Test: ASUS ENGTX260 TOP /HTDP

Konklusion

Så fik vi kæmpet os hen til konklusionen, forhåbentligt uden nogen tab.

ASUS leverer endnu engang varen, på et marked, hvor konkurrencen er hård, med et rigtig godt grafikkort til entusiasten, der vil have høj ydelse, uden at blive flået. Bundlen er ret standard, men designet er unikt og helstøbt, hvilket suppleret med firmaets egen software, gør ASUS ENGTX260 TOP/HTDP til en særdeles god oplevelse.

Innovation/Teknologi - 3
GeForce GTX200 virker på dette punkt ikke som andet end gammel vin på nye flasker. Der er intet revolutionerende ved dette produkt andet end at det er hurtigt og forbedret. Eller lade os kalde det at presse citronen endnu hårdere. Det er der nødvendigvis intet galt i, da det giver os et hurtigere og "billigere" produkt. På plussiden er understøttelsen af Hypridpower, 3-way SLi, PhysX og høj video ydelse (noget som et 9800GTX også kan). Ej at forglemme, har nVidia også lanceret CUDA, i forbindelse med GTX200, og det kan vise sig, at være lidt et triumfkort - men kun på længere sigt, hvis tilslutningen til teknologien bliver stor. For det ville da være særdeles rart, at kunne bruge sit grafikkort til andet end grafik; videokonvertering eksempelvis. På minussiden, er mangel på HDMI med HD-lyd. Der mangler generelt nytænkning og vi savner en DisplayPort integreret. Denne er dog understøttet af GTX200 - nogle producenter vil muligvis producere kortet med en sådan. 

Bundle/Tilbehør - 3
ASUS er ofte ikke blege for, at levere bundles, der får de fleste producenters tilbehør til, at ligne det rene ingenting. Dette har vi set med mange af deres bundkort, som ofte er rene skattekister, indeholdende alt hvad hjertet begærer. Dog er jeg ikke voldsomt imponeret over præstationen, firmaet her leverer. Der medfølger en DVI->VGA adapter, Molex->6-pin strømstikadapter, TV-out dongle, manual, drivers, CD-taske samt ASUS' egen software. Firmaets egen software trækker op, men en adapter til HDMI savnes, og en version af 3DMark eller et spil, ville heller ikke være af vejen. 

Design/Layout - 5
Kortets design er nok cirka så drenget, et grafikkort bliver. Der er dømt kamu-tema, der leder tankerne hen på Rambo, Platoon og andre film for rigtige mænd - og den kampklædte ASUS-kvinde står som altid kortet bi. Nogle vil kalde det dårlig smag - men "gung ho, platoon", siger jeg bare! På det mere sobre og relevante niveau, udmærker kortet sig også her, med en dejlig stille køler, der egentlig er designet til kortets storebror, GTX280. Og det betyder, at GTX260'et, er en ganske overkommelig opgave for køleren. Militærsløring der leder tankerne hen på sen-firsernes aktionfilm, samt et kanon termisk design, sikrer kortet en 5'er. 

Software/BIOS - 5
Vi ved historisk set, at ASUS er utroligt dygtige til, at udvikle deres egen software til både bundkort og grafikkort, og SmartDoctor og GamerOSD er da også rigtig smarte programmer. GamerOSD er kort sagt et FRAPS-lignende program, der kan måle framerates og optage hvad der vises på skærmen - og det er rigtig fedt, da FRAPS ikke er gratis, hvis man vil optage mere end 30 sekunder ad gangen. NVidias ForceWare driver, som jo er standardsoftwaren, fungerer sådan set udmærket. Overclocking direkte i driveren, som vi kender det fra AMD/ATi OverDriver, ville dog være rart.

Ydelse - 5
Ydelsen er helt som den skal være - særdeles god! ASUS' forhøjede clockfrekvenser gør, at kortet faktisk yder ret lig med GTX280, og det er lidt af en bedrift i sig selv, må man sige. I nogle programmer vil kortet helt sikkert få smæk af et kort som HD4870X2, men det er også et kort, der er i en helt anden prisklasse - og vi sammenligner ikke pærer med æbler. Alt taget i betragtning, får ASUS et 5'er-hattrick her. 

Pris - 3
Med en pris på 2200 kroner, er det ikke det største sug i pengebogen man mærker, hvis man vil skaffe sig noget kamuflage-lir til computeren. GTX280, som kortet ligger sig ret tæt opad, koster omkring 900kr. mere, og dét taget i betragtning, er kortet et ganske rimeligt køb. Men ligesom Rambo fiktivt havde kommunisterne at slås med, har GTX260 nogle ganske virklige røde at slås mod - nemlig AMD/ATi. Radeon HD4870 kan nemlig fås 600kr. billigere, sammen med standardudgaverne af GTX260. Ydelsen er dog så også lavere - og hvis man tager Zotacs overclockede GTX260, der er dette korts nærmeste konkurrent, som er clocket lidt lavere på RAM, er ASUS' udgave 150kr billigere. Et 3-tal gives for, at kortet er et godt køb, taget de andre overclockede udgaver i betragtning - men med forbehold for, at standardudgaverne af GTX260 og HD4870 er en god sjat billigere.

