Was wondering why is the ASUS 8600GTS priced more than the MSI 8600GTS I assume both are pre-clocked right?

Even if thats a good thing for typical Malaysian gamer buying Mac games is very very limited. First off a Mac game tend to cost much more than a Windows version game plus selection are still very limited compared to the vast library of PC games added not every place sell Mac games and yeah if the budget is between 4k to 7k then I'll say you can already get a very AWESOME gaming desktop already, play every single and future games on it also not a problem. It all comes down to the user.

Why do you want to upgrade to a 8600GT when you already have a 7800GTX? IMHO its not that worth it performance wise you will see little to no difference at all, what you are truly paying for is DirectX10 support and shader model 4 support for upcoming games. Added if you have financial issues then getting a 8800 card is just hurting yourself since the upcoming GeForce 9 series have already been announced to be out late this year. My advise "Play the waiting game" and see how the price go. However I would say 8600 series are already quite affordable only within 500 price range can get one already excluding the higher end 8600GTS that is.

An FX huh? first thing first, can your motherboard support PCI-E 16X more specifly does it have a PCI-E 16X port? PCI-E is the thing now for most modern Graphic Cards and a standard for gamers. From my point of view if you want to upgrade you should just get a decent GeForce 7 series card since they are so affordable right now and getting more and more so. Unless you are willing to invest a lot more I would say the 8800 would be the best choice right now. Also a 8500 is a joke really if you into some heavy gaming.

Pretty much a waste I would say. Since the one of the many reasons of buying a 8 Series is for the "Future Ready" purpose which is DirectX 10. Since currently only Vista will and only will be the one Windows OS to officially support DirectX 10. I stand by my previous statement get a 7 series card preferable the 7800 series or above. However it all comes down to the user, for example performance wise a 8600GTS is pretty much equivalent more or less to a ATI 1950 Pro and a 8600GT equivalent to a 7900 GS with the exception you get newer "Future Ready" features support. So how do you want to play it out is your choice.

So far I heard from some report that the MSI 8600 series runs hotter than other normal 8600 cards not only because its overclocked but its also duo to the poor thermal paste that is applied by MSI. Dunno how reliable the report is however doubt its gonna be much diffrence if it runs hotter by a few celsius or not.

There are Galaxy 8600GT which are already OC and best of includes Zalman brand heatsink fan and of course the more expansive XFX brand which is also OC.

There are no such thing as "Best" 8800GTS because frankly ALL brands (PALIT, ASUS, Galaxy, Leadtek, MSI, etc.) used the same Nvidia reference board design and GPU all they do is custom modify it like adding their own stock coolers, overclooking, casing, bundle etc.

My general advise is to do a survey on all brands possible available and see which bundle package attract you most and also OC performance and such. Bear in mind price factors always have something to do with the bundle not just the card so in this case you are paying for both the card its self and the package.

Nope its 80nm.

8500 series and below is definatly not for heavy gaming. However for a $400 and below card that support DirectX10 and SM 4.0 its tempting if you plan to use it for like say some graphical work applications or some light gaming.

For value 8 series you can go with either 8600GT/GTS as for 7 series you can get a pretty damn cheap right now for around $400-500 for a high end 7 series card. The real choice depends on user whatever or not they want "Future Ready" DirectX 10 and SM 4.0 features or cheaper high end 7 series solution that use playable but last gen technology.

Or play the waiting game and see how the price goes after the 9 series lauched.

256bit 8600GTS you sure? so far only seen 512mb 8600GTS with 128-bit.