6600 vanilla vs. 6600 GT

[luigionlsd]

A friend of mine is a casual PC gamer (WoW, RTSes, some FPS), and has a Dell. Currently it's a P4 2.6 GHz with 512 RAM and a GF MX440. With Oblivion coming out, he doesn't quite want to spend $400 for a 360, but he will need a new video card. Initially I was thinking a GF 6600 GT, but his power supply is 250 watts. Then I saw the 6600 vanillas for around $90, and thought it may be an okay solution, but I wasn't able to find very many benchmarks. The 6600 vanillas don't require a bigger PSU than normal (no molex needed), so I thought it would be a good fit for him. Currently, he plays WoW, Civilization IV, SW Empire at War, and soon to be Oblivion. I was just wondering what you guys thought. He needs an AGP card that will play Oblivion decently (aka nVidia 6-series), for relatively cheap ($150 or less). Your input is appreciated, thanks!!

 

[Slitherythesnake]

Since your friend wants to play Oblivion, I'd go for the 6600 GT since you're going to need all the power you can get. However, I'm wondering if it'll run on his PSU.

 

[hans030390]

my 6600gt runs on a tiny 300watt psu. what are the specs of his psu? it will likely run a 6600gt ok.

 

[imhungry]

If it's a Dell 4600 it should be ok.

I ran a Dell with a 3.0Ghz Northwood, 1GB of DDRam, bunch of extra fans, 3+ HDDs, a bunch of disc drives, and of course, a 6600GT.
Worked fine.

 

[Amplifier]

I ran my 6600gt on a 250 watt antec.

 

[SonicIce]

yo yo yo. Here's some benchies. It looks like 6600 vanilla is struggling to keep up with 9800 Pro or 9600 XT in most games. He'd prolly be better off with one of those. Wait untill Oblivion comes out and see how it performs on older cards.

I'm not sure how 6600 compares power-wise, which is what we really need to know. Heres a power consumption test, but It doesn't have 9x00's on it. I would assume 6600 would use less power due to newer architecture. But we don't even know if it will work anyway. If he's got $150 to spend, that's enough for a $100 card and a $50 PSU

 

[CCityInstaller]

I suggest that he pick up the Sapphire X800GTO here from Newegg. It's only $165, and I think it's well worth a few dollars more then the 6600GT. It is faster then the 6600GT at stock speeds, and they overclock well.

 

[Zebo]

Don't waste your money on 6600.

CCI- Why would you get that with this out there?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130267

 

[CCityInstaller]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Don't waste your money on 6600.

CCI- Why would you get that with this out there?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130267

Zebo, that is a great choice if you want to go the Nvidia route, but according to the OP, his friend needs an AGP card, and the one you linked to is PCI-e. I perfer ATI myself, and shy of the X850XT and the Nvidia 7800GS, the card I linked to is the fasted he can get, especially for under $170.

 

[Zebo]

Ah my mistake did'nt realise AGP.. you'e right good deal. I recommend any brand..it's all price/performance here.

 

[luigionlsd]

Thanks for the generous replies, guys, but I think i'll have him double check his power supply. He has a Dimension 8300, so if anyone knows off hand what that is standard... that'd be great. I'm hoping he can get a 6600 GT running, but otherwise we might have to do some looking. He can afford the 6600 GT, but we're trying to not have to buy a power supply. That's the only reason I even suggested a 6600 vanilla would be appropriate. If you have any input, it is appreciated!

 

[luigionlsd]

Bump... still looking for an answer