Let's start this off with a bit of a reality slap as it seems. I am going to put it as bluntly as possible. I, much like a lot of you will never be able to afford the latest and the greatest offerings from the high-tech computer market. Seriously people, as much as we expect it to, money does not grow on trees.

With that in mind it seems that computer parts manufacturers are actually paying attention the average-enthusiast market. Bringing out budget-based performance-orientated computer components. They may not be able to run your games at 400fps, or be able to dry your hair once you get out of the shower, but they get the job done, which is all that really matters. The FX5600 is a graphics chipset aimed at such a market. Being the little brother to the FX5900 you know that it will have at least some of the goodies that its siblings have. With full DirectX 9 support it will provide you the usability that you need, but is the performance there?

Specifications

Today we are looking at Albatron's FX5600P, based on the FX5600 chipset. Here are the full specifications of the card, taken from Albatron's website.

Pretty much standard fare as with other FX5600 cards. There are a few cosmetic differences worth noting, which we'll cover later on in the review.

Albatron FX5600P Turbo - Packaging and The Bundle

The packaging of the FX5600P is very nice. Dominated in earth tones the front includes a picture of a fairy adn the word Gigi. Also on the front is Albatron's logo to the left and on the top right and bottom are the details of the chipset used in the card.

The rear of the box includes some specifications of the card as well as a chart of the supported resolutions. Once again on the bottom right is the picture of the fairy with the word Gigi beside it.

Included in the box are: Manual, Driver CD, Composite Video Cable, S-Video Cable, an adapter to use the Composite video cable, InterVideo WinDVD Creator, Worms Blast, Motocros Mania. Pretty bare accessories bundle with out of date games, but it does lower the price. One thing to note and i will say this a couple of times is that there was no included DVI adapter, i know it is a little thing but it would still be nice to have.

Albatron decided to go with a very neat looking blue PCB for the FX5600P. Utilizing the FX5600 chipset with its 128-bit memory bus and packaging that with 3.3ns Samsung memory should make for quite a package.

As you can see in the pictures the FX5600P utilizes a copper cooling solution with a semi-transparent purple fan. The memory is not forgotten as it is in many cards; heat sinks are installed on both sides of the card to give the memory just a bit better cooling.

Also noticeable is the four-pin Molex connector. This has become a staple in most modern video cards being released today. However the interesting thing about this connector is that it seems to do nothing. No warning appears if no power connector is plugged in, and the performance of the card is the same either way.

To the back of the card you have your standard connections. One DVI, one 15-pin VGA, and an S-Video out. nView multi-display is included, so multi-monitor users don’t worry. The sad thing about the included DVI port is the fact that no DVI to 15-pin VGA adapter was included. A minor problem, but added expenses to a person that would like to use multiple monitors that do not use the DVI interface.

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