Introduction

While is the GeForce 6800 GT, as well as the 6800 Ultra by nVidia somewhat difficult did some time ago in the high-end segment, due to competition in the form of the ATi Radeon X 800 XT PE top podium of podium to rise 800 XT and X, the Californians on the sale of the new mid range cards were significantly successful. The GeForce 6600 GT was the Radeon X 700 Pro not only speed technology but also from the feature palette produces clearly superior. Also, not only PCIe copies delivered from nVidia thanks to the so-called HSI-bridge; Video cards for the standard AGP were also widely available. A move to the ATi gave up and thus 6600 GT free räumte the way to the price-performance-winner for the GeForce.

Within a short time, various versions of the NV43 chip appeared and found a suitable product for every potential customer. AGP or PCIe, if overclocked or nVidia specifications, whether the reference design, or a proprietary development by a manufacturer – everything was ready to buy. One remained mostly but unfortunately always the same: almost all cards were equipped with a fan (some disturbing). A silent and elaborate passive cooling was avoided – if possible.

They were and are a rare species. Exact peeping could and one can still find fanless cards with the cheap nVidia chip. One of those cards listens to the name “Extreme N6600GT Silencer”, and is manufactured by ASUS, are known for their “different” video cards. The N6600GT silencer relies on the NV43 chip according to the specifications given by nVidia, has but with a 256 MB VRAM on the double amount of memory in a conventional GeForce 6600 GT, and is in addition equipped with a complex passive cooler.

ASUS could kindly provide us a copy of the 160 euro expensive video card and we are looking forward to how the “Extreme-Edition” against a conventional 6600 GT from nVidia, as well as the direct competitive cards from ATi will strike.

Bookmark

• nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 SLI
• nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512
• nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX (SLI)
• nVidia GeForce 7800 GT
• nVidia GeForce 7800 GS
• nVidia GeForce 7300 GS
• ASUS extreme N7800GT dual
• nVidia GeForce 6800 GS
• ATi Radeon X 1900 XTX and X 1900 CF Edition
• ATi Radeon X 1800 XT CrossFire Edition
• ATi Radeon X 1800, X 1600 and X 1300
• ATi Radeon X 1800 GTO
• ASUS EAX1800XT TOP
• Radeon X 1000 vs. GeForce 7
• Club3D Radeon X 1800 XT with 256 MB
• Sapphire Radeon X 800 GT, X 800 GTO and X 800 GTO m²
• ATi CrossFire – power of two graphics cards

Technical data

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ASUS leaves it at the “extreme N6600GT silencer” at the reference specifications by nVidia, which is why both the chip and the memory with 500 MHz clock. The NV43-GPU in the 110 nm process manufactured has a total of eight pixel pipelines ever a TMU with a complete shader unity, the quantities must however make do with four ROPs. This represents more but no disadvantage in today’s games, because the modern texture can calculate only a pixel per clock mapping units (TMUs), using maximum a bilinear texture filtering, as well as a single-layer texture. Since now almost all multiple texture layers, as well as at least a trilinear or even anisotropic filtering are used, the TMUs per pixel need multiple bars, which the halved number of ROPs in the text ureinheiten is no limit.

The extreme N6600GT silencer relies on the usual 128-bit memory interface that is connected to a 256 megabyte GDDR3 memory – the most GeForce 6600 GT cards must make do with a 128 MB VRAM. The three vertex shader create a mediocre geometry throughput in combination with the core clock. With a Radeon X especially the significantly lower memory bandwidth falls at 800 GT of ATi, which comes with the anti-aliasing to the R4x0 chip. With regard to the fill rate, none of the two cards can record an advantage for themselves.

Impressions

ASUS extreme N6600GT silencer

Although the ASUS puts “Extreme N6600GT Silencer” on the now somewhat démodé – but nevertheless still competitive – NV43-chip made by nVidia, the buyer for the video card about must range 160 euros over the counter. With a 256 MB large VRAM as well as a passive and thus completely silent cooling, ASUS established the relatively high price. The graphics card is available in several online stores.

Already, the huge Board with high weight suggests that the ASUS card puts on an elaborate cooling design. A cute anzusehender and large heat sink in the color red in aluminium is largely the front of PCBs and a high-quality impression. The chip is held by a copper cooling block on low temperatures, which has a heat pipe, which is connected to a further heavy copper condenser. This is mounted on the top of PCBs diagonally and has a small arm along with a number of copper plates as a special feature.

