Gainward submitted three video cards for this test: one GeForce 8600 GTS, one 8600 GT, and one 8500 GT. All of the cards are from Gainward's Golden Sample line of cards, which means they come factory overclocked.

Externally, all three cards seem identical. They are very similar to each other and sport the same design. Looking closer, though, slight differences in the design are noticeable. The 8500 GT is the most apparent, since instead of having two DVI ports it has one DVI and one VGA. The two 8600 GT and GTS cards, on the other hand, have 6 pin PCIe power connectors. In any case, though, the design is completely original.

Underneath the cover is the heatsink, cooling fan, GPU, and video memory. The operating frequencies of the cards are as follows:

- Gainward GeForce 8600 GTS Golden Sample: 725 MHz GPU and 2200 MHz memory

- Gainward GeForce 8600 GT Golden Sample: 600 MHz GPU and 1600 MHz memory

- Gainward GeForce 8500 GT Golden Sample: 600 MHz GPU and 1400 MHz memory