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Introduction

I think it is safe to assume that both NVIDIA and the gamer community is very satisfied with the GeForce 6 series if NVIDIA's sharp upturn on the financial side is any indication. There are always those that will accept no compromise as far as hardware goes. Who can deny the allure of DOOM 3 or Far Cry at the highest possible settings? Zealotry aside, it is safe to say that both hardcore gamers and enthusiasts would want a 6800 GT or 6800 Ultra, but the reality is that 399$ and 499$ is a good chunk of change.

The mainstream market is always one of the big battlegrounds for both NVIDIA and ATI. Despite the fact that ATI generally had the better comparable parts during the GeForce FX era, NVIDIA had their share of gems including the 5700 Ultra and 5900 Non-Ultra at the 200$ segment. ATI in turn had their popular 9600Pro and 9600XT. Unfortunately, with the release of the current generation of cards, there lacked a compelling upgrade path for current owners of last generation's midrange parts. The 6600GT was released with much fanfare during the summer but unfortunately it has been PCIe only thus far which means that end users will have to upgrade both their motherboard and CPU which may not be the ideal situation.

However that changes today. NVIDIA is unveiling the very fast 6600GT for the AGP bus, making it the first next generation midrange card to make an appearance on AGP.

Specifications