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Nvidia has been around for a while in the video world. They have continually improved the products that they have released, from the Riva 128/ZX cards to today's GeForce 4's. Since the release of the original TNT and then the TNT2 Nvidia has positioned itself as a performance leader in 3D gaming, taking the place of the famous (and dead) 3dfx. They have managed to hold on to this spot of fastest video card until the release of the Radeon 9700. But they have not just focused on providing the fastest video card, they have also used the advances in technology to improve the quality/speed of mainstream products. As such many technologies such as Hardware T&L and Vertex Shaders have been moved to the mainstream, and one product based on that is the GeForce 4 MX series.
As we have previously mentioned in other reviews of MSI products, MSI has diversified their established product line of motherboards to include CD-RW's and Video cards, one of which we are looking at today. Has the fact that MSI's video division is not the specific focus of the company mean that the quality of the video cards is not as good as it could be? Let us look at one of those cards, the GeForce 4 MX 440 with 8X AGP or as MSI calls it MS-8888.
The MSI GF4 MX440 8X-VTD8X (MS-8888, V: Video-in/T:TV-out/D: DVI)
What does this card have that all the other GeForce 4MX's don't? Or is there anything interesting in this card compared to other MX's? First lets look at the card itself for any visual clues.
The card itself is eye-catching as soon as you take it out of the box, as the red PCB is very different from what is considered standard, i.e. the green PCB. The retail box itself is also eye-catching as the picture screams (literally) at you. Another thing you notice as you look at the card is the inclusion of at least one DVI-I port, as well as a TV-in/out connector. Here is a quick list of what you get with the retail card:
- The Card
- TV-in/out connector
- 6' - 1.8m SVHS cable
- 10 CD's - games/applications
Now let us look at some of the games that also come with this card, as well as the other things that come with the video card.
Next Page - Extra's/Games
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MSI GF4 MX440-VTD8X: Although not everyone has an AGP8x motherboard, you probably will have one soon. Although originally an AGP4x part, the GeForce 4 is being revamped for the eight speed bus. Question is, how much faster will the ride be?
