XFX GeForce 9600 GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition review

When it comes to factory overclocked graphics boards, XFX's XXX Alpha Dog Edition series of parts have impressed us on a couple of occasions over the past six months with some hefty overclocks giving these cards performance some way above their reference-based siblings.  Meanwhile, we haven't examined NVIDIA's latest mid-range champion, the GeForce 9600 GT, again since our launch coverage towards the end of February, bringing us to today's review which, with an impeccable sense of timing, gives us an opportunity to look at the GeForce 9600 GT afresh while also enjoying the spoils of XFX's latest offering utilising this SKU, the GeForce 9800 GT XXX Alpha Dog Edition.

You should know the drill with this part from previous Alpha Dog Edition reviews - Some big overclocks, but doggedly (do you see what I did there?) sticking to the reference NVIDIA cooler.  Can this combination conjure up another success story for XFX?  Let's dive in and have a look.