Need Help Picking a VC

[Doobie Snacks]

Well guys, i have been looking around for a video card to buy at mid-range. Tiger direct currently has a XFX Geforce 6600 256 MB DDR-2 at $124. This product comes with full dvd version of FarCry and lifetime parts and labor. I also hear this card overclocks well (Though i don't think i am comfortable overclocking). The other choice is the XFX Geforce 6600GT 128 MB DDR-3 at $130 with rebate. limited parts and labor. All i want is to run HL2 with quality settings. Either of these two will beat the hell out of my old Geforce 4 mx440 POS. My setup is a P4 2.8 GHz with 1 Gig of RAM. Should i go for the 6600 256 or the 6600GT 128?

Thanks Guys,
Doobie Snacks

 

[dug777]

i'd get the 6600, overclocking is a piece of pie, if you need any help just as here, plus you get farcry, which ****** rocks

either of them will blast along with hl2, it scales beautifully...i'm playing at 1024, 4xAA/8xAF and maxed details on my 6600GT at 570/1145...

If you don't want to overclock, get the 6600GT, that's basically the same level of performance as you'd get out of the 6600 when you overclocked it...

 

[Relion]

I currently own (kinda its on RMA) and it plays HL decently...not everything on MAX...but it s decent...6600 is slower tho ... but since all u want to play is HL I think its ok. Besides it comes with FC that is an excelent game !!!

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

If you OC your 6600 to GT speeds you will get better performance due to the extra framebuffer but running at stock, 128MB 6600GT owns 256MB 6600 . . .

I'd get the 6600GT though since you can OC that as well to get 6800 speeds . . .

But the free FarCry may tip the balance somewhat for the 256MB 6600 . . .

 

[Doobie Snacks]

So, if overclocking is easy, then ill go for the 6600. Right now the most graphics heavy games i have are UT2004, HL2, and Doom 3. So, I'll prob go for the 6600 and overclock with a little help . But if the 6600 GT OCs to 6800 speeds, that might be good to. However, would it be a good idea to get a 500W power supply before overclocking?

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

For the PSU it's quality before wattage . . . if you get a crappy 500W PSU it may be outperformed by a quality 420W PSU . . . you should check out something like the Antec TPII 550W . . .

 

[Doobie Snacks]

yeah, i hear rebates take a while, but that's a great card. Only if it was AGP, i don't know if i have PCI Express on my PC. I'm not home so i can't find out. If not that would have been great.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: Doobie Snacks
yeah, i hear rebates take a while, but that's a great card. Only if it was AGP, i don't know if i have PCI Express on my PC. I'm not home so i can't find out. If not that would have been great.

Sorry I misread the rebate . . . it's only if you buy a crossfire card along with it . . . I've edited my posts accordingly . . .

Sorry, I also missed the fact that you have AGP lol . . .

 

[Doobie Snacks]

No Prob. But as to the power supply, am i much better off getting that antec 550 for $80? or can i go for some of the $50-$65 power supples?

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: Doobie Snacks
No Prob. But as to the power supply, am i much better off getting that antec 550 for $80? or can i go for some of the $50-$65 power supples?

Get the Antec . . . it's a proven HQ PSU . . . some of the cheaper PSUs may be good but it may not . . . with Antec unless you get a defective product the quality is pretty much guaranteed to be high . . .

The Antec TPII 550W is a quality PSU an will def. help in getting more stability of your entire system, not just with the vid card . . .

 

[compgeek89]

Definitly the 6600 GT, best budget card ever.

 

[zagood]

That Antec TPII 500 is a great power supply, if you want to spend less though I've heard some really good things about this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817101513

With the money you save on the power supply, go for the 6800 AGP. At stock it's faster than the 6600GT and you have about a 50% chance of unlocking the masked pipelines to make it even faster.

XFX $179.99 from newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150106

eVga $179.99 from TD:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...etails.asp?EdpNo=1009366&sku=E145-6800

By the way, XFX has changed it's warranty on the 6xxx series cards to a "Double Lifetime" warranty, if you sell the card the someone they get the lifetime warranty as well.

http://www.xfxforce.com/web/support/sho...jspa?regionId=1&productGenerationId=40

-z

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: zagood
That Antec TPII 500 is a great power supply, if you want to spend less though I've heard some really good things about this one:

Yeah probably but you really want to have at least 30A on that 12V rail . . . the PSU is the most important component of a computer, so it's best not to skimp on it . . .

 

[Doobie Snacks]

ahhh!!! so many choices!!! Thanks guys for all the help. So a 450W PS would be enough? Cuz if so, i may think about the 6800. And what is this about a 50% chance of unlocking additional pipelines?

Right now though, i'm leaning towards 6600 256 and the antec 550W power supply and just overclock the card.

My only concern is down the road if there's that much of a difference between the 6600OC and the 6600GT, that i'll regret not getting the GT instead.

 

[zagood]

Seriously, I think the Antec 550 is overkill. You'll be fine with 28 amps on the +12v for the 450w.

Unlocking the 6800:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=1500237

Good luck!

-z

 

[Eureka]

Get the 6600GT instead of the 6600, even when it's OCed it can only match 6600GT stock speeds. Although FarCry is an awesome game, it kills even my 6600GT... ugh the things it could do with a 6600 reg.

Norm

 

[HomeAppraiser]

I currently have a MSI 6600GT 128mb DDR3 AGP running just fine in my kids AMD64 rig on the stock 300watt power supply. No overclocking and frame rates are good on almost every game including Star Wars Battlefront 2. We don't have FEAR or any ultra gory games but you should be fine with the 6600GT 128mb PCI. Now if you plan on running games at 1600 x 1200 you will need a card with 256mb or more of video memory. Far Cry is only $19.99 in stores and will most likely be in the $9.99 or less bin after Christmas so don't let that sway you.

Good luck.

 

[lifeguard1999]

I have the XFX Geforce 6600GT 128 MB and it is a great card. Still, the 6600 has 256MB of memory and can o/c to match the 6600GT's results. I would buy the 6600 256MB version if I had only $130 or so. Other choices would be:

6800 128 MB for $150
6800 256 MB for $190
6800GS 256 MB for $204

 

[ashishmishra]

If you can spring for a Geforce 6800GS, do that; it is one of the best FPS/dollar deal currently, look hard and u can get it for even $190 and believe me for the rough performance level of the 6800GT that is an awesome price. The kind of games coming out like FEAR and NFS Most Wanted can certainly benefit from extra horsepower even at 1024 x 768

Also I'm running my 256MB MSI 6800 (400/800) with the HP Pavilion's stock 300W PSU, so seriously even 350W (good quality) PSU is sufficient for the 6800GS

EDIT: oops I didn't notice u had an AGP slot, then I would go for the 128MB 6600GT agp. If you want check the hot deals forums as I remeber seeing a X850Pro for some $179 something. If u get the 6600GT then don't worry about the PSU even if you want to overclock the card, if my 300W PSU is handling the 6800 (400/800) then 6600GT shouldn't be an issue stock or overclocked.

-------------------------
CPU: Athlon 64 3500+ Venice @11x220=2420 mhz
Mobo: MSI RS480
RAM: 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 @2x220=DDR440 3-3-3-6
Video: MSI 6800 256MB (400/800)
HD: Seagate 250GB SATA 7200 rpm
Western Digital 250GB SATA 7200 rpm
Monitor: HP mx705 CRT 17"