Geforce 6600GT or Radeon X700 PRO

[lago 0]

Hi,Need some advice on this. What should I go for: Geforce 6600 GT or Radeon X700 PRO?Also, do I need 256 MB video memory or is it enough with 128 MB?Thank's for answersLG

[Guest Keith Sebastian]

Stay away from 6600GT. I'm having terrible shimmering problems. Just installed drivers v77.77 and the shimmering is back. I'd managed to reduce it with some tweaks, now I'm back to square 1. Tried 8X AA (8S), with max AF. Res is at 1152x864x32 (can't up this anymore without dropping refresh rates)I'd suggest you stick with R9800 Pro 256mb for FS9. -Keith

[MarkRey 16]

LG,You may want to have a look here http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/2..._charts-01.html for a comparison, and the following is an edited quote from another article re memory size:"So, what does having 256MB of memory installed on a video card mean to gamers? Well, there are three main benefits. First, having more memory available means game developers can use larger, higher quality textures without having to swap data in and out of system memory... The second benefit to having more available video memory is being able to run at higher resolutions with Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering enabled... Lastly, there will be less of a performance penalty for enabling AA or Aniso Filtering at high resolutions"Generally speaking the 6600GT outperforms the X700PRO in most areas, a better match for it is the X700XT, but they are apparently not easy to find.My X700pro has performed flawlessly, and thru many driver updates. Hope this helps.regards,MarkXPHomeSP2/FS9.1/3.2HT/1GIG/X700pro256

[lago 0]

Hi,I will use this card for a couple years, so it will be a 256 MB.The 6600 GT seems to be a very fast card in this class, that's good.I've checked out cards from ASUS and Gainward and liked what I saw.What I'm afraid of, is this shimmering. Is this something that happends with a specific brand or is it driver version specific?Thank'sLG

[pabloc720 0]

Hi just wanted to add my experience i have the 6600gt pci-e and i have no problems what so ever with the shimmering problem some people are talking about however there was a posting by Nvidia that it seems to be a problem with the current driver release 77.77s but i am running those same drivers and no problems and as far as performance my 6600gt is excellent and with the prices below $150 I think its the best performance to price ratio you can find without going to the 7800s or x800 and since my board support SLI i can add another card in the future for even better performance when my budget permits.Paul

[fbobum 0]

Stay away from 6600GT. I'm having terrible shimmering problems. Just installed drivers v77.77 and the shimmering is back. I'd managed to reduce it with some tweaks, now I'm back to square 1.In the circle of 128MB cards, there's nothing wrong with the 6600GT. As many who've had problems, I'm sure there's just as many who haven't. And I'm one of them...

[lago 0]

Thanks allThen I'll go for a 6600GT, just to pick a brand: Asus, Gainward or XFX?LG

[Guest Keith Sebastian]

Try the freeware Rome Fiumicino scenery. Take the default Cessna172 up to about 1000ft AGL, turn around and look at the aiport. It's almost like No AA is being applied at all. Jaggies everywhere, and moving your plane cause terrible shimmering.Now, this happens with whatever AA, AF settings and combinations I use. Supersampling AA and higher resolutions only reduce this problem but can't eliminate it. I use 1024x768 a res. normally.This problem can only be observed with freeware/payware scenery addons. Default airports are not affected as much. BTW, I have an AGP version.-Keith

[fbobum 0]

That may be true on your system. CPU, RAM and resolution have a lot to with it as well. All I'm saying is that ashcanning a video card because it doesn't work well on your system with your settings isn't exactly Consumer Reports material. I had a few cards that didn't work as well for me as the 6600GT but I didn't think it necessary to warn people away from them. That's all...BTW since you're running something like that Athlon64 4000 with a 1G RAM, I'd humbly suggest getting your screen resolution out of the 1028 x 768 basement and into something higher. It's a shame to have a repectable video card and not let it perform as it was designed to. That could be why you're experiencing what you say?...

[Guest Keith Sebastian]

I didn't say everyone has the shimmering thing. A lot of users have never experienced it, and I do believe them when they say so. I've been following threads at nvnews and elsewhere a recent post from the nVidia team only confirms my allegations (that it exists).Brian Burke from NVIDIA asked us to pass this bit of information along..."We have isolated the problem and we are working on the fix. We will also be working on a fix for the application profile problems that some users were experiencing. We hope to have a fix soon."This is from a long running thread about the same issue.BTW about the res. I've tried 1200X (that's the max res my screen supports). It's a bit better at this res, but it's still there. Also, I'm running a 3000XP which isn't high end.Anyway, I won't be complaining after tomorrow as this is my last day with the 6600GT. ;-)Keith

[fbobum 0]

Happy simming...