Tech Report's review of the 8600GT and 8600GTS is good.
http://www.techreport.com/reviews/20...0/index.x?pg=1
Basically: 8600GT is a reasonable buy compared to the competition, but don't get an 8600GTS because an X1950 is better, or for $60 more you can get an 8800 GTS 320 with 2x the performance.
"the GeForce 8600 GT is without question a nice advance over the two incumbent offerings in its price class, the GeForce 7600 GT and Radeon X1650 XT. The 8600 GT we tested is a hopped-up version from XFX that's clocked somewhat higher than stock and lists for $169. Nevertheless, this card so decisively outperformed the two DX9 cards that there's no doubt the $149 stock-clocked version of the 8600 GT is the best option at $149."
i.e., for £72 you're getting a good deal compared to the US price (about $122 adjusting for tax and exchange rate).
"The GeForce 8600 GTS is a very good product, but it's fighting above its natural weight class when it takes on the these competitors, both of which have 256-bit paths to memory. The 8600 GTS variant we tested did largely hold its own against the Radeon X1950 Pro in terms of performance, even scoring clear victories in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and 3DMark06, but the X1950 Pro had an edge overall. That's true even though we used the "overclocked in the box" version of the 8600 GTS from XFX, a card that lists for $239. The Radeon X1950 Pro can be had for around $179 at online vendors"
