Back to nVidia I go... (6600 GT AGP) **Now with impressions*

[leo8877]

I was a long time nVidia user, who jumped to ATI with the 9600 PRO due to ATI just kicking butt at the time.  I've been waiting for the 6600 GT to be released in an AGP form and that's finally happened.  So I just bought the XFX one online.  Here's what I got:  http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321018

No problems really with ATI, just wanted this super-fast card.  Can't wait to try it out!

[Jeff]

Yeah, if i was building a new rig, I'd probably go with the 6600 GT too. That's a good price you got too, beats Newegg by $11.

I think XFX is the only one making the AGP version of the 6600 GT at the moment.

[Thin_J]

I've been using Nvidia cards ever since the Geforce 2 series came out.

The only video cards I had before that were a copule of voodoo cards. I had one original voodoo, and a voodoo banshee card. Ever since then it's been one manner of Geforce or another.

They've served me far too well to bother switching.

[ravenvii]

I went with whatever is best on the market at the time. I have no loyalty to a brand or another. First it's the TNT2, then GeForce 2 GTS, then the 9700 Pro. If I'm getting a new card right now, it would be the 6600 GT.

[unbongwah]

I think XFX is the only one making the AGP version of the 6600 GT at the moment.

Check Pricewatch or the like: I see at least 6 different manufacturers offering AGP 6600GT video cards.  Hopefully prices will fall soon and be more in line with the PCIe 6600GTs...competition is good!  

[sig20paramedic]

Is it better to go with a 6800(vanilla) or a 6600GT?  Right now they are pretty close in price.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Good choice on the 6600GT.  IMHO that is definitely the sweet spot right now as far as bang for your buck.  The price should eventually creep closer to $200 as the supply increases and other brands are more available.  Side note: I had an XFX GF4-ti4200 and it was a great little card, never any problems at all.  I was even a little sad removing it when I upgraded to a 6800GT.

sig20, the 6800 is certainly better overall than the 6600GT since it has 4 more texture pipelines (12 vs. and a wider memory bus (256-bit vs 128), but the 6600GT makes up for that a little bit with a higher clockspeed.   I don't have benchmarks handy right now, but from what I recall the 6600GT is pretty close to the 6800 in average resolutions (1024x768 or so), but the 6800 pulls away when you start to jack up the resolution and the AA/AF.

Random note: Nvidia has released a beta driver 67.03 that fixes an issue with the 6600GT and the SiS chipset (if you have a mobo with the SiS).

[unbongwah]

Is it better to go with a 6800(vanilla) or a 6600GT?  Right now they are pretty close in price.

Anandtech's 6600GT review

In most benchmarks, the 6600GT and 6800 are pretty close; as Freezer says, you don't see the 6800 pull away until you crank up the detail settings.  So if you compare the 6800 to the PCIe 6600GT cards (which are a lot cheaper than the AGP ones right now), the 6600GT looks like a better deal if you're on a budget, IMHO.

But a lot of people have had a lot of success in unlocking the 6800's disabled pipelines (for a full 16) and overclocking it to 6800GT levels or higher.  There's no guarantee of success, of course; but if you're lucky enough to pull it off, you end up with a pretty good bargain on a 6800GT-level of performance.  And even if it doesn't work, you've still got a pretty decent card.

[leo8877]

Should be arriving today or tomorrow, I can't wait to use it with Doom 3 and HL2.  That is, if I can break away from WoW...NOT LIKELY!

[Freezer-TPF-]

Cool.  Please post your 6600 GT AGP impressions after you get it.

[PaulBot]

Count me in the 6600 GT camp! I just built a new rig a couple weeks ago and put the PCIe version in it. Very nice card for $200.

Finally fired up HL2 with my new rig and ended up leaving my video settings at 1600x1200 with high detail, 2x AA & 2xAF.

Suhweeettt!!

(haven't tried dialing up AA & AF any higher yet. I got back into the game and got busy trying to stay alive  :lol: )

[Rich in KCK]

I was thinking about a 6600GT a month ago before the AGP's came out.  Thing is though I was reading that 2 6600's in SLI were about the same speed as the (at the time) 2x more expensive 6800.  I thought I could get one 6600 now and when the price fell rather than buy an even more expensive card I could just add a second 6600 for less money.  Problem is you can't do that with the AGP versions.  Just something to think about if you are considering the AGP model now.

