January Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 5

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128-MB

AMD: GeForce 6600 GT 128-MB - AGP

Current Cost: $206
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Intel: GeForce 6600 GT 128-MB - PCI Express

Current Cost: $179
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

This is where all of our hard work on the budget pays off, and we finally get to put the cash savings to extremely good use. The GeForce 6600 GT is the prime mainstream gaming card on the market, and putting one in our Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide has been a key goal since NVIDIA first announced this model. The problem of course, has always been cost, and the fact that the AGP versions are priced significantly higher than their PCI Express cousins. Working the numbers on the AMD side was never the issue, but we were resigned to the fact that an AGP GeForce 6600 GT was not going to work with our Intel system. The obvious solution was to change the rules and move to an Intel PCI Express platform.

The GeForce 6600 GT 128-MB is a surprisingly fast video card for the money, and far outstrips its last-generation GeForce 5900 and 5950-based cards. The NV43 core is a stripped-down version of the NV40 used with the GeForce 6800 GT and Ultra models, with the GeForce 6600 GT featuring 8 pixel pipelines and a 128-bit memory path. This may sound drastic, but the 500 MHz core and 1 GHz memory speeds certainly push the framerates, and overall performance is still extremely high for the class, especially with newer games and anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering enabled.

The GeForce 6600 GT core is also manufactured on a 0.11-micron process, and ensures that it runs cooler than the 0.13-micron core found in the GeForce 6800-based cards, and overclocking results have been good. This also pays dividends in terms of power requirements, as the PCI Express versions do not require external power. Unfortunately, due to the lower interface power, AGP buyers will need to make room for an extra Molex power cord.

Due to fluctuating supplies, we haven't selected a specific model, but at this price range, GeForce 6600 GT 128-MB PCIe and AGP cards from MSI (pictured above), XFX, Apollo, AOpen and eVGA (shown below) are readily available.

Monitor 19": Iiyama Vision Master 1451 (LS902UT)

Current Cost: $136
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Our $1,000 budget, combined with our mandate of creating the fastest gaming system for the money, really got us to take a close look at each of the components. This examination made sure we were not using too much of our budget in a given area, or using non-performance components that were a bit out of our league. Even 15" LCDs are beyond our means, while rising CRT monitor prices brought our previous 19" flat-screen display into question. The choice of monitor has never been tougher, and given that it is a highly personal selection for many (and a non-issue for those with existing monitors), this month we're going with a basic recommendation, along with a few secondary options.

The Iiyama Vision Master 1451 is a good choice for budget-conscious gamers who still want a 19" FST monitor, but don't want to break the bank. The monitor features a 0.26 mm dot pitch (0.22 mm horizontal & 0.13 mm vertical), support for up to 1600x1200 at 76 Hz, and a whopping 90 Hz refresh at the standard 1280x1024 resolution. The Vision Master 1451 also includes TCO and Energy Star designations, but as with most 19" CRT models this one is quite large and bulky, though a bit lighter than usual. We still like the ViewSonic E90FB for overall 19" gaming price-performance, but as its price has steadily risen to well over $200, the budget trade-offs were simply too high and the Iiyama offered the better overall fit.

In terms of value-priced 19" flat screen models, the CTX VL951T (pictured at bottom right) also offers a lot of bang for the buck. In addition to a 19" FST shadow mask tube, it also features a .26 dot pitch, can push 1600x1200 at a 75Hz refresh rate, and is priced not much higher than the Iiyama model. The ViewSonic G75F+ (bottom left) is also a viable option, as it one of the few budget-priced 17" models to support 1600x1200 and offers an exceptional 80 Hz refresh at 1280x1024. This is a relatively high-end 17" CRT, and one that will appeal to those looking at a higher-quality display and refresh rates in a bit smaller package.

Please keep in mind that when buying any type or brand of monitor, there is always the slight chance of receiving a defective unit or a flat-screen with convergence issues, so be certain to purchase only from a vendor that offers liberal return and replacement options.