Shootouts

MSI NX6600 Diamond (AGP & PCIe Combo Review)

By Vijay Anand - 7 Mar 2005

Test Setup

Test Setup

Since we are testing both AGP and PCI Express versions of the MSI NX6600 Diamond products, we have two different test beds with a dedicated set of comparison cards and results. The order of flow in our results section will mimic that of our article where AGP graphics card results are shown first, followed by the PCI Express graphics cards. The test suite however, remains common for both cards and it comprises of the following tests:-

  • Futuremark 3DMark03 Pro (version 3.4.0)
  • Futuremark 3DMark05 Pro (version 1.1.0)
  • Star Trek: Elite Force 2
  • Command & Conquer: Generals
  • Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo
  • Halo: Combat Evolved
  • GunMetal demo benchmark
  • FarCry
  • Doom 3


AGP Testbed

Since the majority of our AGP graphics cards results are based on an earlier established testbed, we will continue using this same test system to analyze the performance of the MSI NX6600-VTD128 Diamond. There is no necessity to update it to match the PCI Express test system because we are not comparing the performance of the two MSI cards, but rather find out how they fare among the different graphics cards out there. The AGP test system comprises of an Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz Northwood processor operating on Intel's D875PBZ motherboard and 512MB of DDR333 memory set for dual channel mode. Operating system of choice is none other than Windows XP Professional (with Service Pack 1) and DirectX 9.0c.

A variety of currently available graphics cards were used to compare the performance of the MSI NX6600-VTD128 Diamond and the table below lists the graphics card type as well as the driver versions used to obtain the results. Although the results from older cards have yet to be updated with newer drivers, generally the performance numbers we have obtained are a good indicator of where they stand since the gains obtained by newer drivers are usually small.

AGP Graphics Cards Compared & Driver Versions Used
Graphics Cards Driver Version
MSI NX6600-VTD128 Diamond
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 128MB
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
NVIDIA ForceWare 66.81
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 XT 128MB NVIDIA DetonatorFX 52.16
ATI RADEON 9800 XT 256MB ATI Catalyst 4.8
ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB
ATI RADEON 9600 XT 128MB
ATI Catalyst 3.9


PCI Express Testbed

PCI Express graphics card testing is conducted on a much newer platform and it comprises of an Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz Extreme Edition and 1GB of DDR2-533 memory operating in dual channel mode on an Intel D925XCV motherboard. The system is installed with Windows XP Professional (with Service Pack 2) and DirectX 9.0c.The following table lists the graphics cards and the driver versions used to compare the MSI NX6600-VTD128E Diamond graphics card:-

PCIe Graphics Cards Compared & Driver Versions Used
Graphics Cards Driver Version
MSI NX6600-VTD128E Diamond
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 128MB
NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5900>br /> NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
NVIDIA ForceWare 66.81
ATI RADEON X700 XT 128MB
ATI RADEON X700 PRO 256MB
ATI RADEON X600 XT 128MB
ATI Catalyst 4.10

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