OPTIMIZATIONS
The control panel above displays the trilinear and anisotropic optimizations
available in the control panel. I debated leaving the trilinear optimizations on
as I did in the last review but finally decided to turn all optimizations OFF. I
should state that these optimizations have proven to be generic and not
application specific. The quality loss is barely noticeable to the naked eye and
do offer a slight performance increase. After reading recent reviews at
Guru3D.com I tend to agree with their assessment and will probably follow their
lead in future reviews and leave at least the trilinear optimization activated.
THE BUNDLE
Software/Accessories Bundle
Gigabyte bundles the following with the 6600:
User's manual
CD with drivers
VIVO software, PowerDVD 5
VIVO adapter
DVI-to-d-Sub adapter
Thief (full version on DVD)
TEST SETUP
I would have liked to have done a review on this new test setup as it is my
first venture with an all PCI-Express system. Mike supplied me with a DFI
915P-TAG which is limited to using DDR1 ram. This suits me for the present
because I need to take a closer look before going to DDR2 ram. I included two
sticks of 512MB OCZ High Performance DDR set up for 800MHz FSB, dual channel,
running 2.5-3-3-7. Booted up first time but one confusing problem raised its
head, Windows XP refused to load. Apparently I was missing updated driver(s).
Being concerned with my time schedule for this review I opted to use Windows
2000, SP-4, which loaded quickly without any problems. After the review I will
correct the problem and load XP with SP-2 slip-streamed and if successful re-run
the tests. If anything noteworthy develops, from the use of XP over W2K, I will
update the review at that time.
This setup proved to be bullet-proof, never failing, during the review. When not
in use, this system ran Folding@Home, 24/7.
NVIDIA Forceware 66.31
All tests were conducted using NVIDIA ForceWare 66.31 drivers furnished by
Gigabyte on the driver CD.
