The key facts about GeForce 6600 with PCI Express:

• DirectX support: DirectX 9.0c (SM 3.0)
• Pixel pipelines: 8
• Vertex shaders: 3
• Manufacturing process: 110 nanometer
• Transistors: 146 million
• Core clock speed: 300 MHz
• Memory clock speed: 550 MHz (DDR)+ (not yet conclusively specified)
• Memory expansion: 128/256 MB
• Memory technology: GDDR1
• Memory buswidth: 128-bit
• Other features: Integrated video processor; no additional power supply
• Probable street price: $149 - $179

In contrast to the "GT", the standard version has to rely on slower GDDR1 memory. NVIDIA has significantly reduced the chips' clock speed. It has also dispensed with the SLI capability. It is not yet known whether the AGP 8x version will get by without an extra power socket.

In approximately the same price segment there are at the moment such products as the NVIDIA GeForce 5700, 5600 and the ATI Radeon X600, 9800SE, 9600 XT and 9600. But here too, it will only be possible to make a precise assessment when the first cards are available in the shops.