ASUS V8460 (GeForce4 Ti4600)

In the past, this Taiwanese company's Deluxe boards were the ones to beat on features - they set the standards and could always be certain of rave reviews and testing triumphs. With the introduction of this new family of cards, ASUS is shifting to a lower gear, it seems, introducing "only" a standard card. Not to worry, though - a Deluxe card with all the usual bells and whistles is also in the works and has already been announced.

ASUS V8440 (GeForce4 Ti4400)

The "Pure" versions we tested in this review, which are identical save for the chip and memory frequencies, offer neither hardware monitoring features nor the familiar 3D shutter glasses. While both cards are equipped with TV-out, neither has a TV-in connector. ASUS continues this minimalist approach by not including a video cable. The card does come with a short cable splitter for S-Video and composite video output. The inclusion of a DVI-VGA adapter with the cards allows dual monitor modes even with two analog displays, partially making up for lack in the ViVo department. A quick-start guide helps first-time buyers by explaining how to install the card into a computer.

Gold contacts

The gaming bundle consists of Aquanox, Midnight GT and a demo CD called "Game Showcase." A software DVD player as well as the usual ASUS tweaking utility complete the bundle. Visually, the dark purple boards make a positive impression. A large, elliptically shaped and pleasantly quiet fan keeps the GPU cool. Neither board carries memory heatsinks.