Video Cards - 256.....

[dinger224]

Which is better, and how much will i notice


Chipset/Core Speed: nVIDIA GeForce 6600/300MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 256MB DDR/550MHz
BUS: PCI-Express x16
Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub) + TV-Out (S-Video) + DVI
Support 3D API: DirectX 9(Shader Model 3.0), OpenGL 1.5
Max Resolution@32bit Color: 2048X1536@85Hz
Cable/Accessories: S-Video Cable, DVI to VGA adapter, Manual, Driver CD, Game
Retail Box (See pics for details)

or

Chipset/Core Speed: nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT/500MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB GDDR3/1000MHz
BUS: PCI-Express x16
Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub) + TV-Out (S-Video/Composite) + DVI
Support 3D API: DirectX 9(Shader Model 3.0), OpenGL 1.5
Max Resolution@32bit Color: 2048X1536@85Hz
RAMDACs: 400MHz
Cable/Accessories: HDTV Cable, DVI to VGA adapter, Manual, Driver CD, and Software
Retail Box (See pics for details)

[RockNRoll]

The 6600GT will definitely be faster than the 256mb 6600. Sometimes people think that because a card has moore RAM it's faster. This is only true to the extent of 3D texture sizes and all that which come most helpful when doing 3D work such as rendering, modeling etc.

Mostly you want to look at the clock speeds, DX support, and the shader/anti aliasing models it has.

[zybch]

Some games need more ram now though. My 128Mb ATI 9800XT card stuttered in HL2 (outdoor city-17 level, hundreds of hi-qual textures) till I reduced the texture quality. This is usually an indication that the card didn't have enough ram.
I was able to turn it up to full again after that section.

[willg99]

if you are going to play games like DOOM 3 and HL2 you may need to get the regular 6600. I needed 256MB of VRAM. I had a 9800PRO before I got a x800xt and the pro would just crash for no appearent reason or textures wouldn't look fully developed.
Other than that the 6600GT would be the most lag-free. Of course I have an 8x AGP. I don't know how differently it would react on a PCI-E bus.

[zybch]

You must have had a faulty card/windows installation then, but 256Mb of texure memory is almost a neccessity these days, and just wait till games based on the Unreal Engine 3 come out!

http://pics.computerbase.de/news/8374/3.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/upload/1/1c/Unreal3engine-berserker.jpg

[jet.]

Yeah, i got a 6800, which is 128mb, and am kinda dissapointed i didn't spend the extra £50 or so to get a 256mb GT. I would get the GT though if that's the choice you have. The 6600 256mb won't really make use of the extra memory until later and then the card will be too slow. Mid-range cards from nvidia will only *just* be able to make 1280x1024, max settings in games such as Far Cry, D3, HL2. 4x AA and even 2x AA at 60+ fps constant will be hard pressed unless you overclock. Spend a bit more and get a 6800 is my recommendation.

Leadtek, eVGA, BFG... good manuafacturers.

[RockNRoll]

That is 3d????? Looks like a costume...:eek:

[zybch]

Originally posted by RockNRoll
That is 3d????? Looks like a costume...:eek:

Thats the stuff that Unreal Engine 3 can do.

[Midknyte]

even with 128mb, the 6600GT is a better card. you are giving up too much core/memory speed in order to get 256mb.

If you really want a 256mb card, save up for a x800 or 6800GT.

[jet.]

You should download the trailer from E4 online sometime, looks fantastic.

edit: http://www.fileplanet.com/140731/download/Unreal-E3-2004-Engine-Demonstration

[willg99]

i don't know... if you ask me-bottom line-for any kind of performance you would wanna stick with a 256-bit memory bus.

[Midknyte]

They're not talking about memory bus width; they are talking about the amount of ram on the card.

[NDD]

UT3 anyhow ... another 128MB of slower DDR as opposed to GDDR3 won't help you much with 6600 anyway ...

Get 6600GT
or
Get 6800NU

forget everything else
Get 6800GT ;)

[zybch]

Anything that prevents the vid card from going to system ram to retrieve textures is a good thing. A 6800 will certainly give higher frame rates in games that use under its on-board memory, but as soon as you go over that you'll get gameplay-destroying stuttering as the card fetches textures from system ram.

A slower (and much cheaper) card with 256Mb will give slower frame rates, but won't stutter at all in games that utilize more than 128mb worth of textures.

Besides, get one 6600 now and another later so you can run them in SLI mode and get better than 6800 performance.

[NDD]

SLI is for 6600GT only, in its class. nVIDIA will block most attempts to enable SLI on "non-certified" videocards/mobos
And getting SLI capable mobo will eliminate the price difference between the cards, if there is such

[willg99]

Originally posted by Midknyte
They're not talking about memory bus width; they are talking about the amount of ram on the card.

i know but 256-bit will get you a sizeable amout of performance over 128-bit. if he's on a budget i'd go w/ the 6800LE. i wonder why he's not responding to these.

[dinger224]

Well I meant was like the 128 of GDDR3 Better than 256 of DDR? Keep Coming with the Input Thanks again

[willg99]

Originally posted by dinger224
Well I meant was like the 128 of GDDR3 Better than 256 of DDR? Keep Coming with the Input Thanks again
yeah GDDR3 will perform much better than DDR. It runs a lot cooler and has more overclocking potential if want to. performance would be better but with more and more games like DOOM 3 on the horizon, 256MB will almost be required in the future. during the current period of gaming technology. I think you'd be find w/ the 6600GT for now.