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Chaintech GeForce AA6800 Apogee Review |
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Written by Phyro
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Monday, 01 November 2004 |
nV News has published a review on the Chaintech GeForce AA6800 Apogee graphics card. The Chaintech brand name isn't as common as the other big players in the video card retail marketplace. Chaintech is aiming to change that with their Apogee brand of video cards. In a market filled to the brim with similar products, it is the subtle differences that can set one manufacturer apart from the competition. In some cases, unique products tend to command a higher retail price, but in many cases the investment is worthwhile.
 Chaintech GeForce AA6800 Apogee Review
Chaintech aims to provide consumers with multiple product configurations, which is the case with their standard GeForce 6800 and their GeForce 6800 AA6800 Apogee. While the AA6800 Apogee sports a slightly higher price tag, it offers higher clock speeds on both the GPU and memory than standard 6800-class units. The AA6800's core clocks in at 358MHz, 33MHz higher than the standard 325MHz. The 128MB of DDR memory runs at 770MHz, 70MHz higher than standard speeds.
The GeForce 6800 shares many of the characteristics of its higher powered siblings the GeForce 6800 GT and 6800 Ultra, however is slightly less powerful due to it dropping down to 12 pipelines from the 16 the GT and Ultra use.
Chaintech has a very nice solution on their hand. The Chaintech GeForce AA6800 Apogee is an above-average GeForce 6800-based card. Its performance is improved over the rest of the pack due to its aggressive clock and memory speeds provided by the manufacturer.
The software applications bundled are the standard fare, however the bundled Commandos 3 game should be replaced with a more mainstream game that will push the AA6800. The extra hardware bundled is greatly appreciated as both an S-Video and Composite TV-out cable are provided, as well as a Molex-Y which may be useful to some. By far the coolest little addition is the Q-Ball monitor cleaner.
The AA6800 sports the larger of the two types of coolers available for the GeForce 6800 and its heatsink fins are copper, which aid in the cooling process and help the card's stability at its higher clock speeds. You should definitely not overlook the Chaintech GeForce AA6800 Apogee should be in the market for a new 6800-based video card.
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