6600 GT 256MB AGP or ATI equivalent ???

sixarm · 16 Jan 2006 at 03:35

Hello all.

I'm looking to buy a new graphics card. Currently running a Geforce FX 5600 256MB card but have had this for 2 and a half years now and am looking to upgrade to something better. My budget isn't huge, so it's important to me that i'm confident with my purchase. I've got a max of £125 to spend.

I'm currently looking at the Geforce 6600 GT 256MB AGP card.

OcUK GeForce 6600 GT 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (AGP) - Retail (GX-036-OK) Price: £99.95 (£117.44 Including VAT at 17.5%)

First question....

If a card has 2 DVI outputs is it still possible to run an old CRT monitor using a DVI-to-VGA adaptor?

Second question....

Is this the best AGP card I can get for the money? If not, any further suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

sixarm · 16 Jan 2006 at 06:34

I suppose to ATI X700 Pro 256MB is the nearest price wise.

Sapphire ATI Radeon X700 Pro 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail (GX-104-SP) Price: £102.95 (£120.97 Including VAT at 17.5%)

ajgoodfellow · 16 Jan 2006 at 10:16

Hi

As mentioned above, the X700Pro is ATI's rival to the 6600GT. The 6600GT is faster so I'd get that

I'd also consider the standard 6800 (not LE, XT, GS, GT, Ultra)

sixarm · 17 Jan 2006 at 00:06

How about the CRT on DVI issue? Is this definitely going to be fully compatible?

ajgoodfellow · 17 Jan 2006 at 00:26

Yep

The DVI ports on graphics cards are DVI-I ports, that is they contain both analogue and digital components. The adaptor just takes the analogue component and places it on the standard D-connector

sixarm · 17 Jan 2006 at 02:49

What are you're thoughts on the 6800 LE 256MB compared to 6600 GT 256MB?

It's pretty much the same price.

ACESHIGH · 17 Jan 2006 at 03:00

sixarm said:
What are you're thoughts on this compared to 6600 GT 256MB?

http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...avigationKey=11137,40829,4294957147,40723&v=3

I believe at stock its very slightly slower, but if you can unlock some pipes then it will be better than a 6600GT.

sixarm · 17 Jan 2006 at 03:08

I think i'll stick with the 6600 GT.

Another question....

Would there be much difference between the OcUK 6600 GT & the XFX branded one? i.e. Is it worth the extra £20?

ACESHIGH · 17 Jan 2006 at 04:50

sixarm said:
I think i'll stick with the 6600 GT.

Another question....

Would there be much difference between the OcUK 6600 GT & the XFX branded one? i.e. Is it worth the extra £20?

The extra 100MHZ speed on the RAM will make the XFX card a bit quicker, but personally i would save the money & go for the OcUK card. In game use you shouldnt notice the difference.

ajgoodfellow · 17 Jan 2006 at 11:43

As above. You're not allowed to post links to competitors though so I'd edit out that link before a mod sees it

JonD · 17 Jan 2006 at 16:02

Im looking at the XFX 6600GT but still unsure weather 128mb or 256mb. Would it make a difference?

sixarm · 17 Jan 2006 at 19:45

Oops, sorry. I didn't realise. Have edited.

marc2003 · 17 Jan 2006 at 19:55

JonD said:
Im looking at the XFX 6600GT but still unsure weather 128mb or 256mb. Would it make a difference?

for the £35 difference in price i'd say definitely not....

JonD · 17 Jan 2006 at 21:15

Why not? More memory the better yeh?

marc2003 · 17 Jan 2006 at 21:25

JonD said:
Why not? More memory the better yeh?

i'm no expert on the matter and have personal experience either.....

but i'd say the 6600gt simply is not powerful enough to make use of the extra memory available to it. extra video memory is used when texture details in games are set to very high and aa/af is used, but this card simply isn't capable of running newer games with these sort of settings.... (i think

)

i'm seriously contemplating getting a 6600gt for myself and if i do get one i'll definitely be getting the 128mb version.

peetee · 17 Jan 2006 at 21:38

if you search around u can find that nifty asus 6800 standard which is faster than a 6600GT @ stock, and it has a great overclocking potential, plus a lot of people have sucess unlocking the extra pipes+vertex shader

sixarm · 18 Jan 2006 at 01:12

Would that be the Asus V9999 by any chance? I've just found this on another site and it's actually cheaper that the 6600GT 256MB. It's the 128MB version though.

sixarm · 18 Jan 2006 at 01:18

Sorry, it would appear that it only comes in a 128MB version. Been reading a few reviews and everyone is saying basically what peetee said. At stock it will beat the 6600GT and if overclocked it can almost match a 6800GT. I think i'm gonna go for this Asus beast.

ajgoodfellow · 18 Jan 2006 at 01:55

It's a good card and a good choice for the money. Don't let the lower memory size put you off

sixarm · 18 Jan 2006 at 04:34

Purchased the Asus V9999. Should arrive friday. Can't wait! I'll get me a copy of 3dmark and post some before and after stats.