Good 3D Performance at a Middling Price: GeForce 6600 Shootout
Test Setup
The clock rates of some of the GeForce 6600 graphics cards tested differ radically from the default reference values set by NVIDIA. To highlight the differences we subjected the cards to extensive performance tests in three modern DirectX 9 games, as well as 3DMark 2005. The test platform for AGP models was based on an Intel D875PBZ motherboard with an Intel i875 chipset. For PCI Express models an Intel D925XCV motherboard with an i975 chipset was used. In both cases we used an Intel Pentium 4 CPU with 3.2 GHz and 1 GB RAM. AGP and PCIe can be legitimately compared with each other, despite the very different bus systems.
The screen resolutions chosen were oriented to the customary native resolutions among TFT displays : 1024x768 and 1280x1024. Apart from the standard representation qualities, the cards also had to show off their paces with 4-fold anti-aliasing (FSAA) and 8-fold anisotropic filtering (AF) activated.
For the sake of better comparisons we also tested various current alternatives to the GeForce 6600, as well as cards of older generations. AGP models are marked with an "*" in the benchmark tables.
AGP Test System | |
---|---|
CPU | Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz |
FSB | 200 MHz |
Motherboard | Intel D875 PBZ |
Memory | 4x Corsair CMX256A-3200LL DDR, 1024 MB |
HDD | Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120 GB S-ATA (8 MB) |
DVD | Hitachi GD-7000 |
LAN | Netgear FA-312 |
Power Supply | Antec True Control 550W |
PCI Express Test System | |
CPU | Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz |
FSB | 200 MHz |
Motherboard | Intel D925 XCV |
Memory | 2x Micron DDRII, 533 MHz, 1024 MB |
HDD | Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120 GB S-ATA (8 MB) |
DVD | Hitachi GD-7000 |
LAN | Netgear FA-312 |
Power Supply | Antec True Control 550W |
Drivers & Configuration | |
Graphics | NVIDIA v71.84 |
Chipset | Intel Inf. Update |
OS | Windows XP Prof. SP1a |
DirectX | DirectX 9.0c |
Benchmarks | |
3DMark 2005 | Standard Resolution4x FSAA / 8x AF set by application |
Doom3v1.0.1282 | Timedemo demo1High Quality |
The Chronicles Of Riddick (EFBB)v1.0 | Custom Timedemo demointroPS 2.04x FSAA by Driver, 8x aniso by App. |
Half-Life 2 | Custom Timedemo mw_coast014x FSAA / 8x AF set by application |
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Current page: Test Setup
Prev Page Hazards When Handling Graphics Cards, Continued Next Page Benchmarks