HTPC: 8600GTS vs 9600GSO?

[vannguyen0]

I have an HTPC that currently uses an 8600GTS - but I have a spare 9600GSO (I do have a blu-ray play in the HTPC). Will it benefit me to replace the 8600GTS with the 9600GSO?

Or should I just keep my HTPC as is with the 8600GTS and use the 9600GSO as a phsyx card??

 

[Concillian]

What is the intended usage of the HTPC? I'm not clear on what you're trying to do.

If you're gaming on the HTPC then 9600GSO > 8600GTS. If you're not gaming, then it doesn't really matter, they both have the same video decoding acceleration and will perform virtually identically.
8600GT isn't quite powerful enough to have real value as a dedicated PhysX card either. It might net you some gain to use it in that role, but I think most who have used a card like that as PhysX have been disappointed. Seems you need a little more power, but you could try the 9600GSO for video and the 8600GT for PhysX.