz. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
slycat
- Nov 26, 2007
Good for the price.Strengths: Silent, no fan noise. Runs Vista fine. Weakness: Not good for games. Its not a very fast card but will play old games fine if you don't turn on too many options. No problems in Vista. It does get very hot since the cooling is passive. However, no lockups so I guess its OK. I wished it came with a low profile bracket. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
savy001
- Nov 12, 2007
Nice budget video cardStrengths: Silent because no fan. Better than on-board video. Weakness: Very hot. Good card for the money ($25 after mail in rebate). No fan so it's silent, meanwhile it's so hot that it can actually burn you if you press the heat sink with your fingers for a few seconds. One bad thing worries me -- the heat sink touches a capacitor next to it. I can only hope the heat won't damage it. Luckily, the CPU fan creates some airflow on this side so it's cooler than the other side. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
jbhongw
- Nov 9, 2007
A Very Good HTPC CardStrengths: Quiet (fanless), 256 MB on board video Weakness: can be hot This is a very nice htpc card, since it's fanless. I replaced my e-GeForce 128mb 7100GS with it, because the 7100GS was too slow for some of the DVDs I watch. But this card plays everything flawlessly. I use a big after market CPU cooler, which cools down the CPU, the memory, and the GPU. So heat is not an issue for me. But it was running hot before the CPU cooler was put in. It's highly recommended for HTPCs. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
xyzjyz
- Nov 8, 2007
XFX GeForce 8400GS -- Very good cardStrengths: Very good card for the price (after rebate). Easy to install and runs Vista nicely. Weakness: With no fan, this thing runs hot. But I don't expect it would cause any problem. I don't play game on this card. It works great for my purpose: HDTV on the VGA and another LCD on the DVI. It would be nice if there were two DVI. But for the price I don't complain. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
consumergadgets
- Oct 31, 2007
Good video card for budget buyerStrengths: Vista ready, quiet Weakness: buggy driver for XP This is an excellent card for the budget buyer. It's vista ready , it runs games I plays without any problem. I don't play most current 3D games anyway. Bought this for my HTPC and it does its job wonderful while price is much lower than the other similar performance card. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
spidrw
- Oct 31, 2007
Great for HTPCStrengths: Fanless, works as half-height card, overclockable Weakness: Not the most powerful, hot This card, while not the most powerful out there (there are older cards that perform better) couldn't be beat for the price. Also, being fanless (albeit hot) and able to fit in a half-height PCI slot (with adapter) makes it great for a nearly silent HTPC. It has S-video out for standard TVs and VGA/DVI for anything more modern. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
jyveturkey
- Oct 24, 2007
Geforce 8400gsStrengths: Passive (silent) cooling, great for the low-end htpc Weakness: Forget it for serious gaming If you're looking for a silent htpc video solution, you shouldn't have much of a problem with this card. Seems to do pretty well with 720p material. Don't have an internal hddvd or blu-ray yet, so can't comment on that, but I imagine with a strong enough processor you'll be ok. Remember, none of the 8x00 line of geforce cards accelerate h.264 material. Don't expect to run the latest games with the eye candy turned up though. Strong enough to run vista. Overall, a solid htpc video card. Star rating is reflective of what its designed for. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
fguo79
- Oct 23, 2007
Perfect HTPC cardStrengths: low price, silent, pure video Weakness: runs hot, 64 bit I purchased this card to install on my HTPC for video playback. At such a low price after rebate, it's a smart buy. Although it's direcX 10.0 capable, gamers won't be able to play latest direcX 10 games on it. Old games with resolution below 1280x1024 should be playable. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
DigitalOverlord
- Oct 22, 2007
Great HTPC (Home Theater PC) card!Strengths: Quite! Smooth HD (High Definition)playback. Easy to install. Weakness: Only one DVI port. Not a gamer card. I bought this for my home theater PC. The high definition playback works great. I am using the card with Beyond TV and have had no issue. 2 DVI ports would be nice, but for my setup one DVI port is sufficient. Card is quite due to no fan and is great for those looking to make a quite PC. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
kief75
- Oct 22, 2007
XFX Geforce 8400GS PCI-E video card reviewStrengths: Powerful hardware based decoding of video. No fan, great for quiet PCs. Plays older games well. Price! Weakness: Newer games are slow, but this is not a gamers card. This card is perfect for home pc or other quiet applications. The hardware video decoding is great, esp for a budget card. The picture is clear and crisp. It plays older games very well due to its newer design, but it is not clocked up with high speeds and fast RAM for newer games. This is to be expected from a budget card. This is an excellent choice to replace onboard video if you dont do any modern gaming, saving the system memory and giving good performance at the price. Displays Vista Aero interface very nicely!! Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
ttmai3
- Oct 21, 2007
GeForce 8400 GS Video CardStrengths: No noise, small, great image for HTPC Weakness: too hot It is a great card for HTPC, quiet (passive heatsink)and small enough to fit in my Ultra Micro Fly mATX Case. The price is great after $20.00 MIR. I am very glad to buy this card even it is not good to play games, however, I can play most of the games, like Call of Duty 2, F.E.AR ect... Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
diljs
- Oct 20, 2007
nice little card for HDCP compatabilityStrengths: hdcp compatible no fan Weakness: not for gaming I am not a gamer, but I watch HD-DVDs, as well as 1080p and 720p content of other forms. I needed a card with HDCP compatibility for using powerDVD. This one fit the bill, and at a great price. The lack of a fan and purevideo support were the icing on the cake. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
mofomo
- Oct 20, 2007
