Round Up and Comparison of GeForce 6600 series graphics cards
PCI Express x16 graphics cardsChipset GeForce 6600 128 MB, 128 bit
After the fiasco that was GeForceFX, NVIDIA fought tooth and nail to get the performance crown back from ATI. The results of that effort is the GeForce 6, which succeeded in wrestling back the market share they've lost. The biggest dent is made by the GeForce 6600 series, which includes the GeForce 6600 and 6600GT. These cards quickly propagated through the mainstream market, offering improved shader performance at very affordable prices, not to mention scalability using SLI technology. Today, we tested boards from four different manufacturers, in alphabetical order they are the ASUS EN6600 GT TD 128, Chaintech SE6600G 128, Gigabyte 6600GT and the MSI NX6600 VTD128R.
Overview
Except for the MSI NX6600 VTD128R, the cards are pretty much the same. All GeForce 6600GTs don't have video input, though they are equipped with an SLI connector. The GeForce 6600 features video input at the cost of SLI, not to mention slightly slower performance due to lower core and memory clock. Before discussing benchmark results, we'd like to share our thoughts and notes on each card.ASUS EN6600 GT TD 128
500/500 MHz
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT 128 MB DDR3Core Clock : 500 MHz
Memory Clock : 500 MHz (1000 MHz DDR3)
Overall Score: 72.5 points
The ASUS EN6600 GT TD 128 comes with a very sparse bundle: the must have DVI to analog, a TV output with S-video to composite / RCA cable and a drivers / utilities CD. A very brief and relatively unhelpful, quick setup guide is also included. Most of the important information is inside the manual, which you can find in the second CD in PDF format. Unfortunately, ASUS didn't supply the needed Adobe Acrobat software, so you'll have to get them yourself. It would have been better to have them in print, since you can still read them if you're stuck without a working PC. Inside the bonus CD holder, you'll find ASUS DVD for DVD playback and Cyberlink PowerDirector to edit videos. A game is also included: Novalogic's Joint Operations. There's no HDTV dongle, something you usually can find with all GeForce 6600GT cards.
In the drivers CD, you'll find some utilities, but you probably want to skip them except the SmartDoctor. The others (VideoSecurity, GameFace Live) are only useful if you have video input, which the card does not have. Unlike with their ATI series of graphics cards, the SmartDoctor utility doesn't really do much – it can only change the core and memory clock. Too bad. Looks like we'll have to settle for basic hardware monitoring standard to all NVIDIA's cards.
Looks like everyone is sticking to reference board design these days. Even the cooling solution isn't that much different, except for the transparent plastic and the ASUS logo. Since it's based on the reference cooling solution, there's no finger guard on the fan. The memory is cooled with passive heatsinks separated from the active heatsink used to cool the graphics chip. Thermal paste is used on the chip while thermal adhesive is used on the memory chips.
Chaintech SE6600G 128
500/500 MHz
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT 128 MB DDR3Core Clock : 500 MHz
Memory Clock : 500 MHz (1000 MHz DDR3)
Overall Score: 80 points
As hardware goes, the Chaintech SE6600G 128 includes everything you can find in any GeForce 6600GT bundle: the obligatory DVI to analog dongle, an HDTV / S-Video output dongle plus extension S-Video cable. A manual is also included, covering the essential hardware and software installation.
One of the most obvious difference with Chaintech SE6600G 128's bundle is that it doesn't include a game. Well, not the full version: there's a CD containing several demos. Thankfully, the bundled apps are not demos – its the WinCinema suite from Intervideo. It includes WinDVD for software playback, WinDVD Creator for video editing and WinRip for ripping DVDs.
Chaintech also used the reference design, even right to the cooling solution, so there's no finger guard on the fan. Separate, passive heatsinks are used to cool the memory chips. Fortunately, Chaintech has the right mind to put a hole on the top side of graphics chip's heatsink: this will help move air on to the memory heatsinks. One thing to note, looks like this card might have been 'prepared' for review. When we opened the chip's heatsink, there's a lot of thermal paste covering the chip, even to the point of being 'messy'. Thankfully its just ordinary thermal paste, not something potentially conductive. Just like every other cards using reference design, thermal adhesive was used for sticking heatsinks to the memory chips.
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