Gainward CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! 64MB

AnandTech Video Card Rating

Performance

Among video products that use the same graphics core, we are usually pleased with any small performance increase one product can have over another. Although the performance of the CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! is only slightly higher than competing products, it is refreshing to see one card perform better than the rest. In all cases the CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! was able to match the speed of the competition and in many cases was able to beat the other cards.

Price

The Gainward CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!!, it its base configuration, is one of the least expensive GeForce3 boards on the market. At $342, the card is slightly cheaper than offerings from VisionTek, Inno3d, and eVGA.

When VIVO functionality and DVI support are added, the price jumps to $375. At this price level, no other GeForce3 cards can also offer VIVO support.

Drivers

Although the base of the CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! drivers are NVIDIA supplied, Gainward does take an extra step by including their Expertool utilities. Of these utilities, the overclocking one proves to be most useful.

Features

In the base form, the CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! does not come with many features standard. Besides the circular fan and Expertool driver utilities, the base CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! best feature is its price and performance.

It is with the VIVO version of the CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! that the features really shine. Besides offering full video-in and video-out support in both composite and S-video formats, the card also features a DVI-out port.

Retail Availability

Although not readily available at your local BestBuy or CompUSA, the Gainward CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! is available at a number of e-stores. Finding one of these should not be a problem, as long as you are willing to buy over the internet.

Documentation & Software Bundle

The manual included with our CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! was rather sparse and included only basic instructions on card installation and driver setup. The software bundle rung in at the same note, as the only included full version software worth noting was WinDVD 2000.