Test: ASUS ENGTX260 TOP /HTDP

Innovation / Teknologi	3
Bundle - Tilbehør	3
Design - Layout	4
Software - BIOS	5
Ydelse	4
Pris	3
Samlet	73%

UK summary

Now we've fought us through to the conclusion, hopefully without any losses.

In a market with very tough competition, Asus has once again delivered the goods, with a video card for the enthusiast who wants plenty of performance without getting ripped off. The bundle is pretty standard, but the design is unique and wholehearted, which in supplement to the companys own software, makes the Asus ENGTX260 TOP/HTDP quite a pleasant experience.

Innovation/Technology - 3
At this point, The Geforce GTX200 seems like nothing but old wine on new bottles. There's nothing revolutionising about this product, besides the fact that its faster and that it has been improved. Let's call it squeezing the lemon a little harder. However, there's really nothing wrong in doing so, as it gives us a faster and "cheaper" product. On the plus-side, there's support for Hybridpower, 3-way SLI, PhysX and high video-performance (something the 9800GTX also has) - and last but not least, Nvidia has launched CUDA along with the GTX200, which could turn out to be quite an ace up Nvidias sleeve - but only in the long run, if the industry adopts the standard on a broader scale. It would be nice to be able to use your video card for something other than graphics, like for instance video editing, wouldn't it? The minus-side consists not only of missing HDMI with HD-sound, but also of the missing Display Port, which is supported by the GTX200-chip, why some manufacturers might include it in their designs, but - to sum it up - we're missing something really innovative. 

Bundle/Accessories - 3
ASUS isn't afraid of including bundles that make other manufacturers bundles look like peanuts in comparison. We've seen this quite often with their mainboards that are often pure treasure chests, containing everything your hard could desire. This time, I'm not all too impressed with what the company delivers though. There's a DVI->VGA adaptor, a Molex->6-pin PCIe power adaptor, a TV-out dongle, a manual, drivers, a CD purse and ASUS' own software included. Asus' own software pulls the score a bit upwards, but an HDMI adaptor and a version of 3DMark and a game wouldn't hurt. 

Design/Layout - 5
The design is as close to boyish as it can be. Did someone say Camou-theme? This leads your thoughts straight to Rambo, Platoon and other movies for real men - and the battledressed ASUS-woman stands by her card, as always. Some might call it bad taste - but "gung ho, platoon", is what I've got to say! On the more sober an relevant side of things, the card stands out with a nice and quiet cooler, which was actually designed for the GTX280. This means that the GTX260 is quite an easy task for the cooler. Military camouflage leading your thoughts to actionmovies of the late-eighties, and a great thermal design, assures this card 5 points.

Software/BIOS - 5
Over the years, we've seen that Asus has been very good at developing their own software for mainboards aswell as video cards; SmartDoctor and GamerOSD are really clever programs. GamerOSD is a program quite similar to FRAPS, which lets you record in full-screen what happens on your monitor - and this is very cool, since FRAPS isn't for free, if you want to record more than 30 seconds at a time. NVidia's ForceWare driver, which is the standard software, does what it's supposed to do, although an option to overclock directly from within the driver, as we know it from AMD/ATi, would have been nice.
 

Performance - 5
The performance is as its supposed to be - outstanding! Asus' increased clock-frequencies makes the card perform quite equal to the GTX280, and this is a bit of an accomplishment in itself. In some programs the card will likely get smacked by the HD4870X2, but this is a card in a totally different pricerange - and we're not comparing pears to apples here. Everything taken into consideration, the Asus scores a hattrick with three times 5 points in a row.
 

Price - 3
At a price of around 2200 DKK, purchasing this card won't leave your wallet feeling like a big vacuum, if you want to get yourself some camouflage-eyecandy for your computer. The GTX280, which the card leans itself towards, costs around 900DKK more, and this taken into consideration, makes the Asus GTX260 a very descent buy. But as Rambo fictionally had to fight communists, the GTX260 has some very real reds to fight, namely AMD/ATi. The Radeon HD4870 can be had for around 600 DKK less, together with a standard version of the GTX260, but the performance here is adequately lower. We're granting the Asus' GTX260 3 points, as it's a very good buy, considering the competing overclocked versions of the gtx260 - but the standard version of GTX260 and HD4870 still is a lot cheaper.