With GeForce 6600 GT, NVIDIA has established new levels of performance for the mainstream graphics segment, shattering all the previous performance records for a $200 graphics card. But beating up RADEON 9800 PROs and GeForce FX 5900 XTs isn’t all the GeForce 6600 GT can do, in our testing the GeForce 6600 GT outperformed last year’s high-end $500 RADEON 9800 XT graphics card in many of our benchmarks.
In fact, thanks to its 500MHz core clock and 8 pixel pipelines, the GeForce 6600 GT boasts a slight fill rate advantage over GeForce 6800. This allows it to perform roughly evenly with the GeForce 6800 under less intensive situations, even in more recent titles such as DOOM 3.
But before you whip out your credit card, don’t forget ATI. Rumor has it that they have a mainstream GeForce 6600 GT competitor of their own up their sleeve. Some online reports suggest this upcoming part shares many of the same traits as GeForce 6600 GT, such as a similar 8x1 pipeline configuration and comparable clock frequencies for the graphics core and memory.
If these rumors ring true, ATI’s upcoming mainstream part could be quite a worthy competitor to the GeForce 6600 GT, although it’s doubtful such a card would support SM 3.0 considering that the high-end RADEON X800 doesn’t have it. Clearly ATI needs to respond to GeForce 6600 GT if they wish to remain competitive in the mainstream segment, as the X600 XT doesn’t come close to matching the 6600 GT in performance.
Besides ATI though, another lingering question remains: availability. NVIDIA has stated that the first GeForce 6600 GTs will begin shipping later this month, but these will be PCI Express 6600 GT cards that are destined for the OEM market. We have no doubt that e-tailers like Newegg and Zipzoomfly will be able to get their hands on some of these cards, but the question is can NVIDIA deliver? GeForce 6800 Ultra is still in short supply, with most board partners focusing their efforts on GeForce 6800 and GeForce 6800 GT instead.
It would be a definite disappointment to a lot of gamers if history were to repeat itself again for GeForce 6600 GT and cards were hard to find. Also keep in mind that AGP-based GeForce 6600 GTs will trail PCI-E boards by a few weeks, so if you planned on picking up an AGP 6600 GT, we wouldn’t be surprised if you have to wait until the middle of October until the first boards become available.
In any case, NVIDIA’s engineering team deserves our recognition for significantly raising the bar this year. First they unveiled their groundbreaking GeForce 6800 series (with a particular emphasis from us on the extremely popular GeForce 6800 GT), then SLI for their high-end PCI Express graphics cards, and now the GeForce 6600 family. For a $200 upgrade, the GeForce 6600 GT is going to be tough to beat. When you factor in the SLI advantage NVIDIA currently boasts, ATI is going to have their hands full surpassing the GeForce 6600 GT…
Batman: Arkham City PC Review Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to 2009’s smash-hit action game Batman: Arkham Asylum. As the name suggests, you will be reprising your role as the Caped Crusader and going against an even larger 'prison' filled with Gotham's criminals and villains. A textbook example on how to do a proper sequel, Arkham City takes what worked in the original, excised or improved upon what didn’t, and elevated everything to an even greater scope. The PC version suffered from a few months of delay, but in that time, Rocksteady worked closely to NVIDIA to implement some familiar technologies from the last game, such as PhysX and 3D Vision, along with new DirectX 11 optimizations. But how well was the whole package executed? Read on to find out!
Saints Row: The Third PC Review Saints Row is one of most unique series of games to build upon the open-world action template forged by Grand Theft Auto, and has met with plenty of critical and commercial success since it began on consoles back in 2006. This latest iteration, titled Saints Row: The Third promises the most outlandish fun and freedom of customization of them all, and in a much more PC-friendly package than its predecessor. Does it live up to those expectations and, more importantly, is it worth the price of admission? Find out in Will's latest review!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Review The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Bethesda Softworks’ latest offering in their series of epic fantasy RPGs, as well as one of the most highly-anticipated PC titles of 2011. As the Dovahkiin, or Dragonborn, prepare to take the fight to the mythical beasts that have returned to the realm after centuries of slumber, all the while exploring a huge and highly-detailed open world.
