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 |
|||
|
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 |
|||
|
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 |
|||
|
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.
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skunkbuster - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
not bad. but that cooler looks a little strange tilted like that :PAlphafox78 - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
so many graphs... uggIllissius - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
awesome :)although, did you use the reference or the XFX 6600GT for the benchies? I don't remember it being mentioned...
datamon - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
why no comparison with a regular 6800?right now the BFG 6800 can be had for around $250 and 6600GT AGP looks like it is starting at around $230, so they are competitors.
JustAnAverageGuy - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
:Dksherman - Tuesday, November 16, 2004 - link
Saweeettttt!!!!!!!!! ;)