X-bit labs

ASUS Extreme N6600GT Silencer: Extremely Silent, Extremely Hot (page 3)

Category: Video

by Alexey Stepin , Anton Shilov

[ 10/19/2005 | 10:40 AM ]

Closer Look: PCB Design

Since the Extreme N6600 GT Silencer is the only NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT-based graphics card we have so far seen on the market that has 256MB of GDDR3 memory onboard, its print-circuit board had been seriously reworked.

When comparing to the original GeForce 6600 GT design, we can notice that the graphics card from ASUS has different power supply circuits as well as higher number of capacitors for additional stability and reliability. For extra lifetime of the product ASUSTeK uses Japanese electrolytic capacitors from Rubycon, well-known for their trustworthiness.

ASUS Extreme N6600 GT Silencer utilizes 2.0ns GDDR3 memory from Samsung Electronics.

Given that the Extreme N6600 GT Silencer does not support VIVO and thus does not require any additional controllers, the backside of the product is empty: nothing is mounted there except memory chips.

It is important to point out that ASUS decided to cool-down memory chips on both sides of the graphics board, which may potentially improve overclockability of the card as well as enhance its lifetime.

Generally speaking, the PCB of the Extreme N6600 GT Silencer leaves a feeling of a fine and well-engineered product that will serve its owner very well for a long period of time. Let us now take a look at the main part of the design: the SilentCool cooler.