MSI NX6600GT -TD128E

...a bit useless like the MSI 3d desktop.

Also in the box is a little adapter so if you have a d-sub connection you can plug it into the adapter to convert it to dvi. But this seems pointless as the card has 1 dvi slot and 1 d-dub slot. There is also a lead so you can connect your card to an HDTV and standar tv, so this would be good for a budget media center PC.

Performance wise at the time and still today it is excellent, ...
...now and it still runs all the current games. With the Source games such as Counter strike: source and HL2 i can run it maxed and still get a good 40-50fps, with little slowdowns. But with some of the newer games out today it looses its edge a little it struggles with games like Oblivion an FEAR so you have to turn the settings down quite a bit for playable framerates. But considering its price nowadays it is still a good choice if you are on a very ... more

When i decided to upgrade (to the rig i currently have) I wanted a good midrange card and the 6600GT series were at the time very hard to beat in terms of 'bang-for-your-buck'.

Amazingly when i first got this card it came bundled with so many extras. If i remeber correctly there are around 14 cds, and 3 whole games. The games are good games as well, these include: Prince of persia: sands of time, XIII and Uru Ages Beyond Myst. On top of this there are around 14 demos of other games too. The other Cd's consist of applications, some are useful like the DVD playing software, but others seem a bit useless like the MSI 3d desktop.

Also in the box is a little adapter so if you have a d-sub connection you can plug it into the adapter to convert it to dvi. But this seems pointless as the card has 1 dvi slot and 1 d-dub slot. There is also a lead so you can connect your card to an HDTV and standar tv, so this would be good for a budget media center PC.

Performance wise at the time and still today it is excellent, i have had my 6600GT for around 1 1/2 years now and it still runs all the current games. With the Source games such as Counter strike: source and HL2 i can run it maxed and still get a good 40-50fps, with little slowdowns. But with some of the newer games out today it looses its edge a little it struggles with games like Oblivion an FEAR so you have to turn the settings down quite a bit for playable framerates. But considering its price nowadays it is still a good choice if you are on a very tight budget. Comparison wise the 6600GT is on par with the ATi competitors; x1600 PRO in most benchmarks.

One thing i dont like is the cooler. It is extrmely loud (even when i first got it) and it doesnt seem to keep the card sufficently cool, but the 6600 series are known for thier high temperatures. Before i changed my fan the temperatures were in the high 50's and 60's and this was at idle. I decided to get a Zalman GPU cooler and this dropped the temperature down to around 40! Plus it is so much quieter.

Tech specs:

GPU Speed: 500MHz
Memory: 128MB DDR3
Memory Speed: 500MHz (1GHz Effective)
Memory-Core Interface: 128-bit
Pixel Pipelines: 8
Bus: PCI Express x16
Video outputs: DVI / S-Video / VGA / HDTV
Maximum Resolution: 2048x1536 @ 85Hz

Make sure your motherboard supports PCI-Express or it wont fit! Also this particular card is SLI enabled so if your motherboard supports it you can use 2 of these cards in unison for more power. Also another thing to not is that this card supports Shader model 3, which most modern games use.

Overall if you are on a very tight budget and can put up with the loud fan (i would recommend changing it though) this is a superb card for the money. At the time i think i payed around £110 for it but now they can be had for over 1/2 that! 

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