NVIDIA's GeForce 6600GT AGP: The Little Bridge that Could
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 16, 2004 12:15 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Head to Head: NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT vs. NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT
If we take a look at the price of the GeForce FX 5900XT in our RealTime Pricing Engine, we see a card that hovers somewhere around $185. The 5900XT is the lower rung of the high end graphics cards from NVIDIA at the end of the year in 2003.
Under Doom 3, the 5900XT just can't keep up with the 6600GT, especially at higher resolutions. We are seeing the same type of pattern we saw with the 9800 Pro head to head: as resolution increases, so does the 6600GT's lead.
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Doom 3 Performance |
|||
|
|
NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
640 x 480 |
65.6 |
105.9 |
61.4% |
|
800 x 600 |
50.2 |
100.3 |
99.8% |
|
1024 x 768 |
36.3 |
82 |
125.9% |
|
1280 x 1024 |
25.4 |
58.7 |
131.1% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
18.9 |
43.4 |
129.6% |
|
Winner |
|
- |
6600GT |
This test isn't even a contest. The 6600GT makes short work of the 5900XT under valve's VST test. Though, with Half-Life two finally released, we'll have to see just how good a predictor of performance the VST is.
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Counterstrike: Source Visual Stress Test Performance |
|||
|
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NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
640 x 480 |
81.8 |
191.8 |
134.5% |
|
800 x 600 |
60.6 |
175.3 |
189.3% |
|
1024 x 768 |
40.2 |
133.3 |
231.6% |
|
1280 x 1024 |
24.8 |
83.3 |
235.9% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
18.9 |
68 |
259.8% |
|
Winner |
|
- |
6800GT |
|
Unreal Tournament 2004 |
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|
|
NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
640 x 480 |
72.7 |
72.3 |
0.6% |
|
800 x 600 |
71.4 |
71.4 |
0.0% |
|
1024 x 768 |
67.2 |
70.5 |
4.9% |
|
1280 x 1024 |
51.9 |
62.8 |
21.0% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
39.1 |
50.2 |
28.4% |
|
Winner |
|
- |
6600GT |
The 5900XT is not playable at anything above 1024x768 in FarCry, but the 6600GT holds on and manages over a 100% performance advantage at the higher resolutions.
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Far Cry 1.3 Performance |
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|
|
NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
640 x 480 |
60.2 |
86.3 |
43.4% |
|
800 x 600 |
45.7 |
80.8 |
76.8% |
|
1024 x 768 |
33.3 |
67.9 |
103.9% |
|
1280 x 10 24 |
23 |
48.7 |
111.7% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
16.4 |
37.1 |
126.2% |
|
Winner |
|
- |
6600GT |
Halo continues the 6600GT reign with almost double the performance across the board.
|
Halo 1.05 Performance |
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|
|
NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
640 x 480 |
71.4 |
131.7 |
84.5% |
|
800 x 600 |
55.1 |
111.7 |
102.7% |
|
1024 x 768 |
39.7 |
82.4 |
107.6% |
|
1280 x 1024 |
26.5 |
56.9 |
114.7% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
19.2 |
41.3 |
115.1% |
|
Winner |
|
- |
6600GT |
This OpenGL benchmark shows a tie between the two boards, and at lower resolutions the 5900XT board is acutally leading the 6600GT here. This older quake III engine based game definitely shows a side we haven't seen, but so far the 5900XT has tied one benchmark while the 6600GT has won all the rest. Let's contine on and see what the rest stack up like.
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Wolfenstein: |
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NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
640 x 480 |
111.8 |
107.6 |
3.8% |
|
800 x 600 |
110.3 |
107.5 |
2.5% |
|
1024 x 768 |
103.7 |
104.2 |
0.5% |
|
1280 x 1024 |
84 |
88 |
4.8% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
64 |
68 |
6.3% |
|
Winner |
|
- |
Tie |
In Battlefield vietnam, the results are pretty steadily in favor of the 6600GT: it wins with over a 50% performance advantage every time.
|
Battlefield - |
|||
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NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
640 x 480 |
139 |
217 |
56.1% |
|
800 x 600 |
106 |
180 |
69.8% |
|
1024 x 768 |
76 |
134 |
76.3% |
|
1280 x 1024 |
53 |
97 |
83.0% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
36 |
68 |
88.9% |
|
Winner |
|
- |
6600GT |
Running with 78% higher fps at 1600x1200, the 6600GT closes out its victory against the 5900XT.