With this, it is possible to rotate the upper heat sink 90 degrees in front of the video card. We want to discreetly say at this point that we more keep turning the cooler for a gimmick and marketing as a useful solution to avoid lack of space. The built-in memory on the back is equipped with a passive coolers made of copper. Because the graphics card brings no fan, it remains logically silent in operation and a quiet work and gaming on the PC is continuously ensured – very good! As a disadvantage, but the buyer must take very high chip temperatures in purchase. More later.

ASUS sticks at the extreme N6600GT of the silencer to the reference requirements set by nVidia for a GeForce 6600 GT, which is why the NV43 chip and the memory with 500 MHz clock. The 256 MB of memory is however twice as large as in the traditional “GeForce 6600 GT”-cards. The VRAM, which is connected via a 128-bit wide memory interface to the GPU, manufactured by Samsung, offers an access time of 2.0 ns which corresponds to the clock speed of 500 MHz. The ASUS graphics card includes a D – SUB, and a DVI output. Furthermore, a TV-out exists that but ruled any video-in functions.

The extreme N6600 GT silencer usual equips ASUS – for a graphics card from the extreme range – with an extensive software package. Besides a driver CD, as well as a multilingual manual, the buyer in the packaging is application software “AsusDVD”, “ASUS Media@Show SE 2.0″ and “Asus Power Director 3DE”. The game package includes the “Xpand Rally”, “Joint Operations”, “Second Sight”, “Chaos League” and “Power dome”. In addition a S-video on YUV is in the carton-, composite and S-video breakout cable supplied.

Test system

Test system:

• Processor
  • AMD Athlon 64 4000 + (San Diego core, 90 nm, SSE3, 1024 kB level 2 cache)
• Motherboard
  • Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI (nVidia nForce 4 SLI, Socket 939)
  • Sapphire pure CrossFire PC-A9RD480 (ATi RD480, Socket 939) for X 1800 CF
  • ASUS A8R-MVP (ATi RD480, Socket 939) X 1900 CF
  • ASUS A8V Deluxe (via K8T800 Pro, Socket 939) for GeForce 7800 GS
• Memory
  • 2 x 512 MB crucial BallistiX DDR400 (2-2-2-5)
• Graphics cards
  • ATi Radeon X 1900 XTX (650 / 775)
  • ATi Radeon X 1900 CrossFire Edition (625 / 725)
  • ATi Radeon X 1900 XT (625 / 725) (simulates through down cycles of the Radeon X 1900 XTX)
  • ATi Radeon X 1800 XT CrossFire Edition (621 / 720)
  • ATi Radeon X 1800 XT (625 / 750)
  • ATi Radeon X 1800 XL (500 / 500)
  • ATi Radeon X 1600 XT (590 / 690)
  • ATi Radeon X 1300 Pro (600 / 400)
  • ATi Radeon X 850 XT PE (540 / 590) (simulates by overclocking the Radeon X 850 XT)
  • ATi Radeon X 850 XT (520 / 540)
  • ATi Radeon X 850 Pro (507 / 520)
  • ATi Radeon X 800 XL (400 / 490)
  • ATi Radeon X 800 GTO (400 / 490)
  • ATi Radeon X 800 GT (475 / 490)
  • ATi Radeon X 800 (400 / 350)
  • ATi Radeon X 700 Pro (425 / 430)
  • nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 (550 / 850)
  • nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX (430 / 600)
  • nVidia GeForce 7800 GT (400 / 500)
  • nVidia GeForce 7800 GS (375 / 600)
  • nVidia GeForce 7300 GS (550 / 405)
  • nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra (425 / 550)
  • nVidia GeForce 6800 GT (350 / 500) (simulates through down cycles of the GeForce 6800 Ultra)
  • nVidia GeForce 6800 GS (425 / 500)
  • nVidia GeForce 6800 (256 MB) (350 / 300)
  • ASUS extreme N6600GT silencer (500 / 500)
  • nVidia GeForce 6600 GT (500 / 500)
• Peripherals
  • AOpen AAP-1648Pro-DVD drive
  • Samsung S-ATA 2 HDD 200 GB disk space (NCQ enabled)
• Driver versions
  • nVidia ForceWare 78.03
  • nVidia ForceWare 82.12 (GeForce 7800 GT, GeForce 7800 GTX, GeForce 7800 GTX 512)
  • nVidia ForceWare 83.40 (nVidia GeForce 7800 GS, nVidia GeForce 7300 GS)
  • ATi catalyst 5.8
  • ATi catalyst 5.13 (Radeon X 1600 XT, Radeon X 1800 XL, Radeon X 1800 XT)
  • Sample_8-203-3-060104a-029367E (Radeon X 1900 launch driver)
• Software
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
  • Microsoft DirectX 9.0 c

