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Galaxy GeForce 6600 256MB Graphics Card Review |
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Written by Phyro
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Sunday, 24 October 2004 |
Hexus has just posted a new review on the Galaxy GeForce 6600 graphics card. A month or so later and things have changed markedly in the midrange sector. NVIDIA is keen on pushing its 6800-derived 6600 GPU and ATI is eager to showcase its X700 XT. These newer graphics processors put the trickle-down effect to good use, as both take key elements from current range-topping cards. Galaxy thinks the same way, apparently, and the company has been working hard on releasing 6600 derivatives at the earliest opportunity.
 Galaxy GeForce 6600 256MB Graphics Card Review
I like NVIDIA's NV43 and I
like Galaxy's GeForce 6600
card. What NVIDIA has done is
harness current top-end technology into a GPU and card that, depending upon
manufacturer and RAM arrangement, will cost between £90-£120. Galaxy's card comes in at the
upper end of that scale, thanks to a healthy 256MB of onboard RAM. Looking at
our benchmark numbers that include a few older titles, it's apparent that NV43
performance makes looking at previous generation's midrange cards, and I'm
thinking of Radeon 9600s and GeForce 5700/5900 XTs, almost pointless. What's
more, Galaxy's PCI-Express
6600 card doesn't require auxillary power and the GPU's fan is pretty damn
quiet, although a few sacrifices have to be made for the cheaper NV43 part, as
there's no SLI capability and a distinct lack of memory bandwidth from the
128-bit interface.
I expect GeForce 6600 performance to look even
stronger when evaluated via shader-heavy titles and thus have little problem in
recommending it as a GPU, especially if you're looking towards upgrading to
PCI-Express motherboards imminently. NVIDIA is adamant that bridged AGP cards
will be available shortly, too. Galaxy has done a decent enough job with its card, but, as
mentioned previously, needs to brush up on the documentation side. The overall
package represents good value at £120 or so. I'd definitely put it on a
shortlist if your graphics card budget extends that far.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 14 February 2005 )
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EVGA 9600GT (SC) PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
