Author Topic: 6600GT video card? (Read 310 times)

Captain Virgil Hilts · « **on:** June 02, 2005, 08:15:52 AM »

I think my old GeForce 3 Ti 200 is dying, I'm considering a 6600GT with 256MB of memory. Any reason NOT to get one?
How much performance increase can I reasonably expect?

System specs:
Soltek SL-75FRN2-RL
AMD Mobile Barton 2600+
512MB of OCZ PC 4000 Dual Channel Gold EL
Western Digital Raptor 37Gig 10K RPM SATA RAID
Creative Audigy LIVE!
VisionTek GeForce 3 Ti 200 64MB 4X AGP

eagl · « **Reply #1 on:** June 02, 2005, 10:02:29 AM »

Your raw framerate may go up a bit but where you'll get your big boost is in resolution and image quality. You should be able to boost the resolution up to 1280x1024 if you're not there already, and add 2x or greater FSAA without a huge framerate hit.

The only reason to not do this is if you're considering a cpu/mobo upgrade in the near future. If so, then hold off and upgrade everything with PCI express instead of tying yourself to another agp vid card. If you'll be happy with your cpu for another year, then there's nothing wrong with going with a better agp vid card right now and the 6600GT is a decent choice. A 6800GT might be overkill for that setup. I'm not sure right now anyone but someone who already has an AGP A64 setup should get an AGP 6800GT or faster vid card, because pci-e is the way to go with new mobo purchases.

Captain Virgil Hilts · « **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2005, 10:12:45 AM »

I would like to have built a new rig, had I known I needed both a CPU and a motherboard a month or so ago when I had problems, I would have. I thought the constant power outages had just gotten the board and replacing it would fix it, but alas, that was not the case, the CPU was hurt as well.

My framerate is okay, 75 in the air and 30 or so on the ground with a lot of icons. I am running at 1024X768 with 256 textures now, and the detail sliders set 2/3 toward performance. I'd like to just step up pretty far in the detail settings and go to 512 textures without any framerate penalty.

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2005, 01:02:08 PM »

I run 512 textures with no problem on my FX5900 with 128 MB of RAM. Rest of my rig is pretty similar to yours. The 6600GT with 256MB should be able to handle 1024 textures with no problem, let alone 512. You can easily run the high res textures with that card and not take a big frame rate hit, if any at all. Your other settings would determine just how high you'd want to go on the max texture size.

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2005, 01:07:56 PM »

Btw, almost all major motherboard manufacturers have said they will keep making AGP boards as low-end and mid-range options for some time to come. PCI express will be the way to go, but right now they cant make it go much faster than AGP. Wont be cutting edge, but your video card should still be usable in a mid-range upgrade for the forseeable future. If you CAN go with it, its going to be the way of the future. If you cant, you wont get left behind for at least a year or so more. Maybe longer.

Captain Virgil Hilts · « **Reply #5 on:** June 02, 2005, 01:22:46 PM »

Getting this card will likely only put off a new system by a year or so. Meaning I would have upgraded in about 8-9 months anyway, so now it MIGHT be 18 months. At that point, I'll go PCI Express and use this rig for something else. AH II is about all I play anyway, and I figure this rig will do that for a good while, especially with the new card.

Clifra Jones · « **Reply #6 on:** June 02, 2005, 01:22:47 PM »

Virgil,

I put a 6600GT 128mb in my old Mobo and got very little benefit. But I was running a 4x mobo with 133 ram. That was the problem. I upgraded mobo, proc and ram and now it runs sweet.

I think you'll be please with the 6600GT in your system I would bump the RAM up to 1GB if you can. Not sure if you really need a 256MB vidcard though as I never get close to the limit of my video RAM with 128MB.

Captain Virgil Hilts · « **Reply #7 on:** June 02, 2005, 01:25:07 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Clifra Jones
Virgil,

I put a 6600GT 128mb in my old Mobo and got very little benefit. But I was running a 4x mobo with 133 ram. That was the problem. I upgraded mobo, proc and ram and now it runs sweet.

I think you'll be please with the 6600GT in your system I would bump the RAM up to 1GB if you can. Not sure if you really need a 256MB vidcard though as I never get close to the limit of my video RAM with 128MB.

I can get the 256 for about the same price as the 128, and the GT is not much higher than the plain 6600. Doubling my RAM, and keeping the same quality, would cost a lot more than the card. I'd LIKE to double my RAM as well, but I already spent $175 including shipping on the board and CPU.