Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT review

While Nvidia's 6600 card is a relative weakling, the GT is a vastly superior offering. The core is clocked up from 300MHz to 500MHz and the memory speed is almost doubled to 500MHz. When it was launched around 18 months ago, it was the undisputed king of value, offering superb performance for the money.

Now, it still costs £90 and struggled in our tests at 1,280 x 1,024. Admittedly, cranking quality levels up makes Far Cry and Call of Duty 2 tough tests at this resolution, and the MSI scored 22fps and 13fps respectively. If you're happy to play at 1,024 x 768, the two games will see 34fps and 29fps, so you'll be able to keep some of the detail settings on high.

The problem is the brand-new 7600 GS, which is cheaper than the 6600 GT's replacement, the 7600 GT. For a few pounds less than the 6600 GT, the GS showed us an extra 3fps in Far Cry and 5fps in Call of Duty 2. On this evidence, it's hard to recommend the 6600 GT for value; most of its notable features are shared by the 7600 GS too.

There's a single-link DVI port and one D-SUB, plus an S-Video port that supports component output via the supplied adapter. MSI's utility suite is the only other inclusion, so the package looks overpriced at £90. While the 6600 GT was unstoppable in its time, that time has now come to an end.