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                              First up is one of our favorites around
                              here?MDK2. 
                              Lets see how this card handles OpenGL?
                              
                               
                              MDK2
                              (OPENGL TEST) 
                                
                              As
                              you can see, we hit the CPU limit right through
                              1024x768, not to mention the fact that we?ve
                              exceeded 60FPS at 1600x1200x32!  
                              Now let?s see how we do with the
                              venerable Quake 3. 
                              First up, the Fastest and Normal
                              settings? 
                              
                              
                              QUAKE
                              3 (OPENGL TEST) 
                                
                              With
                              numbers like this, the card is just begging for us
                              to give it the juice with the High Quality test,
                              all options set to maximum, phasers set to kill. 
                              To give you a comparison, we?ve thrown
                              the results from a recent review of one of the
                              Impact 4?s brothers, the Hercules 3D Prophet
                              II? 
                              
                               
                                
                              I
                              think it?s a close race folks. 
                              Although this card is ?no frills?, it
                              is also ?no nonsense?. 
                              From what we?ve seen so far, this puppy
                              is ready for a fight. 
                              With excellent performance in all areas of
                              the standard benchmarks, I think this card
                              deserves a 10 for ripping through whatever
                              we threw at it.
                              
                               
                              
                                
                                    | 
                                  
                                    
                                      
                                        
                                          | Overclocking
                                            With The X-Micro Impact 4 Ultra | 
                                         
                                        
                                          | More
                                            Power! | 
                                         
                                       
                                     
                                   | 
                                 
                               
                              After
                              the excellent performance that we saw in the
                              standard benchmarks, I just couldn?t wait to see
                              just how much we could squeeze out of this card. 
                              When it came to the core speed, we got it
                              to top out at a solid 315MHz!  
                              With the performance that we?ve seen with
                              similar cards, I thought we would have no problem
                              pushing the RAM speed to 500MHz. 
                              Well, we almost got there but had to settle
                              for 495MHz. 
                              So let?s see what a little more juice
                              does to the 3Dmark tests?
                              
                               
                                
                              If
                              you compare the results, you?ll find a gain of
                              over 300 points at 1600x1200x32! 
                              This looks pretty sweet. 
                              Now let?s see how MDK2 performed?
                              
                               
                                
                              Very
                              nice! 
                              We shattered the 60FPS barrier with a
                              whopping 71FPS at 1600x1200x32. 
                              Now we?ll run Quake 3 and see how the
                              results compare to the Hercules Prophet II running
                              at a core 305MHz and Memory Clock speed of
                              500MHz.?
                              
                               
                                
                              Although
                              we didn?t quite break the 60FPS barrier at
                              1600x1200x32, it was pretty close. 
                              As far as the comparison goes, taking into
                              account the difference in the test systems, it?s
                              safe to say it was neck-in-neck.
                              
                               
                              We
                              found the card to be very over clock friendly. 
                              The card's performance virtually match's
                              that of the Hercules Prophet II. 
                              With excellent performance and stability
                              while running the Over clocked Benchmarks, I give
                              the X-Micro Impact 4 a 9. 
                                
                              If
                              you're shopping for an Ultra and don?t
                              need all the little bells and whistles that other
                              manufacturers offer,  then the X-Micro Impact
                              4 Ultra is a sensible choice. 
                              By sticking with a standard reference
                              design that has earned itself the status of a
                              market leader, X-Micro has been able to offer a
                              quality video card with exceptional value and
                              performance. 
                              We are confident that the steps taken to
                              cut unnecessary costs will translate into
                              significant savings for the buyer.  
                              Although their software bundle is a little light,
                              the X-Micro Impact 4 Ultra still offers several
                              useful software packages.   
                              After
                              taking an average of the scores
                              
                              in each section, we give the X-Micro Impact 4
                              Ultra a HotHardware heat meter rating of a... 
                                
                              The
                              silence is deafening and I can't Handle It! 
                              So get into the HotHardware Conference Room now! 
                               
                          
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