VGA Card Buyer's Guide 07/2003

MSI FX5900-TD128, Continued

MSI's Media Center Deluxe II is more than just a media center - it lets the user control his or her entire PC (program launching, videos, music, radio, picture viewer, TV (Video-In)). The big on-screen buttons and the large fonts make navigation especially easy when the PC is hooked up to a TV via TV-Out.

The games bundle is another highlight. The card ships with full versions of "Morrowind - The Elder Scrolls III" (2002), Tom Clancy's "Ghost Recon" (2001), "Duke Nukem - Manhattan Project" (2002), and an extra CD featuring seven game demos. As a little bonus, MSI also includes a little notepad for jotting down in-game information.

Conclusion: If you're looking for a quiet FX5900 card with a good software bundle, the MSI FX5900-TD128 may be a good fit. Beware of the fan on the back of the card, though - make sure it will fit your motherboard! The very low noise level of the TwinFlow fans is exemplary!

+ Very quiet dual-fan design
+ TV-out
+ Video cable included (S-VHS, 2 m)
+ Huge software bundle (see text for details)
+ MSI software tools
+ Media Center Deluxe II (control center for the PC, useful in combination with TV-Out)
+ Good games bundle with current titles
+ DVI output up to 1600x1200

- Potential installation problems due to the large rear-mounted fan

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MSI FX59000-TD128
ManufacturerMSI
3D ChipNVIDIA GeForceFX 5900
Memory128 MB DDR (256bit), Hynix 22
Memory SpecsMax. Clock Rate: 900 MHz (DDR)
Clock Rate (Chip/Memory)400 / 850 MHz (DDR)
Hardware FeaturesVideo-OutSecond fan on the back of the cardNotepad
Fan Noise36.5 dB
SoftwareMSI 3D! Turbo ExperienceMSI Media Center II DeluxeMSI Tool SammlungMSI 3D DesktopE-Color 3DeepTwinSoft BeTwinPC-Cillin (Anti-Virus)MediaRing DialerFarsatone VirtualDriveFarstone RestoreIT!WinDVD 5.1Supreme Foreign Language L.M.MorrowindGhost ReconDuke Nukem Manhattan ProjectDemo CD