Benchmarks

The following benchmarks were used during our test:

• Synthetic benchmarks:
  • 3DMark05 version 1.2.0
  • 3DMark06 version 1.0.2
  • Aquamark 3
• Game benchmarks:
  • Age of Empires 3
  • Far cry version 1.33
  • Splinter Cell: Chaos theory
  • Fear
  • Serious Sam 2 demo
  • Doom 3
  • The Chronicles of Riddick
  • Call of duty 2
  • Battlefield 2
  • Quake 4
  • Half-life 2: Lost coast

All benchmarks run with maximum details, so that the graphics card will be charged as high. As settings we chose this 1280 x 1024 and 1600 x 1200. So we pay tribute to the modern high end Accelerator, make the resolutions by their computing power lower than 1280 x 1024 CPU limited. In addition to the pure resolutions we can go through the benchmark course with two anti-aliasing and 16-fachen anisotropic filter, since these are frequently occurring quality settings.

Attention:After careful consideration and multiple analysis of even recorded game sequences, we have come to the conclusion in the ForceWare driver for nVidia cards increase the quality settings on high quality, because we can effectively combat the texture flickering only with this setting. In addition, this mode is similar to the setting “catalyst a.i. standard” on the ATi counterparts, resulting in largely a tie in image quality.

Driver settings: nVidia video cards

• Performance: High quality
• Vertical sync: off
• Force MipMaps: no
• Trilinear optimization: from
• Anisotropic mip filter optimization: from
• Optimization of anisotropic pattern: from
• Negative LOD bias: clamp
• Gamma adjusted AA (G70): A
• Transparency AA (G70): Off

Driver settings: ATi video cards

• Catalyst a.i.: Standard
• Mipmap detail level: high quality
• Wait for vertical refresh: always off
• Adaptive Anit-aliasing: off
• High quality AF: off
• Truform: Always off

Theoretical benchmarks

FillRate Tester

• This useful little program is used to measure the fill rates of a graphics card. In contrast to the computer or fill rates tests integrated in the 3DMark that primarily measure the bandwidth in the case of single-texturing, this program can be quite differentiated information on different types of fill rate, including the PixelShader fill rates, which we want to look at.
  Because the shader used are sometimes quite short and bandwidth intensive, we have increased the resolution as far as possible to shift the focus more on the fill rate. As several mathematical operations per pixel are necessary, the fill rate will be charged more by increasing the resolution as the bandwidth.
  Refreshrate has been tested in 1600 x 1200 in 32-bit with 24 bit Z and 8 bit buffer and 60 Hz.

• Download: Fillrate Tester

VillageMark

• The VillageMark was developed by PowerVR and was used to illustrate the benefits of KYRO, because in that benchmark of Overdraw by a factor of up to 10 is particularly large 2. Many, especially older graphics cards, calculate also the surfaces that are hidden by others and mean therefore only wasted bandwidth and fill rate, so that this benchmark graphically actually not very expensive but more often than you first thought is to a stumbling block. That is why it is of the utmost importance in this benchmark, a well-functioning technique to remove hidden surfaces hidden surface removal (HSR) own.
  Has been tested using the following command line: [InstallDir] D3DVillagemark.exe benchmark = 1 – width = xxxx-height = xxxx-bpp = 32 ”

• More information: PowerVR.com
• Download: PowerVR.com

Fablemark

• The Fablemark was developed as the subsequent Templemark of PowerVR and serves despite a very high share in Overdraw of the display of the strengths of the KYRO chip regarding the stencil buffer.
  Of course the performance of the stencil calls also on all other cards strongly so that this test can be an indication of upcoming games, insert a Z / stencil-only pass prior to actual rendering, to prevent advance any Overdraw.
  Has been tested using the following command line: [InstallDir] D3DFablemark.exe benchmark = 1 – width = xxxx-height = xxxx-bpp = 32 ”

