http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2295 http://firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_6600_gt_agp_roundup/
My opinion, I just purchases an agp 6600gt. MSI XFX BFE MSI if you don't need Dual DVI, XFX if you do. BFE is king on review but expensive. So either msi or XFX, I got the XFX because of the dual DVI, but after reciving it I would reather have the MSI because of this, low noise, rams sinks, and VIVO Firstperson
IMO, the top 6x00 series card manufacturers are (in no particular order): 1. eVGA 2. BFG OC 3. Gainward 4. Chaintech 5. Leadtek 6. ASUS
cheapest doesn't necessarily mean best. Although the chipset is the same, and they perform the same pretty much, getting the cheapest also means getting the cheapest quality of the bunch. Now, unless you get some big brand company, then i wouldn't mind getting the cheapest there, but if you get the cheapest out of all the manufactueres, then.....yea.
Well one of the reasons of my order is price XFX 205 MSI 220 BFG 250 The XFX has a crappy game bundel while MSI has a decent one and BFG has a lifetime warrenty So its basically what you want cheap/dual dvi= XFX Quite/good game bundel =msi Lifetimewarrenty/fast = BFG After all the reading I have done don't bother reading core temps and overclocking, it really does vary a TON between Every Card not just brand. Firstperson
My PNY doesnt have a temp. probe so I assume the MSI one doesnt either. The XFX model has faster memory than the others so Id consider that, only reason I got this one is I had some gift certificates for Compusa that I had to burn and this is all they had available to me (otherwise Id listen to my own advice ). I have read that you can bios mod any of the 6600gt's to enable the temp probe though. Im considering giving this a shot but I dont have alot of experience in doing such things so Im not sure if its worth while or not.
PNYs doesn't have temp sensors. Are you sure XFX has faster memory, I thought that their card is just overclocked to have that.
It appears all the 6600 GT's do in fact have temperature sensors on die, although not ambient sensors. Just read a post on another forum how to edit the bios in order to enable it. Apparently the XFX card has 1.6ns GDDR3 vs 2.0ns ram on the other cards.
Also, you may want to look at the memory speeds. The reference for memory is 900MHz (vs 1000MHZ for PCIe version). And no, XFX has the same 2.0ns memory (which is exactly 1000MHZ rating).
Anandtech's review states that the XFX card has 1.6ns ram... http://www.xfxforce.com/product_view.php?sku=PVT43GNDD7 check the specs on that one... 1200mhz which is 1.6ns.
"There is 128 Mb GDDR3 onboard video memory with a 128-bit data transmission bus, with the memory made up of four Samsung chips marked K4J55323QF-GC16, made in the BGA form factor, of 1.6 ns access time, which is equivalent to 625 MHz (1250 MHz DDR) operating frequency. The nominal operating frequency is 500 MHz (1000 MHz DDR). That is, the memory offers quite good overclocking capabilities. " from an article on Digital-Daily: http://www.digital-daily.com/video/6600gtr/index03.htm Update: Anands 6600GT roundup states the same specs. Just make sure you order the "Gamers Edition" from the xfx link above if you go with this one. The standard 6600GT appears to only have 2.0ns ram.
i love my gigabyte 6600gt pcie. glad it did well in that review, its a great card and the support guys at gigabyte are top notch if you ever need to call them.
