Leadtek WinFast PX6600 GT TDH (Solo and SLI)

Any geek, regardless of how into gaming he is, can appreciate the simple concept and logic behind NVIDIA's SLI technology. If you want more gaming power, just add another video card. It doesn't get any simpler than that, right? You of course have to have the right ingredients -- SLI-compatible video cards and an SLI-capable motherboard. I know this is one geek who was excited to get his hands on an SLI motherboard and video cards, preferably 6800 GTs or Ultras of course, but I'm happy to review cards from the 6600 family, especially since the majority of gamers will be looking at this more affordable set of cards. I'm especially looking forward to seeing how a 6600 GT SLI setup compares to a single 6800 GT.

My first couple experiences with SLI will be with the DFI LANParty NF4 SLI-DR motherboard and some GeForce 6600 GTs. The first pair of 6600 GTs I'll be checking out consists of two Leadtek WinFast PX6600 GT TDH PCI Express cards.

I won't only be examing SLI performance though. I'll also test the single WinFast PX6600 GT TDH performance and see how well it overclocks. Continue reading if you want to see how the WinFast PX6600 GT TDH performs by itself, when in SLI mode and when compared to a single GeForce 6800 GT.

Features

• GeForce 6800 features at midrange prices!
• Features to the mainstream
  • Shader Model 3.0
  • UltraShadow II
  • Consumer Electronics Video
• SLI Multi-GPU Ready
• PCI-E–SIG certified
• Drivers that pass WHQL
• Leadtek Ultra Cooling System
• Full-version Game Bundle (Prince of Persia & Splinter Cell)
• Video-editing software bundle (WinDVD 5.0, WinFox II, Muvee)

For a full list of features and specifications, go here.

Bundle

• WinFast PX6600 GT TDH graphics card
• HDTV cable
• DVI to VGA adapter
• Software
  • DVD Player
  • WinFox II
  • Cult 3D
  • Coloreal Embedded
  • Coloreal Visual
  • Coloreal Bright
  • Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (full version)
  • Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (full version)

You can see that the PX6600 GT TDH box follows Leadtek's current wizards/fantasy theme that has adorned its packages for quite some time now. The bundle is pretty simple, but Leadtek manages to throw in two full version games - Prince of Persia: Sands of Time and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. Both are good games that have received very high review scores in magazines and online, but they are not very new. How about Prince of Persia: Warrior Within instead of Sands of Time? It looks like Leadtek is including Warrior Within in its SLI 6600 GT twin pack. In addition to the games, you get some decent software and utilities. Leadtek also includes a handy DVI-to-VGA adapter and an HDTV cable.