3DMARK2005 I have just started using this benchmark so I have just listed the results
with no antialiasing at the three resolutions listed. Vertex and Pixel Shader
3.0 forced.
3DMark 2005
Intel 3.4E
Overclocked results highlighted below
AQUAMARK3
This benchmark concludes the testing in this review. FPS obtained with the
benchmark's default settings and results displaying the card's performance at
both default and overclocked timings.
Average of 3 runs of Aquamark3:
299/552 (default) 33.18 FPS
600/575 (overclock): 42.86 FPS
CONCLUSION
With a price that will not put a huge dent in your wallet the PCI-E Gigabyte
6600 is a deal for the casual gamer, or the gamer who is upgrading to PCI-Express
on a tight budget. Performance-wise you are looking at a card capable of
competing with the performance norms of the previous generation high end cards
with improved graphics and IQ at moderate resolutions up to 1280x1024. The 6600 is the present generation's current
mid-range offering. But considering the performance capabilities that label may be a little
deceiving. Looking at the potential performance increase this card may be just
the ticket for those gamers who cannot afford an high-end or enthusiast card but would
like to have the graphical improvements NVIDIA's latest generation of video
cards have to offer.
The 6600 supports better pixel shader implementation (SM2.0) and the latest in
pixel shader implementation (SM3.0) as well as other graphical improvements used
by game developers. I would prefer faster DDR SDRAM than the 3.6ns installed on
this card but it could have been a cost consideration and this ram does run cool
and stable. The 128-bit memory limitation severely impacts performance in higher
application antialiasing and anisotropic filtering. Still, sufficient
application is possible, at 1024x768, with this card for some awesome image
quality.
The bottom line is the Gigabyte 6600 provides you with the performance and image
quality to play your games the way the developer intended. That is, the games
are fun to play and look awesome!
Oh, and if you'd like some hi-res photos of the NVIDIA reference design of
the 6600 then I've provided PNGs of them for you. (Don't forget about your
browser's image auto-sizing with these images.)
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