I RMA'ed my 7900gt 256mb a long time ago, it died and now the manufacturer wants to replace it for a geforce 8500GT 512 mb, which i totally disagree since that card sucks a lot for gaming, and even my old 7900gt can beat the crap out of it, but im not in a sweet spot to argue, so im going to purpose a trade for a 8600gts.
What do you think?

Lol, that was smart of you. And 7900gt is actually still faster than 8600gt. 8600gt supports dx10, and 7900gt does not. Overall, I'd say it's fair enough. Though they're both low performing by today's standard.

Direct x 10 is irrelevant for me, the 7900gt has much more raw power then a 8500gt ou a 8600gt. A 8600gts gets closer i think.
Still, a 8500gt is no way to go imo!

See what happens push for an 8800GT.

I agree. Push for a 8800GT and hope they give it to you. If not, then you can "settle" for a 8600GTS, or maybe a 8800GS.

Lol, think they'll give you that windfall?

Lol, i seriously doubt, but i may give it a try.
Im using a highend card now, from the year 2001, under vista, a geforce 3 ti500 LOL
At least ut2004 runs fine...
Damn i really need to get my New graphic card back

make them give you at least an equivalent card... they have to....

The 8600GTS is a little slower than the 7900GT without anti-aliasing and a lot slower with anti-aliasing. At least it was when it was released, I don't know how it fares in newer games with newer drivers...