PDA

View Full Version : Before you buy your next Video card......

Puer Aeternus
10-08-04, 05:45 AM
If you are looking to upgrade your klunker of a card to something sleek and sexy but cannot afford the x800 or 6800 line up than take a look at the 6600:
6600 review (http://tech-report.com/reviews/2004q3/geforce-6600gt/index.x?pg=1)
This going to be Nvidia's new Budget card in the $200usd range. All the reviews that I have read shows it stomping the 9800pro into the ground. So hold off on buying that 9800pro(current price VS. performance king IMO) and take a good look at the 6600.
Hexus review (http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD04NTM=)


The 6600 is already out as a PCI-Express card and reviews show it to be a great performer at a great price. The AGP version should be out by X-mass or sooner...we hope!
Banyan
10-08-04, 07:28 AM
the thing is, when is nvidia going to realize they have a huge market for agp still!?!? i would consider buying one of these if they'd get off their ass and get busy pumping some agp cards onto the market. it really is moronic... you'd think they'd be trying to push their top tier cards towards pci-e since pci-e is far from being mainstream (look at amd for example and 865/875 still going strong).
Puer Aeternus
10-08-04, 08:05 AM
the thing is, when is nvidia going to realize they have a huge market for agp still!?!? i would consider buying one of these if they'd get off their ass and get busy pumping some agp cards onto the market. it really is moronic... you'd think they'd be trying to push their top tier cards towards pci-e since pci-e is far from being mainstream (look at amd for example and 865/875 still going strong).
Common sense would say ship both cards at the same time. I guess they wanna push the PCI-E upgrade frenzy? Maybe this is Nvidias turn to be king of the hill again and PCI-E will ensure that?...I dunno, just speculating. You are right that PCI-E is not for the hard core enthusiasts. HC enthusiasts will be going for 6800's...not the run of the mill vid cards.
Woozy
10-08-04, 10:45 AM
I got caught up in the PCI-Express thing. Looking all around to find a good set up. When I just thought it threw not to go with PCI-X stick with AGP for the next 2 years since buying all new over the next 2 months.
Voltron
10-08-04, 10:50 AM
Common sense would say ship both cards at the same time. I guess they wanna push the PCI-E upgrade frenzy?

Ya, thats what I would guess. I dont see a reason to upgrade to Pci-Ex just yet but if you were in the market for a new motherboard I for sure look into it then.

The 6600 looks like a good mid-level card to me. I've read some reviews in the past but forget, does it use PS3 like the 6800's?
Albuquerque
10-08-04, 12:12 PM
If you want a great "new" budget-oriented upgrade for AGP, try instead getting a 6800LE. It's the 8-pipe / 4vs version of the 6800 series. Stock vs stock it whips the 6600GT, and with some luck, you can unlock some more (or in rare cases, ALL) of the hidden pipelines to get 6800NU or even 6800GT.
gordon
10-08-04, 12:15 PM
I don't think the 6800LE is faster than a 6600GT, but it certainly does seem to have more potential if you are able to unlock the disabled pipelines in the card.
Albuquerque
10-08-04, 01:59 PM
Link: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/gffx/nv43-p12.html

When stock they're mostly neck-and-neck. One will win, then the other, then they'll tie. With an overclock, they both end up around the same place give or take again.

But with a pipe unlock, it just gets SO much better. Even getting one of the two disabled quads turned back on can put it another several thousand 3DM03 points higher. And unlocking the vertex shaders is just more icing on the cake.

It's my opinion that the 6800LE is the best thing to happen to the enthusiast crowd since the 256-bit 9500np card.