Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review :: The Card

06-24-2005 · Category: Hardware - Video Cards

By Benjamin Sun
Chaintech 6600GT
 
Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review
BrandChaintech
Model6600GT
Graphics ChipNV43
Graphics Memory TypeDDR3
Memory (MB)128
Graphics Core Clock (MHz)500
Memory Clock (MHz)1000
Memory Speed (ns)2
RAMDAC Frequency (MHz)Dual 400
Active Cooling on Graphics ChipYes
Heatsink on MemoryYes
Video CaptureYes
Ports
Dual Monitor SupportYes
VGA OutDVI-I, D-Sub
Video In and OutTV Out
Package and Support
Printed ManualYes
Driver CDYes
Performance Tool SoftwareNo
Major GamesPainkiller
Major SoftwareWinDVD, WinRip, Home Theater 2.1 Lite, WinDVD Creator
VR GlassesNo
DVD Player SoftwareWinDVD
Video Recording SoftwareWinDVD Creator

The first thing I noticed about Chaintech's 6600GT card is the length of the card. NVIDIA's 6800 Ultra is about 2 inches longer than the PCI Express X16 slot. The Chaintech 6600GT is about an inch longer than the average PCI Express X16 slot. I use a 6600GT in a small form factor computer every day due to the size of the video card. While a 6800 class card or a X800 card is nice to have for performance purposes, the 6600GT fits easily into my SB95V2.

The cooling on the Chaintech 6600GT is provided by a 9-fin fan covering the graphics chip. Chaintech provided a heat sink covering a portion of the rest of the PCB. There are 4 32MB 2ns memory chips providing 128MB of DDR memory on the card. Chaintech provided memory heat sinks to cool the memory. The memory is clocked at 500MHz, matching the 2ns rating of the memory chips. There are no memory chips on the rear of the card, allowing for a 256MB version of the card if Chaintech wants to sell one.


Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review Cooling Fan

Cooling Fan

Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review Memory Heat Sinks

Memory Heat Sinks

Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review Capacitors

Capacitors

Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review I/O

I/O


Input and Output ports on the card are fairly standard. One thing I wish Chaintech had included was 2 DVI-I ports to connect 2 LCD monitors to the card. XFX includes two DVI-I ports on their 6600GT card. Chaintech includes a DVI-I port, a D-Sub port, and a TV-Out port. You can use dual monitors with two CRTs, one CRT+one LCD or use the TV-Out port to play computer games on your television set.


Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review
Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review

PCI Express replaced the AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) standard for video cards in the middle of last year. Each PCI Express lane provides up to 250MB/second of bandwidth between the video card and the computer. An x16 slot provides up to 4GB/second of bandwidth for the video card. The 6600GT is a native PCI Express video card not requiring a HIS bridge chip to run, as early NVIDIA PCI Express video cards required.

Bundle

  • Chaintech 6600GT
  • Painkiller
  • Age of Wonders 2
  • Serious Sam The Second Encounter
  • Rally Trophy
  • Max Payne
  • Tropico
  • WinCinema (WinDVD 5, WinDVD Creator 2, WinRip, DVD Copy Home Theater 2.1 Lite)
  • DVI-I to D-Sub adapter

I really enjoy comprehensive bundles. After all, free games in a video card bundle means that you can spend some time enjoying your card right away. Even if the games aren't multi-million copy bestsellers like Half Life 2 or Chronicles of Riddick, games included are important. Chaintech chose to include Painkiller, a game released early last year to some acclaim. I enjoyed the game, and it's a good addition to the bundle for this card. Chaintech also includes several game demos including Serious Sam The Second Encounter, Rally Trophy, Max Payne, Tropico, and Age of Wonder 2. Demos are nice, but you can download all of these off the net without purchasing the card.


Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review
Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review
Chaintech 6600GT SLI Video Card Review

The rest of the bundle included on Chaintech's 6600GT card is fairly mundane. The inclusion of a DVI-I to D-Sub adapter allows for two CRT monitors to be attached to the video card. WinCinema is InterVideo's comprehensive suite of DVD software playback. Included are full versions of WinDVD 5, WinDVD Creator 2, WinRip, DVD Copy 2.1 Lite. I use WinDVD every day to play movies and find it to be the most well rounded DVD playback software on the market, eclipsing PowerDVD in my opinion.

WinDVD Creator allows you to manufacture a DVD out of video files and other media to make a DVD movie. WinRip is a program that allows you to store edit and organize your music collection. DVD Copy 2 allows you to copy DVDs like movies and other data much like DVD XCopy Xpress did a year or so ago. Home Theater 2.1 Lite is much like ATI's Multimedia Center in that it allows you to watch or listen to multimedia content with a touch of the button.