Which passive Gigabyte: 6600GT or 6800

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:58 am

Hi guys,

the time has come for me to upgrade my graphics card. The offering here in Finland for passively cooled Nvidias is really bad, so I'm eyeing towards Germany.

I've set my eyes on two different passive models from Gigabyte, both have been discussed here on SPCR: 6600GT and 6800].

What makes it difficult for me (besides the fact that I'm totally out of the loop on newer hardware) is the fact that the 6600GT is around 200€ while 6800 is around 180€. So, how is that possible, isn't the 6800 more powerful? Or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance guys!

geforce1 · Post by **geforce1** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:32 am

The Geforce 6800 has more memory bandwidth but slightly less fill rate than a 6600 GT, unless you end up with an unlockable 6800. I'm not up on the wattages for the 6600GT vs. the 6800 standard, but something tells me that the 6800 core might be on par (or a little worse) then the 6600GT, more definitely so if the 6800 is successfully unlocked (16 piplines and/or 6 vertex pipes). But it'll run MUCH hotter and will be nearly impossible to passively cool.

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 11:39 am

thanks for the reply. greatly appreciated!

I've been looking at GPU coolers, but only one of the better ones is the Zalman VF-700 and it has a fan. Seems there is no passive cooling solution that would fit the 6x00, is this true?

jjm052 · Post by **jjm052** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:52 pm

Hi Aleksi,

Your question seems to be '6600gt or 6800 standard'. Clearly from your links it is possible to passively cool either card, and it would be better for it to be stock passively cooled.
I have 6600gt pci-e and I put a hp80d on it (as i see you've also used). This adequately cools my card, HOWEVER you must bear in mind the fact that the heat produced must still be removed from the case, also air flow over the heat sinks is required, so good case air flow is required.
I think you just need to read reviews - check game bench mark results - FPS (frame per second rates-i.e half life 2 and Doom 3 etc) and also look to compare 3dmark03(05) using the same test bed. http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphi ... index.html good place to start!! look for 6800 reviews here too.
I find my 6600gt runs Half life 2 brilliantly (probably the most demanding game currently available) - settings almost completely maxed out, also I got 3488 on 3Dmark05 - a very respectable score. I just don't see a need for £350 graphics cards, nor SLI - just people who can afford it!
Personally I'd go for the 6600gt.
If you are building a HTPC (like I have) are you using media center 2005? it ROCKS!!!!

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 4:08 pm

6600GT is faster at higher resolutions above 1280x1024 generally, performance wise there very close.

Power consumption wise the 6800 according to xbitlabs consume's 40w at load.
6600GT according to xbitlabs consume's 47w at load.

If you unlock the gigabyte passive 6800 to 16x6 pipes the wattage will go up by around 5 watts, thats what mine went up. My unlocked gigabyte 6800 is now faster than the 6600GT.

6800 does not support Nvidia PureVideo HDTV in hardware, this works in the 6600GT. This means the cpu will be used for HDTV video in 6800, where as the 6600GT could do it for you. You will need a 3Ghz minimium for highest quality HDTV decode with the 6800.

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Sun Jun 12, 2005 10:27 pm

thanks for the answers,

jim: you have a zalman heatsink on your 6600GT? From what I've read, I understood that it shouldn't fit? Or does the PCI-E version make a difference?

If there is a after market passive cooling solution that can be used on 6x00, it is very much easier for me to get a normal fan cooler card from Finland and then mod it.

And no, not using the Media Center. I'm testing Meedio at the moment. Decided against Media Center as I read it had some problems with different TV-tuner cards.

hightower · Post by **hightower** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 11:07 am

Don't even think about it - go for the 6800.

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 11:19 am

Well, actually I did go for the 6800, ordered it this evening from Germany. What was funny, was the fact the 6800 was about 20€ cheaper than the 6600GT, but I guess the above performance differences explain it. I did order an AGP version, but that shouldn't matter. And it was the passive Gigabyte.

hightower · Post by **hightower** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:32 pm

Good choice. The agp version of 6600GT runs 100mhz slower on the ram, too. I wonder how hot that card will run.. they tend to get too hot to touch, and that worries me a bit

But so does my northbridge and it's still working

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:35 pm

Actually one reason why I chose it, was the fact that one poster mentioned earlier that is uses a bit less power than the 6600GT.

And I'll probably underclock it anyway

jjm052 · Post by **jjm052** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:09 pm

good on you Aleksi, anyway i reckon they're both good cards.
I expect your 6800 will come with a temp monitor, mine did and the core threshold is 127C !!!! If it does not try using Everest home edition temp monitor (its brilliant and free- the link is on this site - otherwise google it)
As I said previously good case flow will help and I reckon as long as you aren't regularly going over 70C (others would say higher) you'll be fine. Mine never goes beyond 60C (at which point the heat sinks are pretty hot to touch).
Oh and yeah the zalaman passive cooler works fine on PCI-e 6600gt's.
download some game demos from ATI and NVIDIA etc and enjoy - DON'T underclock unless you really need to!
yeah i think you do need a suitable tv card for MCE 2005 but I've seen the card I use on ebay for £50 (75 Euro). Read the reviews - it is great (basically its XP pro sp2 + media center)
ENJOY!!!

