another one: 9800pro vs 6600GT

[shiato storm]

following the [often heated] discussions in this thread:
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=36083
I am now wondering that since I might be spending the sort of money a 9800pro costs would it be better to get a 6600GT, as I'm guessing they're about the same in price...
not sure how it compares to the 9800pro though but by all counts it sounds faster, certainly more modern which implies a bit more power under the hood thanks to more upto date memory and all that - seeing as how rapidly technology evolves its not unrealistic to assume this.
One thing I did find on my ramblings is that the 6600GT is a 128bit interface where as the 9800pro is a 256bit interface...does this make the 9800pro faster then cause of this or no?
(p.s. i'm talking about AGP not PCI-e by the way!)

[Zathras]

6600GT is faster. The two cards are based on entirely different architectures so you can't compare them in terms of width of interface like you could two R300-based ATi cards. Benchmarks are the best way of checking out card speed, and I think it's pretty comprehensive in the 6600GT's favour.

[nvening]

yep, 6600Gt all the way

[shiato storm]

where's cheapest to be found - and who's a good up-standing make I can trust?
e.g. ATI use sapphire to make their cards (as OEM's)...anyone do that for nVidia? as I know certain makes put crap ram in, others put the good stuff in.
anyone had experience of the good and bad - who do I go for?

[Stoo]

tbh most manufacturers tend to stick to the reference design, it's just peeps like powercolor and gigabyte that tend to have a mild tweak (even then it doesn't make all that much of a difference)

[Olly1234]

All you need to know

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...t_agp_roundup/

[malfunction]

This seems like a good price:

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/comp...quicklinx=3K55

Not much in it though. This has 1.6ns RAM (1250MHz DDR Vs 900MHz DDR stock) on it but it's not worth the premium IMO:

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=603808

Most cards have 2.0ns RAM on them (so rated for 1000MHz DDR anyway). It MIGHT be worth doing some more research along those lines though as I've heard there are other 6600GTs out there that have used the faster 1.6ns RAM. Unless it's sold as such though there's no guarantees as it might have only been early cards or review samples that came with 1.6ns... For example I have read that the early (and as such review sample) MSI cards had 1.6ns RAM but cards shipping now only have 2.0ns

[shiato storm]

ah ha...all good info - cheers.
the dabs link hasn't got any info with it tho, the tekheads one is ..just wondering for the £30 or so more what do I get? any chance a 6600gt will drop in price any time soon?

[Olly1234]

The dabs one seems to be a Microstar..Probably wouldn't want one of those myself..If you take a look at the firingsquad roundup you'll see the XFX runs the second fastest of the lot at 500 core / 500 memory which is unusual for the AGP type as they are mostly 450 stock, as is the Galaxy card in the link above.

You should go for the fastest speeds you can afford really and at £153 from dabs the XFX is pretty reasonable and faster than normal. Now if you can find the BFG 6600GT OC at a reasonable price that runs at 525 / 525 and is better still

[shiato storm]

can't find the BFG anywhere!!


so XFX card is ok, they a good solid make?

edit: this one?

[Olly1234]

Had a quicklook and doesn;t look like they are out here yet...Best bit is find the cheepest price for the XFX and then overclock it, most OC's I have seen, and I have a single PCX leadtek card in my SLi machine, can get them up to about 550 / 550 give or take which is a nice OC. Had doom 3 running on it today and clocked up 88 FPS on timedemo at 1024 x 768 on high detail which was nice

*edit*
Yep the Planet Micros one is a great price mate, and i've read lots of reviews and never seen any bad points about them...Buy one mate

[mr_anderson187]

i have the galaxy 6600gt From overclockers, very good, coems 525/1050 outa the box

[Rcb]

6600GT is faster. The two cards are based on entirely different architectures so you can't compare them in terms of width of interface like you could two R300-based ATi cards. Benchmarks are the best way of checking out card speed, and I think it's pretty comprehensive in the 6600GT's favour.

Yep.

[Olly1234]

i have the galaxy 6600gt From overclockers, very good, coems 525/1050 outa the box

Thats probably the one you want then, curiously the Tekheads link above listed the Galaxy core at 500 and memory at 450, but the reviews I've seen do actually list at as 525/525..Missed that yesterday..Planet Mico have them on special at the mo for £146 all in, but i'd want to check that it was the version with the higher clock speeds before i bought, just in case there is a lower clock model and higher clock model floating about

http://www.planetmicro.co.uk/product...ource=dealtime

[mr_anderson187]

well theres definitly no problems with it so far, the hetsink/fan is very tidy, not too big, has little sinks covering teh ram, and isnt very noisy,

still havent started overclocking it yet, not sure how, ive enabled coolbits via the registry link but i cant see an option in my drivers for overclocking it, maybe this is a ffault with the card or ive missed something

[Olly1234]

Go into the tray tools options and select the little monitor icon..You should see a frequency option on the left menu, once selected it'll give the options no ovrclock, auto overlclock and manual overclock. Select manual and accept the disclaimer and your off....What driver verion have you got btw? The latest 71.40's are out from guru3d.com, have been running them and are rock solid.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=954