GeForce2 MX Shootout (2/11)

ASUS AGP-V7100

The layout of the ASUS board differs slighlty from that of its competitors. The reason is that the card was designed with optional for TV-Out or Twin-View versions in mind, neither of which were incorporated into our review board. The feature connector in the upper left-hand corner of the AGP 4x compliant card can be considered superfluous, since no expansion cards have been produced for this interface in years.

Overview - a naked board	Heatsink only	6ns Memory
Click to enlarge

The memory consists of four 6ns modules of Hyundai memory, making for a grand total of 32MB SDRAM. The clockspeed are in compliance with NVIDIA’s recommendation: 175MHz core speed, 166MHz memory. The chip is cooled by a massive heatsink. Unfortunately, the ASUS SmartDoctor tool, standard fare with the GTS models, isn’t included in the V7100 software bundle.

Drivers

The V7100 uses the same v5.30RC drivers as the GTS models, which we used during testing. All of the important settings and options are available, although some are hidden rather well within submenus. Some unneccessary options like TV-Out and settings for Stereo View which aren’t available to our specific card have also been included (or not removed), doing more to confuse the user than to help.

The ASUS drivers showed a slight performance-drop compared with its competitors. Although both cards are clocked at the same core and meory speeds, the ELSA MX was usually slightly faster than the V7100. This phenomenon could not be reproduced with NVIDIA’s v5.30 reference drivers. ASUS should definitely give their drivers a check-up. The most current driver at the time, the v5.33 cheatinmg driver, shows an even more pronounced performance drop.

ASUS includes an overclocking tool as an option on their CD. Once installed, it can be started from the menu in the taskbar.

Software

In addition to the drivers, ASUS is including 3Deep, a gamma correction tool for games. The decision to bundle the ASUS DVD Player v1.05, based on PowerDVD 2.55, deserves praise. As a final touch, Surreal’s aging but still quite enjoyable game DRAKAN completes the software package.

Rating

84%
Power: 85% Accessories: 87% Features: 80% Recommended sales price: DM 399,- Streetprice (wihout guarantee): DM 299,- to 349,-
The driver seems to have some performance issues. Other than that this board makes a stromg showing. Its game bundle and the DVD player earn it some extra value points.

Homepage: ASUS Multimedia

Copyright: 16.08.2000 -   RIVA Station 2000 - Lars Weinand
No Copy without Permission!

Translation by Benjamin Kraft

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