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Mid-range PCI Express graphics comparison - tech|
| (hx) 10:10 AM CET - Dec,09 2004 | A new wave of next-gen PCI Express graphics cards led by ATI's Radeon X700
family and NVIDIA's GeForce 6600 series offer surprisingly compelling
performance at astonishingly affordable price points. But which one is right for
you?
TechReport has rounded up an array of mid-range PCI-E graphics cards from
Abit, Albatron, Chaintech, Gigabyte, and XFX to find out:
Abit RX700 Pro-128PCIE - For the money, the Abit Radeon X700 Pro is a
pretty good deal. Performance isn't bad, either. However, the card's lacking
software bundle and comparatively weak warranty don't make for a compelling
package. It's also disappointing that the card is so bland. Abit's vGuru
technology would have really spiced things up, but it looks like we'll have to
wait a little while longer for Abit to bring that to its X700 line.
Albatron Trinity PC6600 - With the lowest price point in this comparison,
it's no surprise that the Albatron GeForce 6600 is the slowest card in the pack.
However, the fact that it's consistently beaten by the vanilla Radeon X700
doesn't bode well for the GeForce 6600's future as a gaming card. This card's
saving grace may be its nifty video output dongle and the fact that it's barely
more expensive than budget GeForce 6200 cards. That's not a bad deal, if you ask
me.
Chaintech SE6600G - The GeForce 6600 GT is easily the best mid-range PCI
Express graphics card for gaming, but it's Chaintech's spin on the 6600 GT that
makes this card special. With a great video output dongle and a free copy of
Painkiller, the Chaintech GeForce 6600 GT has enough extras to differentiate
itself from the rest of the field, even if it is turquoise. At only $199, the
card is well-priced and my Editor's Choice for this comparison.
Gigabyte GV-RX70P256V - The Gigabyte Radeon X700 Pro isn't cheap, but
it's loaded with enough goodies to justify the $255 price tag. Great games,
VIVO, silent cooling, and 256MB of memory make the Gigabyte card a tantalizing
option, but the card still has a hard time keeping up with the GeForce 6600 GTs
in most of the games we tested. Gigabyte should be commended for offering a
unique product in the GV-RX70P256V, but VIVO's more limited appeal and the X700
Pro's tendency to trail the GeForce 6600 GT keeps this card from being our
Editor's Choice.
XFX PVT43GNDD7 - The XFX GeForce 6600 GT "Extreme Gamer's Edition" is
easily the fastest card in this comparison, but it sells for a lofty $269 and is
only available from XFX's online store. $269 is pricey for a GeForce 6600 GT,
even an overclocked one with dual DVI. The fact that XFX's standard GeForce 6600
GT, which sports the same dual DVI outputs and an identical game bundle, sells
for less than $190 means you're paying $80 for memory that's only 200MHz faster.
The Extreme Gamer's Edition's performance advantage over the standard GeForce
6600 GT just isn't large enough to justify that big price difference, although
it does make XFX's standard GeForce 6600 GT look like a pretty sweet bargain.
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