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

Conclusions

Overclocked models are always an option for users that don’t want to play with overclocking by themselves. If you are one of these users, this model from XFX is great, because it comes already overclocked and with 256 MB GDDR2, double the amount of regular GeForce 6600 and GeForce 6600 GT.

Speaking of GeForce 6600 GT, it of course was faster than this boosted GeForce 6600 model from XFX, however in some situations it was amazingly faster: on 3DMark03 at 1600×1200 with high quality image settings enabled and at 3DMark05 at 1280×1024, 1600×1200 (almost 40% faster) and at 1024×768 with image quality settings enable (60% faster, really impressive). We couldn’t run GeForce 6600 GT at 1280×1024 and 1600×1200 with image quality settings enable because it only had 128 MB.

This is quite remarkable, since GeForce 6600 GT runs at 500 MHz for core and 1 GHz for memory, while the reviewed model runs at 450 MHz for core and 800 MHz for memory. The 256 MB really made some difference here.

Of course this video card is a little bit more expensive than plain GeForce 6600 models, but keep in mind that plain models come with only 128 MB and the reviewed model had 256 MB. Let’s compare apples to apples. On Shopping.com we could find an ASUS Extreme N6600 with 256 MB costing exactly the same thing, but it isn’t overclocked. And this model from XFX also comes with Far Cry on DVD.

Comparing it to GeForce 6600 GT is a little bit more complicated. GeForce 6600 GT with 128 MB also from XFX can be found by USD 120 on the market. But it only comes with 128 MB.

So it’s your pick, depending on the kind of games you will play. If you like to play recent games maxing out image quality settings, this model from XFX is an excellent option because of its 256 MB. But if you don’t run games like this, GeForce 6600 GT is a better choice. Of course if you have more than USD 120 to spend on a video card and want an even better performance, you should look for other mid-range options.