The GPU running at 600MHz is an impressive 100% increase from the initial
299MHz default clock setting! No problems were encountered running at this clock
frequency during this review. Still, I would caution anyone to use care and to
accept the risk when overclocking any component outside of specifications.
Although my results were significant I cannot guarantee you results will be the
same.
The memory was different story. Set to 600MHz, 3DMark03 benchmark would complete
the tests but with light artifacts in the 'Nature' portion of the tests.
Aquamark3, at 600MHz ran without any noticeable artifacts. Nevertheless, I
decided to back off to a memory overclock of 575MHz to be safe. I should note
that lowering the memory clock frequencies by 25MHz on the memory reduced
recorded frame rates in Aquamark3 by just over 2 frames per second (FPS)
average.
Although I would not consider this card high on the list for enthusiasts or
dedicated gamers, the overclock capability of this little card was impressive
and did indeed provide significant performance increases as will be shown in the
accompanying tests and synthetic benchmarks.
GAME TESTS
CALL OF DUTY A game that has maintained significant popularity with the recently released
expansion pack, "United Offensive." I have selected the Dawnville Demo from the
original Call of Duty game for initiating the gaming tests with the Gigabyte
6600 PCI-Express video card.
A minimum of 3 runs of the timedemo at each resolution and graphic settings were
performed. An average of at least 3 of the resulting scores were then recorded
in the table below. Specific resolutions used were: 800x600, 1024x768,
1280x1024, and 1600x1200. Antialiasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering (AF)
incorporated with specific resolutions were: No AA/AF, 2xAA/0xAF, 0xAA/4xAF,
0xAA/8xAF, 2xAA/4xAF, and 4xAA/8xAF. Timing frequencies were default clocks
(299/552) and 600/575 for overclock timings. All in-game graphic settings were
configured to the highest quality and sound was set in-game to Miles Fast 2D
Positional Audio at 44kHz.
Call of Duty Results
Intel 3.4E - Dawnville Demo
Overclocked results highlighted below
The Gigabyte 6600 runs CoD with ease providing excellent game play at all
settings tested. I experienced severe reduction in FPS from use of lower to a
higher resolutions. I would recommend this game be played with average frame
rates of 40 or better for good game play.
At the highest settings tested, 1600x1200, 4xAA/8xAF, frame rates averaged 32.1
with default timing frequencies and the minimum frame rate occasionally dipped
into the teens at 17 FPS. Although playable, these settings provide marginal
performance for this game and some stuttering or pausing may be experienced in
graphically intense sections of the game. Either resolutions of 1024x768 or
1280x1024 with 4xAA/8xAF provided excellent game play although I personally opt
for the resolution of 1024/768 at default timings (299/552) on a 17 or 19-inch
CRT monitor. I did not run the game on my 17-inch LCD but by looking at the test
results it should run well at 1280x1024 4xAA and 8xAF.
