eVGA e-GeForce 6600 vs 6600 GT

[thatonegeek]

i need to get a new video card, and i'm looking at 2 possibilities... both made by eVGA, both PCI Express. i like World of Warcraft and that's the most graphically intense thing i'm looking to get into right now. i might try D&D Online some day, but i'm not impressed with the previews.

relevant details on the the 128MB 6600 GT (128-P2-N368) include 2ns DDR3 memory... 500 MHz clock, 1000 MHz effective... 16 GB per sec memory bandwidth.

the 256MB 6600 (256-P2-N370) has 4ns DDR memory... 300 Mhz GPU, 250 MHz memory (how is the memory speed different than the GPU speed? this is confusing to me), 500 MHz effective... 8 GB per sec bandwidth.

the spec sheet on the 256 MB card also does not specify that it's SLI-capable, while the 128 MB card definitely is.

both cards have 8 pixel pipelines. i don't know what that means, but since they're the same it isn't going to affect which one i get.

my question is what do all these numbers mean. it looks to me like the 128MB GT is the way to go... or does having 256 MB make more of a difference than the bandwidth and MHz?

thanks for any explanations or suggestions!

 

[NeezyDeezy]

To answer your question strictly, the 6600GT is going to be better for WoW

But, depending on your budget, I'd go with the 6800gs and unlock it personally, it will be a nice difference and you should be able to run WoW at max settings.

 

[zagood]

6600GT is a better card all around.

6800GS would be much better, but at 80+ bucks more for the card you have to check your budget.

-z

 

[v8envy]

6800GS is down to $170 shipped. Don't even THINK about the 256 meg 6600GT, that GPU isn't manly enough to demand that much video ram.

Either get the cheapest 6600GT you can find from EVGA, BFG, Leadtek or XFX, or a 6800GS.

 

[NeezyDeezy]

To be very detailed about it then, if you can spend up to the amount a 6600gt costs (119 or so), then for that I would prefer a 6800XT, which has 8 pipelines stock but can be unlocked to 12 or even 16 pipes and 6 shaders for only $100! Then again, I always try to get the VERY best bang for the buck, so if you just want to plug and play get the 6600gt.

 

[A554SS1N]

Originally posted by: NeezyDeezy
To be very detailed about it then, if you can spend up to the amount a 6600gt costs (119 or so), then for that I would prefer a 6800XT, which has 8 pipelines stock but can be unlocked to 12 or even 16 pipes and 6 shaders for only $100! Then again, I always try to get the VERY best bang for the buck, so if you just want to plug and play get the 6600gt.

The PCI-E 6800XT can only be unlocked to 12 pipes maximum; but nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend to someone they start unlocking pipes if they don't know much about graphics cards in general, as it'll likely be too confusing - I know a couple of years back when I hadn't got a clue, it would have been confusing!

If that's his budget, a 6600GT is fine.