FWIW: GeForce 6600GT vs Radeon 9800XT

For what it's worth, I had the opportunity to run some comparisons between these two cards and thought I'd post the results here (4 runs on 3DMark06):



Summary:

• the 6600GT (which came O.C. by manufacturer BFG) scored higher 3DMark scores: on average, 1120 versus the 9800XT's 1094
• the 9800XT scored higher Shader Model 2.0 scores: on average: 552 versus the 600GT's 414
• the 6600GT is capable of Shader Model 3.0, while the 9800XT is not, scoring an average of 411.
• the 6600GT is quieter. MUCH quieter. Despite the much smaller fan and heatsinks, it seems to run cooler too (or maybe that's due to the cool blue LED...)

Most sources confirm that the 6600GT moderately out-performs the 9800XT. I wasn't able to confirm much real-word results after a few games of Battlefield 2, but this is most likely due to CPU & memory bottlenecks (P4 @ 3.0Ghz, 1 GB DDR1).
On any account, thanks to a friend, I am glad to have the card for purely fanboy reasons as I am now running a complete decade of nvidia cards; from TNT2 to 260m

 

9800 XT is the king of its era, and 6600GT was the first full 100% increase in performance compared to its last gen.

What that means is that when the nvidia GeForce 6000 series landed, the medium range cards (6600GT) were actually stronger than the high end cards of previous gen (GeForce 5950, Ati 9800XT etc).

ATi followed suit with the X700, but it ended being the exact same in performance as the 9800XT thus, a bit slower than the 6600GT.

The 6600GT were the best bang for your buck, and overall the series were a triumphant competitive return of nVidia after a disatrous GeForce 5000 series.

GeForce 7000 series had a medium inscrease in performance, and GeForce 8000 again did a full 100% increase.

Man, I miss the old fanboy battles I was mainly an ATi supporter, but I have always used and recommended both nVidia and ATi cards.

 

I remember that! Well after my 9800XT, another friend got his X700, and we were both surprised and he dismayed when it only barely out-performed it!

You were right about the ping-pong battles, as I remember the 9800XT was a no-brainer at the time, coming just after NVidia's GeForce 4 farce, and the feigned benchmark scandal (took them almost a year to get the egg off their face).

Reluctantly I accepted ATI, but was met by constant grief and disappointment after every driver release failed to impress. While it was a powerful card and held its own hardware-wise, I still pined for the days when Detonator and TNT2 worked like a team, always on my side.
But yep, the ball keeps switching courts as even recently I had to suppress my inner fanboi and recommend another friend the HD55xx series since the GeForce 300's were just a rebrand and early fermi still a bit shaky. Although the later 400 series is showing progress and may yet again put the ball back in NVidia's court.

Remember when 3DFX was still a player and Voodoo giving NVidia and ATI a run for their money? I still have bets that Intel might give the same fate to NVidia as they did to 3Dfx.

I wonder what (or who) we'll be benching in another decade from now...

 

The GTX 460 is the best value out there right now. 6600GT was a classic though, hell the entire range of 6 series cards was, much like the 8 series is now. Anyone with a 6600GT can run quite a number of games out there, even some newer titles, just with everything turned down. Pretty damn impressive for a 6 year old mainstream card. However I'd give the king of longevity to the ATi 9800 series of cards, as they were introduced a year and a half earlier.

 

These old card comparisons are always fun to read, mostly to see by how much my laptop dusts 'em.

 

mine doesn't dust them , its burns them and it also burns urs.. anyways , why is this here? Isn't this about desktops?

 

and mines combo to burn you'r we some one with a m17x will come to burn me

i also have a mobility 9600 pro turbo lying around for my ood inspiron 9600 it was incredible for it's age i was able to play supreme commander on the thing

 

i still have a dell latitude D600 with a Mobility 9600... anyways , my G73 will roast ur M17x

 

In your sig you call your GPU the best in the world, yet it is not by a looong shot. Pretty sure my old HD4890 would have easily whooped its butt, let alone my current config of two GTX 260's in SLI.