James

Webfire · Post by **Webfire** » Mon Jun 13, 2005 1:16 pm

I think you made the right choice. Lots of people at silenthardware.de have the 6800 and they are all very satisfied. From what I've heard most of the time it's possible to unlock all pipes, at least with the agp version. But I don't know if that has changed.

I don't know if you can read german but here is a 41 pages long thread about the passive Gigabyte 6800
http://www.silenthardware.de/forum/inde ... topic=7570

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 12:10 am

Guten tag Webfire,

ich habe ein sauerkrautz i min lederhosen! so no, I don't speak german

In any case, it's good to know I made a good choice, lets just hope I get my card from Germany and that I get it in one piece!

However I'm a bit unclear on the heatsink fastening, does it use adhesive or screws/pins whatever? Just thinking about the possibility of using some arctic silver if the heatsink isn't working properly

lostorbit · Post by **lostorbit** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:17 am

Like Storm said, no PureVideo on the 6800. If you're not in it for an HTPC, then the 6800 may be a better gamble.

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 2:03 am

nope, not going to use it in a HTPC. Actually, I wonder when will I have enough money to throw at TV that actually would support any of these functions

grandpa_boris · Post by **grandpa_boris** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 3:26 am

Storm wrote: If you unlock the gigabyte passive 6800 to 16x6 pipes the wattage will go up by around 5 watts, thats what mine went up. My unlocked gigabyte 6800 is now faster than the 6600GT.

storm, can you please explain how one goes about unlocking the 6800's pipes and how to figure out if you have the right firmware release and how many pipes are enabled on the card? i have a passive 6800 of a recent vintage and i have not been overwhelmed by its performance. everest/home edition says this card has 12 pixel pipelines.

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 4:43 am

grandpa_boris wrote: storm, can you please explain how one goes about unlocking the 6800's pipes and how to figure out if you have the right firmware release and how many pipes are enabled on the card? i have a passive 6800 of a recent vintage and i have not been overwhelmed by its performance. everest/home edition says this card has 12 pixel pipelines.

You can unlock the pipes in software using RivaTuner (scroll down a bit). Check the readme, FAQ's and forum for details on how to unlock (cant remember the process).

Unlocking does not work on all 6800's

webmal · Post by **webmal** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:08 am

Aleksi wrote: The offering here in Finland for passively cooled Nvidias is really bad, so I'm eyeing towards Germany.

It's always below 10°C in Finland: http://www.fmi.fi/weather/climate_4.html

So just buy any video card and then remove the fan

neo_tofu · Post by **neo_tofu** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:54 am

I have a 6600gt passively cooled gigabyte...

I had soem problems at first with airflow as well...

grandpa_boris · Post by **grandpa_boris** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:10 am

Storm wrote:(cant remember the process).

i went googling for a more restrictive set of keywords and this guide that explains the process was the first hit. haven't tried it yet.

Redo · Post by **Redo** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:29 am

From what I understand, the PCI-E version of the 6800 is just a hair slower then the 6600gt. However, custom cooling on the PCI-E version of the 6600gt is very possible. The AGP 6600gt is a pain to get a good silent cooling solution for, and I ended up buying a Logisys CF206 cooler and reducing the fan to ~5volts. It runs quiet enough for my tastes, and still cools better then stock. Some AGP 6600gt's do come with the memory clocked at 1000mhz, and the ones that don't can easily handle the overclock.

The PCI-E version of the 6800 cannot unlock the extra pipes, but there's no harm in trying the software unlock. I would have personally gone with the PCI-E 6600gt, even though it runs a bit hotter. Cooling solutions for the PCI-E version are plenty, but manu's don't list 6600gt's as compatable with their heatsinks.

If you're not completely opposed to a fan solution, the Thermalright V-1 looks like a good option for silent cooling (naturally with an aftermarket 80mm fan). I don't know if anyone carries the Thermalright V-1's anywhere yet.

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:39 am

Hi Redo,

I've been waiting for my card for about 1½ weeks now, I really hope it gets here early next week

The thermalright thingie looks very interesting and seems to be efficient according to reviews. However I ordered the passive Gigabyte 6800 and I have the front fan in my Sonata in place. I'm planning to duct it over the graphics card, but if there will be temperature problems I will most likely go for the thermalright.

Once more, I'd like to thank everyone who helped me out!

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Sat Jul 02, 2005 1:33 pm

Hi guys,

after a few days of fiddling with the new card, I've noticed the temps are really a bit hotter than I expected.

The core is running 80C in Windows and when stressing goes up 100C. I know this is a bit more than reported, however I'm not sure if the extra 4 pipelines that are automatically enabled with new cards (some early samples had only 8 pipelines enabled) is causing some extra heat.

The heatsink and heatpipes are hot also, according to T-Balancer about 50C-60C, so I don't really think it's a heatsink contact problem.

I have a Nexus case fan blowing to the card, but even when running it at 12V has little effect on the temps. Maybe I should throw the duct in place after all.

Which passive Gigabyte: 6600GT or 6800

Which passive Gigabyte: 6600GT or 6800

Re: Which passive Gigabyte: 6600GT or 6800