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Introduction:::...
So…
progress marches forward and Moore's law holds true. There
have been leaps and bounds made in virtually all aspects
of PC components from CPU architecture to RAM speeds and
timings. This time, however, graphics cards have made quite
a giant leap forward. New architectures allow huge performance
boosts with very little increase in clock speeds. Doubling
up on pipelines and introducing new shader engines has proven
successful on both fronts (ATi and nVidia). As gamers and
enthusiasts we get to reap the benefits of this battle for
the graphics crown.
For
the past few weeks I have had the pleasure of playing around
with one of the top-dog cards out today, ATi’s own
X800 XT as realized by VisionTek. The only problem is that
the best competition that I had here in the 3DV dungeon
was an FX5900. Running the two head to head was a little
like putting Mike Tyson in the ring with Pee-Wee Herman
or Carrot Top. While it was an amusing battle, you just
knew from the time the bell rang, that the little guy was
going to get the crap kicked out of him, but you just have
to watch.
The
card arrived here without consequence, and I must give VisionTek
respect for assuming the minimalist perspective in their
package design. A sturdy corrugated frame protects the fragile
card, which is enclosed in a thin cardboard box. This one
didn’t fill my recycling bin as I have had happen
in the past. Everything is sturdy enough to withstand a
cross-country trip in the UPS system which is the most important
factor anyway.
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The
front of the box sports a chaingun-toting mech.
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Inside,
a sturdy cardboard "nest" for the fragile
bits.
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Their minimalist perspective also shows in the bundle…
while everything is there to get you up and running,
there is nothing extra to showcase your new toy. What
you do get is enough cables to use all of the features
(this is a VIVO card afterall), a DVI to VGA adapter
and a CD with drivers and Powerstrip for overclocking,
as well as a few tech demos. Like I said, everything
to get you up and running, but nothing special.
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The
bundle consists of a brief manual, a driver CD and
all necessary cabling
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Lets
get familiar with the card itself...
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