X-Micro Impact 4 Pro
I think it is fair to say that
most TargetPC readers are also gamers. Maybe not avid gamers but gamers none
the less. There is nothing quite as frustrating as poor framerates during
an especially intense gaming session. This is the best time to consider the
harsh realities of economics. I think most of us are finding the $350 to $400
price range of the latest GeForce 3 cards a little hard to swallow. This doesn't
mean that there aren't other products available that will still allow us to
have an enjoyable gaming experience without the consultation of a financial
manager. We've already seen the performance of several GeForce 2 cards and
with the release of the GeForce 3 these cards have become very attractive
as they have moved down market and now hover close to $200.
When
I reviewed Leadtek's
64 MB GeForce 2 GTS I was quite happy with the performance of their card.
Now we move up one step higher to X-Micro's Impact 4 Pro which is based on
the GeForce 2 Pro.
|
Features |
The
Board |
- 0.18 micron technology
- AGP 2X/4X with
Fast Writes Support
- 350 MHz RAMDAC
- 64MB 5ns DDR
memory
- S-video/RCA TV-out
up to 800x600 resolution
- Nice heatsink
for assured cooling
- 2048 x 1536 max
resolution
|
|
First
Impressions
It has struck me as quite odd
that so many GTS cards were manufactured without TV-OUT capability. That is
due to the fact that TV-OUT adds to the expense of a card. When we were all
in the initial sticker shock of the GeForce 2 products the idea of added expense
was unthinkable for most of us. Here we are a year later and suddenly not
only can we afford the upgrade to a great card but we can also afford more
features.
X-Micro has a very impressive
package that the card ships in. They include a manual which covers the basics
of the card's installation and a driver CD. The
card features 64 MB of highspeed 5ns memory. This is 0.5ns faster rated memory
than we saw with the Leadtek card and it immediately pays off with the stock
memory speed of 400 MHz. Yup - we are out of the GTS' 333 MHz memory bottleneck.
The card features the same 200 MHz core speed but there were a couple of nice
surprises in store for me in that area too. The board features a nice cooling
heatsink/fan combo that does a good job of cooling the unit.
