Conclusion:
From the benchmark results, it looks like all GeForce 6600 cards are more than enough to play games at 1024 x 768, 32 bit, with AA and AF. We also see that the GeForce 6600 is very sensitive to speed: a 100 MHz difference between the standard 6600 and the 6600GT can cause significant performance difference (at least 10 to 25 % on higher resolutions). The difference is more pronounced on shader heavy games (like Splinter Cell). But if you mainly play at 1024 x 768, 32 bit, there's really very little difference.With this in mind, gamers looking for a high performing NVIDIA card will likely be more happy with a GeForce 6600 GT. They will have both performance and scalability. Granted, you can probably still overclock the GeForce 6600 to 6600GT levels, claiming back some of the lost performance, but you still can't use it in an SLI setup. This is the cost of having video input. In the end, the choice is yours whether you prefer video or performance.
Since the performance is generally the same for all GeForce 6600GT, features and bundle will be the determining factor. From the bundle perspective, the Chaintech SE6600G 128 gets the most points. It has the standard accessories, ie. retaining the HDTV dongle, heatsinks on the memory. True, there's no full version games bundled with the card, but getting a game is easier than getting an HDTV dongle or getting and putting heatsinks on the memory yourself, especially if you're not technically inclined. The only true competitor to Chaintech SE6600G 128 is the MSI NX6600 VTD128R, with video input, a full version game and lots of apps. Unfortunately, due to its slower clock, it lacks performance. It's fast enough with older games. In fact, nearly identical to the 100 MHz faster GTs, but with shader heavy games, even without AA and AF, you'll get 25% less performance. An upside for video enthusiast will be the hardware encoder, 'Pure Video' that's built into the chip. This should make capturing less heavy on the processor. It's up to you to decide whether or not that's worth the 25 % performance difference.
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