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eVGA.com is a relative newcomer to the video card market,
starting their operations in 1999. Although they may
not be a household name just yet, we have a feeling that
things are about to change for this "new" company.
Becoming a major player in a market that is fiercely
competitive is no small task, however. Early on, eVGA
realized that they had to offer the user a product line that
would give them something the other manufacturers couldn't.
For starters, the team at eVGA put together a patented
install software package, dubbed ADM (Automated Driver
Management), that would make the installation process as
hassle free as possible, while giving end-users the tools to
get out of trouble if any problems arise. Throw in
complete and thorough documentation and some free software
and the package becomes a lot more alluring. But we
all know it takes a lot more than some free software to
develop a solid customer base. Knowing that computer
enthusiasts are a demanding bunch, they had to come up with
something that would grab the potential buyer's attention.
If someone is going to drop $450 on a new video card, they
better be getting something the other guys don't offer,
otherwise it is a futile battle. However, aside from
offering a standard reference video card, what else could
they do?
Today we
have an answer to that question, with the review of the eVGA
e-GeForce4 Ti4600, with
the unique Asymmetric Cooling System²,
or ACS². It is no real secret that offering video
cards based on nVidia technology is a relative safe bet.
These cards have a well established history of being
performance leaders, usually staying a step or two ahead of
the competition. However, adding a unique cooling
package that no one else offers, is a sure way to grab
peoples attention.
The ACS² is
a cooling solution designed for extreme conditions.
With a two piece construction, copper heat-pipe, and
high-speed fan, the new
eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 with ACS²
dares you to overclock it. So let's get started by
taking a look at what the eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 with ACS²
has to offer. Then we'll take a closer look at the
card and it's impressive cooling design.
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Specifications of
the
eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 w/ACS2 |
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The Complete Video
Card |
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eVGA
e-GeForce4 Ti 4600 w/ACS/2 Cooling:
- 300MHz GPU
- VGA, TV
In/Out, DV
- 256-bit
Graphics Accelerator
- 1.23 trillion
operations/sec.
- Lifetime
Warranty
Nvidia nfiniteFX II Engine:
- Dual
programmable Vertex Shaders, faster Pixel
Shaders and 3D textures give developers the
freedom to program a virtually infinite number
of custom special effects never seen before
and gives you the power to play true-to-life
characters in hyper-realistic environments. At
twice the performance of GeForce3, Xtasy Ti
4600 delivers the most realistic game play
available.
Lightspeed Memory Architecture II:
- With 128-bit
DDR Lightspeed Memory Architecture II provides
nearly double the memory bandwidth of
GeForce3.
Accuview Antialiasing Engine:
-
High-performance visual quality at high frame
rates.
TV
In and Out Jack:
- TV In/Out
connector allow you to play on any size TV in
your house with an S-video connector.
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Specifications:
- Controller:
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600
- Bus Type AGP
- Memory 128MB
DDR
- Core Clock
300MHz
- Memory Clock
650MHz DDR memory
- RAMDAC 350MHz
- API Support
Direct-X, Open GL ICD for Windows
- Connectors
VGA, DVI, TV In/Out
- 1.23 trillion
operations/sec.
- 136 Million
triangles/sec setup
- 10.4GB/second
memory bandwidth
Features at a Glance:
- AGP 4x
compatible with fast writes
- 256-bit 3D and
2D graphics accelerator
- NVIDIA nView
display technologies
- Lightspeed
Memory Architecture II
- Accuview
Antialiasing
- High
Definition Video Processing Engine
- TV In/Out
connectors
- DVI connector
- eVGA Asymmetric Cooling
System
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(ACS²)
The Bundle:
The eVGA e-GeForce4 Ti4600 that we received
for review was a complete retail package with a good amount
of bundle items to compliment the video card itself.
Below is a complete list of the retail package contents.
Click To
Enlarge
- eVGA.com Video Graphics Card
- Driver Install CD with ADM Technology
- User's Guide
- Registration Card
- Warranty Information
- PowerDVD XP 4.0
- Entertainment Software Bundle
- Warranty ID Tag
- S-Video Out Cable (Optional
)
- DVI to DB15 Adapter (Optional)
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The User's Guide is well laid out, with easy
to follow step-by-step instructions for installing,
configuring and troubleshooting the video card. They
even go so far as to give a list of recommended BIOS
settings for optimal video performance, although we do
question some of those settings. For example, in this
list of 27 recommended settings, eVGA recommends setting the
AGP Aperture for 4MB and the AGP Transfer Mode to 1x.
We're a little curious how they arrived at those settings
and think we may run some tests in the near future to show
how variations in those, and other settings affect this
video card's performance.
An Installation CD is also included that
makes installing this video card as painless as possible.
Using the patented ADM (Automated Driver Management)
software, the video card and the Operating System is
detected, automatically launching the appropriate software
for your system. In fact, eVGA takes it one step
further by programming the software to detect the
motherboard's chipset, prompting the user to install updated
chipset drivers if they are needed. eVGA has done a
fine job at making installation of the video card a painless
process, insuring that the novice and experienced user gets
their new video card up and running without any hassles.
Once you're card is ready to go, they've included a demo
version of Comanche4, to show how much fun can be had with
the new Ti4600, as well as several nVidia demos..
Quality,
Setup and the Drivers
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