The nVidia GeForce 8400GS
The GeForce 8400GS is nVidia’s newest entry level graphics card. Feature wise it is a stripped down version of the GeForce 8600, which is in turn a very similar to the GeForce 8800 in terms of features. Just like the 8600 cards, the new 8400GS cards offer hardware video playback, something that the 8800 cards aren’t capable of.
A reference 8400GS has the following specifications:
| Core Clock |
450mhz |
| Shader Clock |
900mhz |
| Memory Clock |
400mhz |
| Memory Amount |
256mb DDR2 |
| Memory Interface |
64-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth |
6.4GB/sec |
| Texture Fill Rate |
3.6 Billion/sec |
As with all 8X00 cards it fully supports DirectX10 and the OpenGL 2.1 standard. Much like the 8600GTS the 8400GS is HDCP enabled and card manufacturers have the option of supplying a DVI-to-HDMI adapter or of installing a HDMI connector on the card should they choose to. A reference 8400GS comes equipped with a single-link DVI connector, a VGA connector and a TV-Out connector.
With the price set between $50 and $55 the 8400GS is aimed at the mass market and people who use their computers for multimedia and work exclusively. The 3D performance of the card is sub-par for the average enthusiast, but should suffice for the rest of computer users.