[leo8877]

Ok so I popped this baby in last night and did some testing.  So far, I am impressed.

I tried the Counter Strike: Source video stress test at 1024x768 with 4xAA and 4xAF.  I got 88.9 FPS, which is a lot higher than my 9600 PRO gave me.  I think I got around 40 FPS on the 9600.  I messed around in game and everything looked and played fine to me.  I don't know how to enable FPS in game, so if you do know....tell me!

On to Doom 3 for some testing.  First I ran the timedemo demo1 at 1024x768 with 4xAA and no AF on High Quality Settings.  I got about 37-38 FPS(don't remember the exact number).  This was after the second run, so that it's cached as recommended.  I ran the test again with same settings only Medium Quality and got about the same.  Maybe 1 FPS more.  So then I ran the test with High Quality settings, but no AA or AF and I got about 57 FPS, which is cool, cool, cool!  So then I jumped in game with the High Quality settings on, and no AA or AF and it basically hovered around 55-60 FPS the whole time, even with monsters and lighting.  I have to say this too, the textures are oh so much better in High Quality than Medium.

**EDIT** Oh, my system specs are:

P4 2.6C
1 GB PC3200 DDR
GeForce 6600 GT AGP
Audigy 2 ZS

So that's it for first time impressions.  More as it happens.

[Freezer-TPF-]

Cool, glad it is working nicely for you.  Keep in mind that Doom automatically enables 8x AF when in High Quality, so that's one reason the textures look a lot better.  I think Doom is set up to be limited to 60fps, so you're in great shape.

[Greggy_D]

Would you guys upgrade to this from a 9800PRO?  I'm thinking it might be worth it, especially since it won't cost much out of my pocket if I sell the 9800PRO on Ebay.

[PaulBot]

XtremeTech just pitted the 6600 GT against the X700 Pro, and it wasn't even a contest.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1739016,00.asp

6600 GT owners can hold their heads up high and even stick their noses in the air when approached by an X700 owner  

[leo8877]

Cool!  I'm loving it.

I ran some more Doom 3 tests last night.  1024x768 on High Quality settings, no AA.  Timedemo demo1 returned 57.7 FPS.  That's sweet!

[drifter]

a pox on all of you, i am off to newegg now.

My wifes going to be pissed...

Drifter

[drifter]

ok saved from wrath of wife since none are in stock in the AGP version.

Drifter

[unbongwah]

Would you guys upgrade to this from a 9800PRO?  I'm thinking it might be worth it, especially since it won't cost much out of my pocket if I sell the 9800PRO on Ebay.

You should check out some benchmarks, especially this chart:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2277&p=3

In some games, the 6600GT shows a huge advantage over the 9800 Pro; in others, it's almost negligible.  Overall, I'd say the 6600GT is a big improvement in OpenGL and most DirectX 9 games (HL2 being the obvious exception); in older titles, though, it holds a much smaller lead.  So whether or not it's worth upgrading depends a lot on what games you intend to play.

Personally, I'd hold out for a GF 6800-class card; but hey, that's just me...

[Freezer-TPF-]

The 6600GT is clearly better overall than the 9800 Pro, but if I already had a 9800 Pro I probably wouldn't bother upgrading unless you are really feeling the itch.  I almost waited for the 6600GT to come out in AGP, but I decided to splurge on the 6800GT instead.  So far, I'm pretty happy with it.

[leo8877]

Yeah, I came from a 9600 PRO though, so it was worth it for me.  It's faster than the 9800, but maybe not necessary if you're that close.

[Greggy_D]

Thanks guys.....I'll just wait for the next generation to come out next year.

[Byrns]

Thanks guys.....I'll just wait for the next generation to come out next year.

Heard the end of Feb. for ATI's next gen batch.

[drifter]

Just ordered a 6600 GT to replace my radeon 9600.  Newegg got them instock.  Picked up an MX1000 mouse for $62 as well.  Hopefully they will show up on Monday.

Drifter