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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


(click for larger image)

X-Micro's Impact 4 Pro Site
Approx $230 to $250 USD

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
9/10

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.

 





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