XFX Overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB (PV-T43P-UDS7) Review

Introduction

Nowadays GeForce 6600 chip is located on the top of all entry-level NVIDIA GPUs (or at the bottom of all mid-range graphics chips, depending on how you look the market). We reviewed an overclocked model from XFX, called PV-T43P-UDS7, which comes with 256 MB GDDR2. Let’s see how it performs against “normal” GeForce 6600 models and also against other video cards available at the market.

Figure 1: XFX Overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB (PV-T43P-UDS7) box.

The main problem with GeForce 6600 is that NVIDIA doesn’t set a default memory clock for it, so you can find GeForce 6600 video cards with several different specs (and prices) on the market. So you may buy a GeForce 6600 because your cousin has one to learn later that it is slower than your cousin’s because it uses a different clock configuration.

GeForce 6600’s core clock is set by NVIDIA at 300 MHz but the memory clock and the number of bits (64 bits or 128 bits) isn’t set by the chip maker. So, we’ve seen on the market models accessing their video memory at 400 MHz, 500 MHz, 550 MHz and 600 MHz at 64- or 128-bit rate.

XFX, for example, has 14 different models for GeForce 6600, with different specs:

• PV-T43P-UDS7 (a.k.a. “256MB DDR2 DUAL DVI XXX Edition”): 450 MHz clock, 800 MHz memory clock, 256 MB 128-bit GDDR2.
• PV-T43P-YDL3 (a.k.a. “512MB DDR Dual DVI”): 450 MHz clock, 560 MHz memory clock, 512 MB 128-bit GDDR2.
• PV-T43P-UD (a.k.a. “256MB DDR DUAL DVI”): 256 MB 128-bit.
• PV-T43P-NA (a.k.a. “128MB DDR”): 128 MB 128-bit.
• PV-T43P-NDP7 (a.k.a. “128MB DDR3 Extreme Gamer Edition”): 1 GHz memory clock, 128 MB 128-bit GDDR3.
• PV-T43K-ND (a.k.a. “128MB DDR Dual DVI AGP”): 128 MB, 128-bit, AGP.
• PV-T43P-UDL6 (a.k.a. “256MB DDR2 DUAL DVI Extreme Edition”): 350 MHz clock, 700 MHz memory clock, 256 MB 128-bit GDDR2.
• PV-T43P-ND (a.k.a. “128MB DDR DUAL DVI”): 128 MB, 128-bit.
• PV-T43P-WFH (a.k.a. “256MB DDR VGA / TV Out”): 256 MB 64-bit DDR2, low profile.
• PV-T43P-UA (a.k.a. “256MB DDR”): 256 MB, 128-bit.
• PV-T43P-NDD7 (a.k.a. “128MB DDR DUAL DVI Extreme Gamer”): 300 MHz clock, 650 MHz memory clock, 128 MB, 128-bit.
• PV-T43K-UD (a.k.a. “256MB DDR AGP”): 256 MB, 128-bit, AGP.
• PV-T43P-RFH6 (a.k.a. “128MB DDR TV DVI LP”): 128 MB, 64-bit, low profile.
• PV-T43P-WANG (a.k.a. “256MB DDR2 TV DVI LP”): 256 MB, 64-bit, low profile.

As we mentioned, we are reviewing PV-T43P-UDS7, a.k.a. “256MB DDR2 DUAL DVI XXX Edition”, which can be seen in Figure 2, running at 450 MHz and memory at 800 MHz.

Figure 2: XFX Overclocked GeForce 6600 256 MB (PV-T43P-UDS7).

You can see in our tutorial “NVIDIA Chips Comparison Table” the difference between GeForce 6600 and the other chips from NVIDIA, while on our tutorial “ATI Chips Comparison Table” you can compare it to its competitors from ATI.

Let’s now take a closer look at the PV-T43P-UDS7 model from XFX.