As it is known, the NV43 graphics core is an important weapon for Nvidia. So much so that most of the graphics cards market consists of middle segment users. Although launching the fastest product is the most important element of the reputation war, it is equally important to achieve the highest sales margin in the market. In this direction, ATI’s superiority in the mid–segment market for the last 2 years has been one of the biggest turning points in the market for ATI, while Nvidia has had troubled days. But this seems to end with the NV43.
For gamers who are looking forward to the right time to upgrade to the PCIE platform, Nvidia, as it is known, launched the NV43 last September. The most important benefit of the Geforce 6600 (NV43) series chips, which completes an important deficiency in the PCIE graphics cards market with the price range of $ 150–250, is a series of technological innovations [ex: Pixel Shader 3.0 and Vertex] Shader 3.0] to the user for more reasonable prices.
Today, we examine the Leadtek WinFast PX6600 TD, which carries Nvidia’s little brother, although not the most up–to–date and effective weapon in the middle segment.
NV43 + Leadtek = PX6600 TD
NV43 Graphics processor; It is offered to the market as two different models with the names 6600 and 6600GT. Among the differences between the 6600 and 6600GT, Nvidia does not use the memory bus clipping tactic, which is very common this time. There are significant differences between the models. The first of these is manifested in the type of memory used and operating frequencies. While the GeForce 6600 uses standard DDR memory type with TSOP–II packaging method with an effective clock speed of 550MHz, the GeForce 6600GT uses a 1000MHz GDDR3 memory type. Apart from this, there is a 200MHz difference between the graphics core operating frequencies. The GeForce 6600 is clocked at 300MHz, while the 6600GT graphics processor clocks at 500MHz.
Another difference is; It comes from the fact that Nvidia’s SLI (Scalable Link Interface) technology, which was developed and used by the unforgettable 3Dfx, whose foundations date back years, is used only with the GeForce 6600GT among the models. SLI technology is not supported with the flat model Geforce 6600. For users who are considering investing in the future, this may not be very attractive.
Close–up of the NV43 Graphics core.
The GeForce 6600 (NV43A2) incorporates the advanced rendering capabilities offered by the FX 6800 (NV40) series. One of the most crucial features of the NV40, the first member of the NV4x graphics core series, is HPR, namely High Precision Rendering technology, and texture filtering with 64bit precision is also possible with the NV43 chip. In addition, the support of OpenEXR technology developed by Industrial Light & Magic, which prepares special visual effects for motion pictures, makes it possible to produce high–precision HDR effects with the NV43 series.
In addition, with MRT, which is one of the important features of Directx9c, with Multiple Render Targets, it is possible to apply 4 different operations (such as HDR, blur, depth of field) on a 3D object in a single pass. Taking power from Deferred (Quad) shading, very complex scenes can be created with this technology. In addition, the NV4x architecture allows 16–bit floating point precision as well as 32–bit floating point precision, allowing programmers to create real–time situations with much more realistic image quality. Those incredible images you see in Unreal Engine 3 are the best examples of all this.
General characteristics of the NV43 Graphics core.
Looking at the structure of the GeForce 6600 core, it is seen that the NV43 is built on the PCI Express PEG16X communication protocol, which has 0.11 microns, 146 million transistors from TSMC factories. However, there are also versions of the NV43 series with additional bridges and using the AGP bus. In this way, they will be able to appear in the market as a suitable choice for the 6600 series AGP platforms.
Thanks to the NV43, 300MHz core speed, 3 Vertex Pipelines units, 8×1 (8 Pixel Pipelines. 1 Texture Pipeline per unit) arrangement, Pixel / Texture processing paths and 128–bit memory bus; In addition to 2400Mpixels/sec pixel fill rate, 2400Mtexels/sec texturing fill rate, 11GB/sec memory bandwidth is provided.
Leadtek Winfast PX6600 TD Front and Rear View
After briefly reviewing the general features of the GeForce 6600 chip, let’s talk about the structural features of the Leadtek Winfast PX6600 TD. The PX6600 TD is built on the usual green PCB of cards with Nvidia chipsets. Different from the 6600GT version, this PCB has 550MHz memories arranged in 8x16MB format on the front surface, 3.6ns modules from Hynx company with model number HY5DU281622ET.
