Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT

Pros: Good price for high end features

Cons: Irratic, unstable and considerably loud

Summary: I have had great experience with Nvidia chip based card UNTIL 6600 GT. It seems in the heat of the competition against ATI, Nvidia definitely rushed the 6600GT out the door. It's power hungry with a OEM fan that's loud, and it has serious stability problems with my AMD Atholon 64 processor baesd computer. I had a GeForce TI4200 on the system with rock solid stability and swap in the 6600GT, games starts to have sound stutter, missing texture and video artifacts starts to show up. I have a 500W PSU and many fans inside the system and tried all kinds of tricks including buying multiple 6600GT cards and trying different Mobo with no avail. Once I get onto the internet user forum, I realize I am far from the minority on the 6600GT issues. The problems are intermitent and comes and goes like it has a mind of its own. Good performance when the card decides to work, but darn-right irritating when it decide to act up. Would advice to stay away. It's a piece of most frustrating hardware in recent memory for over 15 years of working both professionally and personally on PC systems. ATI cards are looking better and better everyday!!