Conclusion
The cards from ABIT, Suma and Leadtek provide good performance combined with different add-ons: The ABIT board does not include any special add-ons except for the generous 64 MB of graphics memory. Unfortunately, the 5.5 ns chips cannot be overclocked very much. Suma's board is also quite simple, being equipped with only 32 MB, but the black PCB and the golden metal parts make it look good. Also, the fan lets you overclock the GPU at least. Leadtek equips their WinFast GeForce2 MX SH-MAX400 with 64 MB SDRAM, a GPU cooler and fan and a TV-out. All cables plus a software DVD player are included.
The StarForce 826 from MSI, suffering from its 175 MHz default GPU speed, is unable to keep up with its competitors. MSI does provide a utility called 3D!Turbo 2000 which lets you alter the frequency settings, but inexperienced users will probably prefer to let these settings remain as they are.
The two winners of this review are the PixelView and the Gainward boards. PixelView runs the 4.5 ns memory at 183 MHz by default, enabling better performance. With TV output, excellent conditions for overclocking and an attractive price, the PixelView MX400 provides great value as well as performance.
In the end, Gainward's GeForce2 MX TwinView Vivo still manages to top the rest of the cards, using 4 ns SDRAM memory and providing official support for an enhanced mode, which runs the GPU and the memory at 240 MHz. In addition, the board is equipped with a second D-SUB15 output for a second monitor, and you will get two video-in and two video-out ports plus Ulead's VideoStudio 4.0 and a DVD player. I guess there is not much more to say: Congratulations to Gainward for winning this competition!
