Temperatures

Let’s take a look at what the temperatures were doing during the tests as well as during day to day operation. The area in which I run my tests is a fairly constant 69F. Using the cases Temperature probe and the on board temperature reading from the Asus Silencer I gathered this data.

As the graph clearly shows the Asus Silencer performs well under load and in day to day operations, once again without making a sound. The temperature is definitely higher during gaming, which isn't too surprising, but the Asus Silencer still manages to maintain performance without crashing and burning.

Overclocking

Asus does not pack an overclocking utility with the Extreme N 6600GT Silencer/HDT. Although I understand that a non fan cooled solution might not overclock as well as one that is actively cooled, that doesn't mean we can't try...

I installed the “coolbits” registry hack and began by using the “Auto” overclock that is now available. This clocked the GPU to 548MHz and the memory to 1.1GHz. Switching to manual, I was able to attain 550MHz for the GPU, and the Auto mechanism hit the GDDR3 on the nose at 1.1GHz.

Still, a 50MHz OC in GPU performance (10% in this case) is no slouch when you consider there is no fan to remove the extra heat (the radiator is pointed straight back remember, my side panel blow hole impedes me from hanging it over the CPU Fan). Benchmarking Doom 3 seemed to be the best option as I was able to use a Demo that is constant vs. using Fraps and my saved point from Quake 4.

Performance is on par with overclock percentage, as there is nearly a 10% increase in performance which matches the 10% overclock.

HTPC

When I first got the chance to review this video card, this is where I thought the best application for it would be. Silence, geared to perform High Definition and would not require a top end processor behind it to do so.

I played my newest addition, Star Wars Episode III on my Dell 2005FPW in WS format. Of course it looked great on the LCD. I connected the Asus Silencer to my Samsung 47” WS Television and proceeded to play SW EP III on there, there was no skips or stutters, the movie played in nice fluid motion, even during scene changes and when moving from one VOB file to the next on my AOpen DVD drive (8x). The Asus Silencer appropriately modified source file format to my big screen with other AVI files I have, including several shot by my MiniDV camcorder that have yet to be converted to DVD format.

My only concern with this video card and using it as an HTPC is the height requirement. If you are not using a low profile HTPC enclosure, you should be set and this is probably one of the most cost effective High End HTPC video solutions on the market today. The silence alone is a huge advantage in the Home Theater space.

Final Words

With many solutions out there for a 6600GT choice, Asus comes to market with an innovative solution that is not dumbed down to assist in cooling performance; this one truly performs at 6600GT rates. Couple this with 256MB GDDR and a single cable for all of your HTPC needs, this card is a great solution for those that want good performance gaming or high end performance HTPC. Just be cautious of the height restrictions this will entail.

Gaming performance was as expected, although since this is my first 6600GT card, I was actually quite surprised by how much performance was on offer. Much like the XFX 6600 we reviewed late last year, unless you're playing at ultra high resolutions and HQ settings, you can get a lot of performance from the more modest hardware available.

Doom 3 ran very well in all resolutions although increasing the anti-aliasing at the higher levels did have enough of an impact to hinder smoothplay.

Quake 4 is the new kid on the block and performs surprisingly different to Doom 3. Again the Asus Extreme N 6600GT Silencer/HTD performs well; but again if you apply 4x anti-aliasing at higher resolutions then gameplay is effected.

UT2K4 is an older game, and due to that fact it plays very wel regardless of the resolution. It's pretty safe to say that any pre-2005 title will have zero performance issues with the hardware.

When you couple the performance with absolute silence the becomes an obvious choice for a midrange entertainment system, perhaps a system that doubles up as an HTPC. Of course there is the height issue caused by the cooling system but if this won't affect you, then you will be very happy with the Asus Extreme N 6600GT Silencer/HTD.

Pros: Silent period, Performance on par with any other 6600GT out there, Very effective and well built cooling design, Looks good behind that windowed side panel, Single HTPC (HDTV / S-Video / Composite) cable solution

Cons: Height COULD be an issue. Tends to be heavier then standard video cards (due to radiator).

Bottom Line: Asus has silenced the competition while keeping your living environment peaceful. If you want either a good midrange gaming card or a high end HTPC solution, your search is over and it ends quietly.

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