VGA Card Buyer's Guide 07/2003

MSI™'s FX5600-VTDR128 uses NVIDIA®'s GeForceFX 5600 chip, a.k.a. NV31. The card uses 128 MB of 128-bit DDR memory with an access time of 3.6 ns. The clock speeds adhere to NVIDIA®'s specifications (325/550 MHz). To reduce the risks involved in flashing the card's BIOS, MSI™ has fitted the card with two BIOS chips (TwinBios). A jumper on the TV-out/in adapter selects the active BIOS.

The card is cooled by a copper-colored heatsink and an almost silent fan (25 dB). Hardware monitoring functionality is handled by a Winbond chip (W83L785R) and covers fan speed, temperatures and voltages. On the software side of things, it is MSI's rather playfully designed monitoring tool, 3D! Turbo Experience, that displays the information to the user. The tool runs in a browser window as a Shockwave Flash application and also offers overclocking options.

The FX5600-VTD128 offers both TV-Out and TV-In (Philips SAA7114H encoder chip). A large plastic adapter is included, which is used to connect sources and external displays to the card, either via S-VHS or composite video. MSI ships this model with a 2-meter S-VHS cable. The software bundle is very extensive and extraordinary. In addition to the aforementioned 3D! Turbo Experience tool, MSI ships a number of other utilities with the board. These are: Live Update 2 (automatic check for + download + installation of new BIOS files and drivers), MSI™ Secure Doc (file encryption utility), MSI™ GoodMem (a tool to flush the system memory), MSI™ LockBox (security software which allows the user to lock the computer when he / she leaves the workstation), and MSI™ WMI Info (a system information tool).

Beyond these utilities, MSI™'s bundle also includes the programs E-Color 3Deep, TwinSoft BeTwin (a tool for managing multiple user accounts on a PC), Trend PC-Cillin (Anti Virus software), Media Ring Dialer, Virtual Drive (www.farstone.com/home/en/shtml/vdpoverview.shtml), RestoreIT! (www.farstone.com/home/en/shtml/ritpoverview.shtml) as well as MSI™ 3D Desktop, Supreme Foreign Language Learning Machine (a language learning software), and Intervideo's WinDVD 5.1 software DVD player.

MSI™'s Media Center Deluxe II is more than just a media center - it lets users control their 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 by TV-Out, or when using the infra-red remote control that comes with this version of the card. Using the remote, the Media Center software can be completely remote-controlled. Unfortunately, the remote control feature does not extend to mouse support via IR. The IR receiver is connected to the TV-out adapter using a 90 cm long cable. Video files can be edited, cut and encoded using Intervideo's WinCoder and WinProducer (Professional User's Pack).

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.

With its very good multimedia features, its huge software bundle and the solid 3D performance, we have no trouble recommending the MSI FX5600-VTDR128 wholeheartedly and to give it an editors Choice. If you don't need such a feature-rich card, though, there are faster alternatives available. Thanks to its very quiet fan (25 dB), the card is practically silent.

+ Practically silent fan! (25.0 dB)
+ Hardware monitoring
+ TV-In & 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)
+ Infrared remote control for Media Center Deluxe II
+ Good games bundle with current titles
+ TwinBios

Conclusion

It's hard to come to a clear conclusion here, since there is no single "right" card for everyone. Aside from the price and the 3D performance, other factors, such as a card's software bundle or hardware features, often play a role in the buying decision. What's clear, however, is the difference between NVIDIA and ATi cards when it comes to the feature set. Where ATi-based cards tend to resemble each other both in looks and features, this is not the case with NVIDIA-based cards. Here, at least the big manufacturers are putting a lot of effort into setting their products apart from their competitors' in a highly competitive market.

We chose one card from each of the price categories that we found especially worthy of recommendation and awarded it our Editor's Choice. Our main criteria in doing so were obviously the cards' 3D performance and feature set.

Editor's Choice: MSI™ FX5600-VTDR128

Even though there are no surprises when it comes to 3D performance, the MSI™ FX5600-VTDR128 wins an Editor's Choice award, thanks to the good multimedia capabilities and its very quiet fan. The MultiMedia Center Deluxe II software and the included remote control also make it possible to use a multimedia PC in the living room.