ASUS Radeon 9600 XT/TVD

Introduction, Continued

A distinctive feature of this card is its fan. Although quiet to begin with, its volume can be reduced even further by regulating its speed from 0% to 100% in 10% increments.

ASUS SmartDoctor monitors a number of hardware parameters. The fan remarkably offers continuously adjustable speeds.

In addition to the ATi display drivers, ASUS ships a number of other programs and tools with this card. Digital VCR can be programmed to record videos at a certain time. Video Security offers surveillance functionality. GameFace allows video conferencing and voice-communication within 3D games. ASUS's software DVD player, the video editing program PowerDirector 2.55 ME as well as Medi@Show SE 2.0 round out the bundle. Finally there are also Ulead's Cool 3d SE 3.0 and Photo Express SE 4.o.

It's real! A voucher for the hotly anticipated game Half-Life 2. Important: Make sure that the activation code for the game on the back of this voucher is undamaged after purchasing the card!

The gaming bundle is attractive as well. It consists of the titles GunMetal, Battle Engine Aquila and a CD with six game demos. And as if that weren't enough, the buyer also gets Half-Life 2 in the form of a voucher as a bonus for when the game is released. In the meantime, the buyer can pass the time with Valve's Premiew Pack, which includes the games Half-Life, Counter Strike, Team Fortress Classic, Deathmatch Classic, Half-Life: Opposing Force and Ricochet. However, we must say that we couldn't get our Valve Stream package to work: it refused our code. For more information, see www.atihl2offer.com .