On the back plate there's both DVI and D-SUB outputs with full ViVo support.
All in all a compact good looking package with implication for the small form
factor (SFF) case applications.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
Right off I was of the opinion that this card is slated for the casual gamer as
the ram is of the older type DDR1. In addition, the GPU clocked at 300MHz seems
a little low as the 6600GT has an assigned clock frequency of 500MHz, a
considerable difference to say the least for a GPU that is of the same core
design (NV43).
On the surface there does not seem to be anything to get excited about. What can
be expected from this card? Well, the memory at 550MHz is close to maximum.
Maybe it has a little more headroom but I would not think much more without
experiencing adverse consequences such as artifacts, instability, or potential
damage from running out of specification. On the GPU, this needs a closer look
because I think 500MHz may be feasible which should give a boost in performance.
Otherwise, just taking a superficial look I don't think there is much interest
for the avid game or enthusiasts. Enough speculation, let's take a look at what
the card offers and on to seeing what the card will actually do and where my
initial impressions are right or wrong.
FEATURES In the table below you can compare the 6600 series offerings of the different
models. The card we will be putting through the test is the model
GV-NX66128D. The main differences between
this card and the two 'GT' models is the ram (DDR 1 vs. DDR 3) and being
non-compatible with the upcoming scalable link interface (SLI). While these may
be important to some, to others there may be other things of more importance
such as price. I have been seeing pricing on this card as low as $133 shipped
which is attractive if the card provides good dependable performance and has the
IQ and other graphical enhancements of the new generation of NVIDIA graphic
cards.
GIGABYTE 6600 Series Comparison Chart
A number of positives for consideration is the 6600 supports Microsoft's
DirectX 9.0c as well as the previously mentioned Pixel Shader 3.0. Also
supported is OpenGL 1.5 enabling complex special effects. The graphics
accelerators support PCI-E offering a throughput of 16GBps. The included DVI
ensures high-quality graphics output for digital monitors and the integrated TV
encoder provides TV-out functionality for greater media flexibility. Gigabyte's
V-TUNER2 O/C utility allows gamers to easily obtain enhanced system performance.
In wrapping up the features of the 6600 I should include that it exceeds the
FX5950 in transistor count 146M to 130M and has a higher theoretical single
texture fill rate than the FX5950, 2400 mega pixels to 1900 for the FX5950.
