 |
| ATI
Xpert 2000 Pro Installation,
Setup and DVD |
| Crisp
and Clean |
|
Installation of
this card was a snap?as it is with most cards
if you follow instructions. :-)
When installing a video card, first make
sure you?ve completely removed all traces of
your last card by uninstalling any old drivers
and utilities, and then set your display adapter
properties in the Windows Device Manager to
"Standard VGA".
Once you re-boot, then install the
drivers for your newest card and you should be
good to go.
Keep in mind if
you?re going to install this, or any other
card for that matter, into an extremely high
overclocked system with a BX based motherboard
that on the higher bus speeds, the AGP bus is
running much higher than specification and may
cause some incompatibilities/lockups.
The drivers and
utilities that come with this card don?t give
you the impression that it?s an entry-level
card either.
You?ve got a lot of control over quite
a few performance and visual enhancing features.
There are also other nice features that I
noticed while in device manager.
There are a few diagnostic tests that can
be run to ensure that your card is functioning
properly. This
is the tab that is available under device
manager.
There
are also some really useful tools that come with
the card. DVD
software, video cd software, a simple video
editor and an audio cd player all come on the
installation cd.
Their interface is nice and simple too.
Take a look?
As
you can see, there?s quite a few goodies that
come bundled with this card.
DVD
There?s not
much to say about ATI?s DVD playback, except
that it?s the best you can get on your PC.
ATI?s approach to DVD playback with the
Rage Fury Pro GL chipset, serves three main
purposes.
1)
Eliminates the need for a separate add in
decoder board (Unless you need TV-Out)
2)
Reduces the minimum CPU requirements
because decoding is assisted by the video card
3)
Improves the image quality and frame rate
over unassisted cards
ATI succeeds at
all three of those tasks. DVD playback is
fantastic, this is the one feature this card
that really impressed me. Here are a couple of
screenshots to show you the type of picture
quality you can expect. Keep in mind that they
are Jpegs, so there is some loss in quality.
(click
images for a larger view)
Look!
Neo knows Kung Fu! Hmm, he seems to know
pain better though!
"Excuse
me but did you know I am a VERY bad man?"
These
really don't do the amazing DVD quality of the
Xpert 2000 Pro, justice. Never the less,
they give you an idea of the cinematic
environment that you will be immersed in with
this board.
|