Cheap and Good!Strengths: CHEAP, no noisy fan, dvi Weakness: Does not do well for high end games Very good and cheap card for basic computing, watching videos, and playing older games. Dont even try to play new game this with thing with card unless you want to lower all game settings. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
realshopmaster
- Oct 19, 2007
Good ValueStrengths: Great price, 256MB Weakness: none for the price If you are looking for a basic video card to replace your shared on board video that comes with your desktop, GeForce 8400GS is a perfect choice. It has 256MB dedicated video memory and comes with DVI input for your LCD monitor, which is far superior than the analog input that comes with most shared video card. Although not great for professional gamers, this card can satisfy the needs of regular people or people with young kids who occasionally play games. Wait for mail-in rebate so that you can get it for less than $40. Highly recommended. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
jaxxboss
- Oct 17, 2007
cheap card for the beginerStrengths: Quiet and inexpensive Weakness: not good for gaming Having only used graphic cards preinstalled on older agp boards, Ive never bothered to update my built in graphics to a dedicated card. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
sudhirvinjam
- Oct 17, 2007
Good budget video cardStrengths: DVI, S Video, VGA output for multiple applications. 256 MB on board video (very good for a budget card). Directx 10 compatible (if you want to play games). Low profile suitable for mATX cases Weakness: I have heard it can get toasty.. hasnt happened with me yet. I should check again in the summer. I just have 2 average case fans This is a good graphics card for the budget conscious customer. Even though it takes only some load off my CPU and RAM, it's a big plus because it makes my apps much faster. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
igoeasy
- Oct 12, 2007
how low can you goStrengths: low price Weakness: low end of the 8*** series. low power consumption Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
mineshamin
- Oct 11, 2007
Excellent card for moneyStrengths: Low price, stunning graphics Weakness: None This is execellent graphics card for the money. I use it for games and watching TV. I have HDTV and video looks awesome. I would definetely recommend this product to anyone with doubt. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
igpo3737
- Oct 5, 2007
Great Low Budget Graphic CardStrengths: PCI Express, GeForce 8 series architecture, VISTA ready, Direct X 10 support, Life time warranty. Weakness: No fan. This is a great low budget graphic card for those who don’t have a lot of money to spend. This card won’t turn any heads or earn you great graphic scores in Vista (3.5) but it will certainly get the basic job done. It seems to handle everyday computing tasks with ease, and even when you occasionally throw couple of games at this card it will do just fine. Installation was a breeze, with no major issues. Once you get the latest drivers from NVIDIA website you ready to rock and roll. I would recommend this card to anybody who is on the budget and who is looking to replace their on-board graphic card. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top 
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***Updated 11/17/2007 *** Nice low end card with...
Strengths: Easy to overclock, low profile ready, fits nicely in my slim case, large heat sink, and it is double sided.
Weakness: The temp is in the high range, around 85C under stock settings. Memory speed no matching the spec, no SLI available.
Updated: confirmed by the tech support of XFX, the memory is 333MHz, not the 400MHz stated on their website.
I replaced my 7100GS card which is one month old with this card from buy.com, for 34 bucks, it is a nice deal. After seeing the package, I think XFX did a good job calling this card ROHS compilant, since they didn't include a fantasy package which will be in the garbage bin. And the card looks nice with its black appearance.
Installation is easy, just plug in the card into the PCI-E slot and that's it since I have all the Nvidia drivers already for the previous 7100GS. After upgraded to the lastest driver and ntune from Nvidia and restart my XP, it ready to go.
The strange thing I noticed in the ntune is that it's showing the memory clock at 333MHz instead of which is claimed to be 400MHz on the XFX's website. I then overclocked the core to 500Mhz and memory to 400Mhz, ran the stability test for 10 minutes and everything is fine. After overclocked the core to 550MHz and memory to 500Mhz, the test failed. Then I changed the core to 525MHz and memory to 450MHz, and started C&C 3. It crashed after a few minutes running and I have to restart the system. But once I switched core back to 500MHz and memory to 400MHz, the picture is pretty decent in the game and much better than my 7100GS which is slow as the snail. Up and running for 48 hours now, temp is in the up 80C range, and it haven't crashed since. If only XFX will through in a fan for this (XFX has a fan version, but the heat sink for that version is a joke), then this will be a perfect low end card at it's price range.
Oh, forgot to mention this card supports DX10, and it does come with the S-video cable, although a component cable will be much better. Have tried any HDTV content yet, since I don't have any media to place on my PC.
*** Updates 11/17/2007 ***
**************************
Ok, guys, after using this card for more than a month, I now have some new thoughts.
First, I upgraded the heatsink to a evercool VC-RF fan. And purchased additional copper heatsinks for the memory. The memory heatsinks comes with the VC-RF is aluminum, so I suggest you get a VC-RE instead. The only difference is that the VC-RE does not come with the memory heatsinks, but if you want to get copper memory heatsinks anyway, why not save a little over the VC-RF.
Second, after I removed the original heatsink, I noticed that actually the memories have no contact with the heatsink, and I don't know why there is a back heatsink piece, since it won't help. And the XFX used some strange yellow stuff between the GPU and the heatsink, I don't think it helps to transfer the heat form the GPU to the heatsink.
Third, I installed the VC-RF, and the copper memory heatsink, I tested again. WOW, guess what, GPU at 600Mhz now! But sorry, the momory seems to be the weakiest link in this card, I still can not get it pass 370Mhz after running C&C 3 for several hours.
Fourth, I tried to use the nVidia bios update tool to refresh BIOS so I can add some voltage to the memory, but it seems it is not supportted yet.
100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?