The PC version of the game promises enhanced graphical fidelity, standard RPG trimmings such as hotkeys and quick-save, as well as unbridled mod support, something we’ll all be thankful for once they release that SDK. Skyrim has already sold millions of copies and set records for play-time on Steam... Find out why in today's review, which happens to be one of the biggest and most in-depth articles on the subject out there!
L.A. Noire Complete Edition PC Review L.A. Noire, as the name clearly states, is a video game built on the tropes of one of the greatest periods of American cinema: film noir. Developed by the now defunct Australian developer Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games, this title has been out on consoles for a full six months before finally making its way to the PC. This “Complete Edition” of the game features improved graphics, keyboard/mouse controls, and every bit of previously-released DLC for free. But was it truly worth the wait? Read on and find out!
Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E Performance Review
Today marks the launch date for Intel’s Sandy Bridge-E line of processors, a new family of high-end Core i7 products based on the LGA 2011 platform. This new socket is poised to replace the existing LGA 1366 specification used by the more powerful Nehalem and Westmere parts from the past couple years, specifically Bloomfield and Gulftown, the Core i7-9xx+ line of CPUs.
With 6 cores, 15MB of cache, and support for quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory, the Core i7-3960X sounds like quite a catch. Want to know more about it and how it performs? Read on!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Xbox 360 Review
The self-appointed "most anticipated game in history" launched worldwide this past Tuesday. Why, it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, of course (of course), what else? Unsurprisingly, the military FPS debate between this and Battlefield 3 rages on, but now that both have been released, surely we can take a look and objectively evaluate them both? Luke's taken the Xbox version of MW3 for a spin this week, so to find out what he thinks of it in today's review!
Stronghold 3 Review
The latest sequel in the long-running real-time strategy franchise from FireFly Studios, Stronghold 3 is all about building your dream castle and defending it against sieging enemies. Almost exactly one decade after the first game was released, this new title promises a return to the classic and well-received gameplay that has been strayed so far from in more recent iterations. Does it live up to those expectations? Will (AKA Synchronous Failure) tells us all about it in his first official FiringSquad review, so read on!
Battlefield 3 PC Review - Single-player Impressions
One of the most highly-anticipated PC games of the year is upon us; Battlefield 3 is now available in North America! EA/DICE have finally delivered a sequel to the core Battlefield franchise, a proper follow-up to BF2. Having played through the game's single-player campaign already, ahead of the multiplayer festivities kicking off around midnight, I figured I'd share my impressions ASAP. Is it really a worthy addition to the core Battlefield series, or just another bullet point on the back of the box? Read on and find out!
Wrecked: Revenge Revisited Supersonic Software Interview
Following up on our hands-on preview from earlier this month, here's an interview with Supersonic Software, creators of Wrecked: Revenge Revisited. The game's coming out on XBLA and PSN in a matter of weeks, but for now, Luke chats with the developer about its predecessors Mashed and Micro Machines, how difficult it can be to get an indie game published, the closure of Codemasters' Guildford branch, and more!
Orcs Must Die! PC Review Orcs Must Die! is the first release from an independent developer named Robot Entertainment. Fans of classic real-time strategy games may have heard that name before, as the outfit is comprised of many veterans from Ensemble Studios, creators of the Age of Empires series.
Equal parts action and strategy, this is a tower defense game that not only puts you in command, but on the front lines of combat, as well. Slaughter thousands of orcs, ogres and other vile creatures of fantasy that invade your fortresses through 24 levels of the story-based campaign. With high levels of replayability thanks to its scoring and leaderboard functionality, multiple difficulty levels, and various styles of play, it sounds a steal at only $15. Does it deliver on all that’s promised, though? Read on and find out!
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