NVIDIA's GeForce 6200 & 6600 non-GT: Affordable Gaming
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 11, 2004 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
The Sims 2 Performance
A new addition to our test suite, made especially for this article, is the latest installation of the Sims series. Sims 2 isn't the type of game that requires a $600 GeForce 6800 Ultra, but it is the type of game that does require some minimum level of graphics performance and is sometimes found installed on computers on which you would otherwise not find a single game. So, what are the minimum graphics requirements for a playable Sims experience? To find out, we benchmarked the camera flyby that occurs when you select the Pleasantview neighborhood. We used FRAPS to measure the average frame rate throughout the sequence.At 800x600, there's once again one clear winner here, the Radeon X700 by a huge margin (42%) over even the GeForce 6600. The GeForce 6600 is the distant 2nd place performer, and there's a huge clump of cards that perform similarly to the Radeon X600, with the 64-bit X300SE coming in last. Interestingly enough, even the slowest X300SE manages to play the game reasonably well at 800x600 with the highest detail settings possible.
For more, let's look at the resolution scaling graph:
Notes from the Lab
ATI X300: The X300 offers performance very similar to that of the X600 Pro and the GeForce 6200. The game is not totally smooth, but is definitely playable at 800x600. There is a significant amount of aliasing at 800x600, but without a faster card, there's little you can do about it.ATI X300SE: There is a noticeable performance difference between the X300 and X300SE, yet even the X300SE can play the game reasonably well at 800x600. If you turn down the detail settings, the performance improves dramatically.
ATI X600 Pro: Although the X600 Pro performs similarly to the GeForce 6200 and 6600, the frame rate is much more stable than either of those two. There's far less stuttering when scrolling around the game world.
ATI X700: The X700 continues to be much, much faster than the rest of the contenders here.
NVIDIA GeForce 6200/6600: Both the 6200 and 6600 exhibit stuttering issues under Sims 2, although the game is definitely playable using either.
Intel Integrated Graphics: Here's where performance truly matters for Intel graphics - in a game like The Sims 2. This is the type of game that will be played by people who don't come within 100 yards of Doom 3 and who, honestly, shouldn't need to spend even $100 on a video card to play a game like this. How does the 915G fair? It actually plays the Sims pretty well. There is some loss in image quality it seems (just detail), but it's actually not bad at all. If you're building a computer for someone who only plays the Sims, Intel's integrated graphics is actually all you need. 800x600 looks pretty bad, but luckily, the game is playable at 10x7. You may have to turn down the detail settings as there is a bit of stuttering at the highest settings.
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nvdm24 - Sunday, December 19, 2004 - link
Many of the readers of these tech sites want to know the full capabilities of the cards, yet, sadly, reviewers at anandtech and every other tech site ignore the video capabilities of video cards. Even in the reviews for the new 6600 agp, the video aspect has not been tested by any reviewer despite the problems of the 6800. Never mind the fact that EVERY review of these cards is about the 3d aspect and is nearly the exact same - run halo, doom 3, hl 2, etc. and list the performance, yet no tests of dvd movies or the video aspect are conducted, thus doing a HUGE disservice to readers.nserra - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
I dont understand why on you previous 6200 review the X300 wins, loses (Doom3), and keep up, but now a much worst 6200 wins over X300. How the hell did that hapen, new nvidia drivers?nserra - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
I dont understand why on you previous 6200 review the X300 wins, loses (Doom3), and keep up, but now a much worst 6200 wins over X300. How the hell did that hapen, new nvidia drivers?IntelUser2000 - Thursday, October 14, 2004 - link
Surprisingly, my 865G with Intel Extreme Graphics 2 can run Doom 3 beta at default, it still crashes, but when I run it, I get barely playable frames, I say around 20 at the highest and less than 10. I think the GMA900 should be much better, but maybe the DX9 support in it really sucks.nserra - Wednesday, October 13, 2004 - link
#39 Thanks to the answer, but...Doesnt 2 cards cost more then one?
And whats the difference between having two 6600GT vs 6800GT? in price and performance?
I think this kind of "edge" could come in the future like the voodoo2 did, the card was getting old, people getting rid of it and "some" get them cheap just to keep their PC the longger time they could.
Confusednewbie1552 - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
#30Everyone wants 660GT because they are cheap and two of them can be put into SLI mode (once Nforce 4 comes out) which could mean better performance than the X700, and maybe even the X800.
PrinceGaz - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
I'm sure the core of the 6600 will overclock very well, but the memory all depends on the particular chips used and might not have any real headroom. That could be its main problem as its an 8-pipe 300MHz core so theres plenty of power there, but only 128-bit 500MHz (effective) memory which is what is probably holding it back. If thats the case then overclocking the core may not help very much.Its a pity no attempt to overclock was performed in the review, but then again the results from overclocking cards sent out by the manufacturer are always suspect as they could have hand-picked the best.
thebluesgnr - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
" I can't see how the 6200 could have a street-price of $149 (128-bit) and $129 (64-bit). "It's actually $129 for the 128MB 128-bit version and $149 for the 256MB 128-bit version. The 64-bit version (only 128MB) should have an MSRP of $100, according to the Inquirer.
So nVidia has:
$100 6200 128MB 64-bit
$130 6200 128MB 128-bit
$150 6200 256MB 128-bit
$150 6600 128MB 128-bit
$200 6600GT 128MB 128-bit
In my opinion ATI beats all nVidia cards except for their $200, where the 6600GT wins. But we can't forget the 6600 has a great overclocking potential, and street prices should be lower than the X700's, because of the slower memory.
Like already mentioned, you can find the 6600 for $135 already.
mkruer - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
To X700 XT or to 9800 Pro, that is the questionneo229 - Tuesday, October 12, 2004 - link
I also wish to thank you for keeping up the fight to unravel the mystery behind the mysterious video processor. That notion of that feature really got me excited when I first heard about it, yet site after site after site reviewed these cards without even touching on the subject.