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nVidia's GeForce 6600 GT AGP graphics card |
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Written by Mavke
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Wednesday, 17 November 2004 |
The Tech Report has reviewed the nVidia GeForce 6600 GT AGP graphics card. While we were extremely impressed with the GeForce 6600 GT when it was launched back in September, the card's PCI Express X16 interface left us longing for an AGP flavor.
 nVidia's GeForce 6600 GT AGP graphics card
It's wasn't that we didn't like PCI Express, but the only commercially available PCI Express platform was saddled with the Pentium 4's comparatively poor gaming performance. Since September, we've previewed Athlon 64 chipsets with PCI Express support from ATI, nVidia and VIA, but none are available in production motherboards just yet. You'll still need an LGA775 Pentium 4 or Celeron processor if you want to get in on PCI Express graphics.
Fortunately, you don't need PCI Express to get in on the GeForce 6600 GT, at least not anymore. With a little help from its High Speed Interconnect (HSI) bridge chip, nVidia has brought the GeForce 6600 GT to AGP. Was anything lost in the translation?
Despite using slightly slower memory, the GeForce 6600 GT easily measures up to the original PCI Express version. The GT doesn't have much of a problem knocking off its main AGP competition, the Radeon 9800 Pro, either. This one's simple. If you're looking to spend about $200 on a new AGP graphics card, you want the GeForce 6600 GT AGP. Gaming frame rates are great, Doom 3 performance borders on intimidating, and all the little extras that nVidia packs into its ForceWare graphics drivers are gravy.
Although the GeForce 6600 GT AGP is impressive on its own merits, it's an even safer bet because ATI seems content to challenge the card with last year's Radeon 9800 Pro. The 9800 Pro does offer some advantages, including a 256-bit memory bus and a more conventional eight-pipe architecture, but those things don't translate to better overall performance than the 6600 GT AGP. An AGP version of the Radeon X700 XT might stand a better chance, but ATI seems content to offer the 9800 Pro for AGP systems.
In the end, nVidia deserves credit not only for delivering a sweet $200 graphics card in the GeForce 6600 GT AGP, but also for having the foresight to develop the flexible HSI bridge chip that makes this card possible.
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ASUS 9800GTX+ (DK) PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
