One of the best video cards
Pros:
powerful video card
hardware bundle
Cons:
price
software bundle needed newer games
The Bottom Line:
I would recommend this card to anyone who has the money to buy a top of the line video card. It will blow your old card away.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
The Asus ATI AX800 PRO is probably one of the best video cards at the moment for the money. Starting with the packaging, the box itself is a great marketing tool. It displays some of the things this video card is capable of and then some. This is the first time I have ever owned an ATI video card, having only used Nvidia products all the way from a Riva TNT all the way to a Geforce 4 ti4600. The reason I upgraded from the 4600, was because the fan blew and the card overheated overnight killing the card.
Inside the box, the card is packaged well in a clear plastic box so you can see the card when it is still in the box through the window. Also included in the retail box is a webcam. although not the greatest webcam, it is a welcome product for those who never bothered to spend money on a webcam and always thought it would be a neat idea to have one. It connects via USB, so installation is very easy. all cables that could possibly be needed are all included, even an ATX power splitter to power the video card. You also get a DVI to VGA adapter to run multiple VGA monitors if you want.
As for the software bundle, it includes Counterstrike : Condition Zero, Deus Ex : Invisible War, Asus dvd player software, Cyberlink Mediashow SE 2.0, Ulead Cool 3D SE 3.0, Ulead Photo Express SE 4.0, Cyberlink PowerDirector 3DE, Video Card driver disk, and Manual. The software bundle for me was not too bad, but Deus Ex is an old game now, and does not really show off the abilities of the card. It would have been nicer to see a coupon for half life 2.
Installation of the card was as easy as most other cards, just place it in the slot, and install the drivers. It only took an extra 5 min than normally because this card comes with an ATX power requirement. Very justifiable coming from a very powerful video card. Attaching a monitor to the card, you can use either the old VGA connector or the new DVI connection since both are supported. Just make sure the correct driver is installed for the card, or you will not get a signal. I had that problem when I first installed it.
Having been my first ATI product, I am very pleased with the performance of the card. After installing half life 2, the card really shows off its rendering capabilities. Everything looks so smooth and runs so perfectly that I would beg to see a card that does a better job.
The only thing that they could have improved would have been the software supplied. They should have supplied newer games to really show off the cards capabilities.
I would rate this card a 9.5/10
