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.
Doom 3 Performance |
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|
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.
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.
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.
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 - |
|||
|
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.
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% |
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.
66 Comments
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Slaimus - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
What is missing is an AGP versus PCIE comparison, so the impact of the bridging can be seen.bob661 - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Newegg has one for $235.http://tinyurl.com/6cjej
pio!pio! - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
#8: What do you mean unlock the stuff? Can you flash the 6800GT BIOS onto the 6800 regular or something?Da3dalus - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
NVidia rocks again 8DStaples - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Hell yeah.I was hoping this card would hit before Christmas. My brother wants a 9800P for Christmas but after seeing the PCI-E vesion as a comprable price, it would pain me to buy a 9800P for the same price.
Staples - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Bonesdad - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Will the retail price here match the street price we see in the real world? Often the MSRP is appreciably higher than street price. Have to wait to see...if it is $175-$200 street price, then the message is clearFinalFantasy - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Awesome card...I might pick one up for my dad's rig.CU - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Anand you must be the only one in the world that can find 6800GT/U and x800Pro/XT, and now a 6600GT AGP the day it is out, but don't have a 6800nu to test with. I wish I had that problem.P.S. I don't mean this in a bad way or anything. I just thought it was funny.
mldeveloper - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
will we see a pci express 6600gt vs. agp 6600gt to confirm if the bridge chip actually affects performance