Closer Look

Like a majority of GeForce 6600 GT-based products, the Leadtek WinFast PX6600 GT TDH doesn’t try to deviate from NVIDIA’s reference design. We’ve got the same compact and rather simple PCB here:

We found not a single point of difference from the reference GeForce 6600 GT save for the VIVO-supporting Philips SAA7715 chip being missing on the WinFast PX6600 GT TDH. It means the reviewed card cannot take video in from external sources, which is a feature of those Leadtek cards that have “MyVIVO” in their names.

The cooler installed on the PX6600 GT TDH, on the contrary, differs much from the reference one. Its design and operation resemble Thermaltake’s once-popular Orb series, but with an asymmetrical heatsink – the heatsink’s ribs are longer at the side which is closer to the memory chips. The fan is also larger than the original one: 60 instead of 50 millimeters in diameter. Its blades are profiled in such a way as to drive the sucked-in air to the sides, along the ribs. This design should keep the GPU cool, considering the low heat dissipation of the 0.11-micron chip. This solution is also going to be quiet. To prevent the GPU die from chipping, the cooler’s sole is equipped with a special frame made of soft material. Ordinary, white and rather thick thermal paste is the interface between the cooler and the chip. The whole arrangement is fastened to the PCB by means of two spring-loaded clips, which are quite enough to hold the relatively small cooler. Thanks to the tight springs and to the protective frame, the cooler sits motionless on its place, without any slackness.

Like many modern graphics cards, the Leadtek WinFast PX6600 GT TDH carries GDDR3 memory from Samsung. The four chips are marked as K4J55323QF-GC20, i.e. they have an access time of 2.0 nanoseconds and are rated for 500 (1000DDR) MHz frequency. That’s exactly the frequency the memory works at on this card. The GPU is clocked at the normal 500MHz frequency (300MHz in 2D applications) and has eight pixel and three vertex processors.