EVGA are a well known company worldwide for providing the NVIDIA chips in great video cards! EVGA are a company who place the NVIDIA chips on to their own made cards, which make them equally the same. EVGA are different to NVIDIA in more ways than one, firstly being when you order a card from this company it will come with a Cooling system, called an Asymmetric Cooling System (ACS). This provides the card with the correct operating temperature for it to operate at its best! They provide spectacular graphics produced by there powerful 3D cards. I was lucky enough to be able to review their latest card the GeForce4 MX.
If you have a hardware mania with Flight Simulator you’re bound to have bought a NVIDIA product or similar from other companies such as EVGA. With a wide range from TNT to the latest and most powerful of all GeForce4. When the card arrived it was packaged in a box that straight away gives you the impression of what it holds. While viewing the amazing graphics and colours on the front, turning over will give you a view of the card which is held within. Also on the back is a list of what the card has to offer.
Installing the new card is never easier, my card is an AGP so a simple insert into the AGP slot, and install the software. Again another great thing provided only by EVGA is ADM software. Basically when installing the card, this software will automatically detect your operating system and motherboard, and remove any old drivers that may cause problems, followed by installing the necessary drivers.
All that takes less than 5 minutes. Once installed no other configuration is needed unless you want to use the card for different things, which will go into later. After those nail-biting 5mins waiting for it to install, the card is then ready to go, and ready to show you just what it holds. Within the CD, there are a few programs just to show you the power of the card. By looking down the right side of this screen you will see a picture of some solders. Basically all they do is walk around on a very high polished wooden floor playing their music. That maybe it but, when you stop to take a look the detail, effects and lighting I cannot describe it with words.
Only certain words may bring the picture to you, “Magnificent, Out of this world, Unbelievable” are just some that describe it. By clicking the picture you can see a Full size image and see it for yourself. This specific Demo was released surprisingly for the GeForce2 but im sure it is helped along with the GF4! Other Demos are provided they include ‘Grass, Chameleon, Twister and others’ all these mini Demos provide superb graphics and effects to show you exactly what this card can provide. After having a look at those and getting really excited I decide to install and take a look at the 3 game demos provided.
I will just point out 1, Comanche 4, well known helicopter battles. Well after installing I throttled up and very surprised how different and unrealistic the controls are compared to flight simulator. Once airborne I start swinging the camera around to get a good view of the whole area. Although I was disappointed with the controls, the scenery soon demolished those thoughts and brought a whole new image to the game. With cliffs, crystal clear seas, beautiful skies, helicopters and ground basses all in fine detail with stunning effects really brought a shock to me.
I clearly didn’t expect to see what I saw.
After seeing the effects on that game I decided it was time for the Main test, Flight Simulator 2002, how would this work with the new GeForce4? The start-up screen had nothing different, so I decided to go to an airport in South America to see what the scenery was like their. When I started up there was nothing different on the panel (but what can you expect) but as I looked out of the window I could see straight away a difference to the previous card I had. Better graphic effects in the distance where on most cards the detail merges together.
The sky and clouds were all very impressive. Switching to Spot Plane and having a look around at the detail on default 737 was 110% better. All panels, flaps, spoilers, elevators etc. had a lot more real life image details. For example the shape, curves, points and even the fuselage curves had been improved, so basically I was looking at a real Boeing 737 on my screen. Flying or moving around on the ground is a lot more smoother just with this card, I suggest before spending out on a new CPU try this card and see how different it is. After having a few flights in different places around the world I noticed things like,
Taxiway Lines
Addon Scenery/Planes
Buildings/Trees
Clouds/Lightning/Rain/Snow
Hills, Mountainous Areas
Jet Trails
Reflections and
Water Sprays
All had very impressive detail to show. The 64 mega byte on this card is really used when playing games like Flight Simulator but you can certainly see where and how it is being used. The above were only things that really stuck out; you may notice things that are better with this card than your card.
Next we test the card on Unreal Tournament, another game that easily eats away at your computer. Running around shooting the hell out of people is fun, but not if you got terrible graphics, bad effects and slow movements. As we’re running around holding what seems to be a real looking gun in our hands chasing people, I just pause to take a look at what has been improved. Better looking people, guns/tools, buildings, lighting, special effects have all been improved.
Again the smoothness of how the game runs is a whole lot better, and I can actually now catch people rather than my pc kind of crawling along.
The new StarWars game called Star Fighter was also tested with the card. Flying through canyons, in a space craft that will beat even the fastest plane is a thrill, but doing the previous with the highest graphic detail possible and your pc running smoothly has to be an even bigger thrill. Ok when this game was released amazing graphics and effects were promised, but until you fly this game with the most powerful card on the market you don’t get the effect others do! Spectacular canyon walls, amazing skies, and superb looking aircraft!
Now this card does not only offer powerful graphics but lots of other things most cards don’t. For starters when you first look at the card on the back it has an extra round socket.
This is an S-Video out plug, this provides a connection to the TV or another display device which can handle the S-Video port! Next our card enables nView Multi-Display Technology, this is a program that will allow all the items on screen to be moved, resized and fit on 2 screens. Even with games, example FlightSim, it can be done, which will give an extra thrill looking at the panel on screen B, and spot view on screen A. nView does not only enable multi-display technology, but other helpful applications, such as; how nView helps windows maximize quicker, help zooms and many, many more. All sorts of programs come with the CD, to make using the card 100% better. Such as ResChanger, a program that sits on the taskbar that allows you to change Desktop Resolution and colour with a click of a mouse. And even a FREE version of PowerDVD is given to you!! The package contains everything from the driver CD, sticker pack, trouble shooter, and User Guide book! Not only all the above but a nifty program again only for EVGA customers is SYSCAN, which can be found on the EVGA website.
This program enables EVGA to provide the best Technical support to its customers, it works by hooking into the users system and finding the problem. Nothing to it!
Now above is only half what is really available with the GeForce4 MX, tonnes of other items like Accuview AnitAliasing, all make gaming better, 3D cards have never been better!
If you are a top gamer who likes his/her games to be real and thrilling, you honestly need the GeForce4 MX. This card will bring the powers of your computer to life, and make your gaming 100% better! I cannot stress how better your games will be with this card! Like above, thinking of getting a new CPU or more memory, think again, this card will speed up your graphics while providing stunning effects!
All this for an amazing Small price!
Please visit the NVIDIA webpage to place your order for the best card out!
Thanks To:
NVIDIA for providing the card to review!
The minimum requirements this card needs to update your graphics by 100% are:
Intel Pentium II or higher, AMD Duron (or similar Athlon)
64MB System Memory
AGP Slot 2X or higher
CDROM Drive
Windows 98 or higher