• More information: PowerVR.com
• Download: PowerVR.com

Templemark

• The Templemark is from PowerVR been just like the previous Fablemark, originally a demonstration programme. Because it supports a lot of current features, such as Hardware TnL, bump mapping, and up to six text urlagen in one pass however, he is the guaranteed not to NVIDIA also well suited as an independent benchmark, or ATi chips is optimized.
  “Has been tested using the following command line: [InstallDir] empledemov1-0-6.exe – benchmark”

• More information: PowerVR.com
• Download: PowerVR.com

ShaderMark

• The ShaderMark is currently available in the current version 2.1 and was developed by Tommti systems. Thanks to numerous updates, is the benchmark is still on the amount of time, and measures the performance of the shader units of modern graphics cards. It supports also the shader model 3.0, which is why it is suitable for a comparison of current architectures. Tested up to 25 different shader instructions in the resolution be 1024 x 768, which are all written in HLSL (high level shader language) high-level language.

• Download: ShaderMark.de

Synthetic benchmarks

3DMark05

• The 3DMark05 is technically still at a very high level. So large textures with the resolution come of shader model 3.0, 2.x or 2.0, use 2048 x 2048, mixed with the use. The last year published program uses complex lighting effects, dynamic shadows, elaborate bump mapping effects and requires above all a high performance of geometry. As a result only the speed of the graphics card reflected, because it is always the bottleneck even in current hardware. The spacious driver controls of all current graphics card manufacturers are the probably the biggest drawback to the 3DMark05. They go so far as that the final results of change depending on the driver in the two-digit percentage range, thus reducing quality optimizations cannot be excluded. Also the synthetic benchmark based which is why he is not a real situation on any game engine. There are more details about this program in our detailed article.

• Download: 3DMark05

3DMark06

• The well-known series of benchmark from Futuremark is now published in version 2006 and consequently listens to the name “3DMark06″. Measure the performance of the graphics card four sequences of the six test scenes and show a graphic splendour, that their same looks. To achieve that the Finns set which is why not only massively the shader model 3.0 is used, extremely elaborate textures, spectacular particle effects, complex shadow computations to cutting-edge 3D technology, and as another highlight “High Dynamic Range Rendering” – short HDRR – are used. While Futuremark opts for FP16 HDR, which currently provides the best possible image quality, but is also expensive to calculate. Thus graphics cards without FP16 blending units, including the X to 0 series from ATi, two test scenes not run 8 x, which is why the number of points of these GPUs generally low fails. In addition, only graphics cards, can the MSAA to a FP16 Rendertarget can run, calculate the HDRR sequences with anti-aliasing. Graphics cards without this ability produce no score in use of anti-aliasing, and are therefore not included. There are more details about this program in our detailed article.

Aquamark 3

• We now come to the last synthetic benchmark in our test course. The program developed by massive development uses an enhanced version of the graphics engine from the U-boot-game AquaNox 2 – revelation. The engine the name running with scissors and supports now also pixel shader 2.0 effects. In addition come still pixel shader of version 1.1 and 1.4, also the Vertexshader 1.1, used. This according to the developers of the first DirectX 9-capable reality benchmark in the world to be enriched with some nice effects such as for example an improved particle system.

• Download: AquaMark3.com

Game benchmarks

Age of Empires 3

• Hardly a strategy game as “Age of Empires” and its successors have made history among the PC players due to their successes. Now, the third part of the series, which appears with a breathtaking strategy title graphic that supports most modern techniques such as the shader model 3.0 and even high-dynamic-range-rendering to appears. We play from a one-minute sequence for the measurements, which corresponds to the real game play and shows several explosions and a fight with many units. All the details are set to the maximum, which also HDRR is used. However, those modes are not equivalent, as for nVidia graphics cards-quality FP16 HDR is used, while the ATi counterparts of the X 1000 series provide only INT10 HDR. Normal MSAA at the nVidia GPUs to work on the ATi cards is accordingly a 1 on the other hand, 5xSSAA mode used. However, the picture quality is similar to that of the normal gameplay. The X 8 x 0-series can in age of Empires 3 no HDRR representing (shader details can not on “Very high exposed”), which is why the performance from the ground from is significantly higher.