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The Sims 2 Performance |
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NVIDIA GeForce 5900XT |
NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT |
Performance Advantage |
|
800 x 600 |
33.4 |
50.3 |
50.6% |
|
1024 x 768 |
29 |
42.1 |
45.2% |
|
1280 x 1024 |
20.3 |
32.6 |
60.6% |
|
1600 x 1200 |
15.6 |
27.8 |
78.2% |
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Winner |
|
- |
6600GT |
In every test but one the 6600GT dominated the 5900XT in performance and value. In our head to head battles, price was a key factor. Now that the 6600GT has entered the AGP market, there is no reason to look at either of these other two AGP based products.
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66 Comments
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Visual - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
i think it's important to compare the 6600GT with the normal 6800 and even the OEM 6800LEs that can be found around... also, any non-GT 6600s? because all these cards are around the best performance/value ratio... you should try to find/show which one is the best buy. you should also consider the 6800's chance of modding...nserra - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
#54But if the nvidia AGP numbers are equal to PCIe, wouldn’t ati numbers too? Is it because the card doesn’t exist?
Why do you keep talking so much about the nvidia VP, when Ati has this feature since 2002, is it because it doesn’t work?
DerekWilson - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
#53There will be no x700 agp before years end. If we had one to test we would love to have included numbers for it.
-- Derek Wilson
nserra - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
#7 DecoderThey can be solved, the funny thing is that Ati as decoding features since 07/18/02 and didn’t need of lots of transistors or processors to do that, and no one says that! Its like is a nv only feature. http://www.ati.com/vortal/videoinnovations/flash/i...
#28 draazeejs
There is no X700 AGP, but even so the 9800 does a great job for a 2 years old card.
But there should be an X700 PCIe in the test to see how fast it is over the 6600.
#29 Regs
You are absolutely right; some one should pay for having recommended nvidia cards over Ati in some “past” reviews.
#31 Cybercat
9700 cards aren’t that bad...
#32 vailr
See my #7 reply.
#34 Anand Lal Shimpi
Yeah, Ati as encoding and decoding since 07/18/02 and I didn’t remember anyone talking about it. The new Ati driver as WMV acceleration option also, why I didn’t get tested yet!!! Just because of the nvidia fancy name “Video processor” yeah right, they are playing catch up with Ati they were 2 years late!
#38 ChronoReverse
You are so relying in the SM3.0, is a new shading language, which delivers new shading code. Are you sure it will be that BIG. Remember that Microsoft from PS1.1->1.4 calls DirectX8.1 and from SM2.0->SM3.0 Microsoft call it DirectX9.0c, if it is that important don’t you think the right name would be DirectX9.1 or 9.5?
#39 Read the conclusion of own Anandtech on 04/11/04:
"If all of the cards in this review actually stick to their MSRPs, then the clear suggestion would be the $149 ATI Radeon X700. In every single game outside of Doom 3, the X700 does extremely well, putting even the GeForce 6600 to shame" I don’t think that putting the X700 out of this test was a good idea! Since 6600AGP and PCIe is at the same level, so the X700 AGP should too?
#40 Pete
See the up post! And it’s also an Anandtech conclusion!
R3MF - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
good article, cheers.i'll look forward to the vanilla 6800 benchies, as i'm building two PC's in short order, and i need the info. :)
Calin - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Edit to #49: Radeon 9800 Pro should be at a tie with the 6600GT in Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory, as the speed difference is at best very hard to see (the biggest difference of performance is in the 6% range, just like the difference between the 5900XT and the 6600GT)Calin
danyel - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Does anyone know if there a plan for an AGP version of the plain geforce 6600 as I don’t see it mentioned anywhere?Calin - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
Wolfenstein - Enemy territory is a tie, with the speed difference at most 6%. This is hardly a difference (however, the minimum frame rate have a bigger influence on game play than maximum frame rate)Calin
Samus - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
im ganna buy one asap, its exactly what i've been waiting for... my radeon 9600 pro chugs in doom3, and i can't even run it at my lcd's native res of 1280x1024...i've been holding off playing doom3 until a card like this came out.
jay75 - Wednesday, November 17, 2004 - link
the ATI 9800pro beats the 6600gt when anti-aliasing(AA) is implemented in far cry. it doesn't in counter strike but the frame rate is above 75 at 1280*1024(4x AA) anyway. this is something to be noted.