6600gt - 1.6 ns memory worth the extra $$ ?

[cpush]

Hey guys, I am going to be picking up a 6600gt, and was wondering if I should throw down the extra 30 or so on a video card that has 1.6ns(xfx) memory rather than 2.0(chaintech)

thanks

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

1. Real quick. Check the Hot Deals forum because there's a good deal on the X800XL right this second. You may be like me and turned off by the lack of SM3.0 and the still not insignificant price difference and the possibility that we'll see newer cards within a month or two and don't want to drop a lot of money on a card you'll soon be EBaying, but FWIW.

2. While OCing a card always yields performance gains, those gains will be proportionately lower with the 6600GT because of the smaller memory interface.

 

[cpush]

so not worth the extra $, is a regular reference 6600gt such as the gainward a good buy?

 

[BobDaMenkey]

There really isn't much of a difference between the memories on the 6600GTs. The cards are running close to the max as it is, so there isn't much room to OC anyway about it.

 

[ssvegeta1010]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey
There really isn't much of a difference between the memories on the 6600GTs. The cards are running close to the max as it is, so there isn't much room to OC anyway about it.

That is true to a degree. Although the my not Oc as well as a 6800GT, I have seen some 6600GTs up near 600/650 (An over 20% OC)
But the memory doesnt make a large difference in the OC of the card.

 

[cpush]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
1. Real quick. Check the Hot Deals forum because there's a good deal on the X800XL right this second. You may be like me and turned off by the lack of SM3.0 and the still not insignificant price difference and the possibility that we'll see newer cards within a month or two and don't want to drop a lot of money on a card you'll soon be EBaying, but FWIW.

How long do these deals last?

 

[aatf510]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
1. Real quick. Check the Hot Deals forum because there's a good deal on the X800XL right this second. You may be like me and turned off by the lack of SM3.0 and the still not insignificant price difference and the possibility that we'll see newer cards within a month or two and don't want to drop a lot of money on a card you'll soon be EBaying, but FWIW.

2. While OCing a card always yields performance gains, those gains will be proportionately lower with the 6600GT because of the smaller memory interface.

OMG, you are picking up a GT over the XL? SM3 is nice, but it won't make up for that huge of a performance gap.

 

[cpush]

naw dude I'll totally go for the xl, just wondering how logn those deals at monarch will last, and if i will see that kind of price drop in the next 2 weeks

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: cpush
naw dude I'll totally go for the xl, just wondering how logn those deals at monarch will last, and if i will see that kind of price drop in the next 2 weeks

Monarch can and does change prices at any time, including nights and weekends. Some deals are a few hours, some are a week or more, you just cannot tell. They're renound for it. So if the X800XL deal looks good, buy it now, or at least save it as quote.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: toattett

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
1. Real quick. Check the Hot Deals forum because there's a good deal on the X800XL right this second. You may be like me and turned off by the lack of SM3.0 and the still not insignificant price difference and the possibility that we'll see newer cards within a month or two and don't want to drop a lot of money on a card you'll soon be EBaying, but FWIW.

2. While OCing a card always yields performance gains, those gains will be proportionately lower with the 6600GT because of the smaller memory interface.

OMG, you are picking up a GT over the XL? SM3 is nice, but it won't make up for that huge of a performance gap.

Did you happen to notice I listed several other things besides SM3.0? There's nothing an X800XL could do for me that a 6600GT can't for the next few months, so, I'm cool spending $100 less for now and waiting to see what unveils.

 

[TStep]

I think with such a high clock core clock and only a 128bit mem bus, the faster memory (if it is truely running faster) will balance the card a little better when using AA/AF. Similar to how the 9800 series gains ground on the 6600 when AA/AF are enabled (it just uses a wider bit bus to provide the bandwith).

Edit: don't know if it's worth an extra $30. I suppose your gaming habits, resolution, etc would deternine it's worth.

 

[Mingon]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
1. Real quick. Check the Hot Deals forum because there's a good deal on the X800XL right this second. You may be like me and turned off by the lack of SM3.0 and the still not insignificant price difference and the possibility that we'll see newer cards within a month or two and don't want to drop a lot of money on a card you'll soon be EBaying, but FWIW.

2. While OCing a card always yields performance gains, those gains will be proportionately lower with the 6600GT because of the smaller memory interface.

Your 2nd point is not strictly true. cards with 256bit memory have much more memory bandwidth than 128bit ones hence the relative gains (with a 128bit card) are likely to be greater as they are more likely to be bandwidth starved. A card with large bandwidth needs the fillrate to effectively use it otherwise gains will be modest.

An example would be a 6800LE it is likely to see less gain per mhz on the memory than a 6600 as it has less fillrate (ignoring 4ROP's) and the opposite is true in that the 6800le has lots of bandwidth but little relative fill rate and as such would respond better (% wise) to an overclock of the core.

 

[imported_humey]

Hmm, he asked about 2 diff Nvidia cards, why you all suggesting ATI, then, that wasnt his Q 😕

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: humey
Hmm, he asked about 2 diff Nvidia cards, why you all suggesting ATI, then, that wasnt his Q 😕

Because if a 6600GT with faster ram is $30 more expensive than a regular 6600GT ($170), that would put its price at around $200. As an X800XL can now be had for $254 shipped, it would make no sense at all to recommend the 1.6ns equipped XFX 6600GT to the OP.

 

[cpush]

guys, I grabbed the $254 dollar XL 🙂 thanks

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: humey
Hmm, he asked about 2 diff Nvidia cards, why you all suggesting ATI, then, that wasnt his Q 😕

I presumed, correctly apparently 🙂, that he was looking to maximize performance on a budget.

 

[cpush]

true, and that's what I did, thanks alot.. probably wouldn't have thought about it if you didn't bring it to my attention 🙂

 

[bersl2]

I'm curious about this. Has somebody made a list of what RAM chips are in what vendor's card?