e-GeFORCE4 Ti4400 - Overview
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e-GeFORCE4 Ti 4400
Overview:
What's included
You'll notice the card comes complete with PowerDirector 2.0 Pro, PowerDVD XP 4.0 and the Driver Installation CD version 8.2. Power Director is a fairly nifty program that lets you create movies for CD's & DVD's should you be into that sort of thing. Power DVD is of course your standard program for watching DVD's on the PC and the Driver disc is self explanatory. Here are a few pics of the card out of the eVGA "Slim Box". The Slim Box is simply eVGA's way of saying (insert fat bastard accent) "hey, there's not a lot of crap in this box" to buff up the price. Just the stuff you'll need to run your card to utilize it's capabilities. And personally, that's FINE by me.
Installation: I'm just going to cover this topic briefly as most of you are more than familiar with the install procedures of an nVIDIA based card, which is made very simple with nVIDIA's click-n-install drivers. Here's a few screen shots of the GF4 Ti 4400 properties running the 30.82 Detonator Drivers.
I originally started benchmarking while running the 29.42 drivers but decided to scrap everything and update to use the 30.82 Detonator's. Performance is a little bit less stellar, but nothing noticeable and I wanted to have the most current software drivers for our results.
You'll notice the driver version to the right within "Driver Version Information". Also, notice under "Display Adapter Information" the card is of course listed as a GeForce4 Ti 4400/AGP with 128MB of memory. I still remember dreaming of video cards with 128MB of ram, now it's a reality.
Superior Multisampling Technology
"Accuview improves upon NVIDIA’s multisampling technology by providing a variety of multisampling modes, including 2x, 4x, Quincunx and a new 4XS mode that delivers improved subpixel coverage and better texture quality. 4XS mode delivers 50% more subpixel coverage than previous modes. This translates into a finer gradation in final pixel color values at the edge of an object, resulting in a smoother antialiased edge."
Benchmark wise, there were little to no performance differences between 4xS and the normal 4x. Later in the review, we'll get to see 4xS in action utilizing the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Demo.
Also, one last adjustment that I would like to include is the "Digital Vibrance" option. A highly overlooked setting that has been included with nVidia drivers for quite some time, and certainly worth a look. I discovered this awhile back and really enjoy the effect it has on my desktop. Follow my pictures below to give your desktop new depth and color. You'll thank me. First, in the video card properties screen, click on the nView Tab. Then click on "Device Settings". Then click on "Color Correction".
Once you have the "Color Correction" screen up. Move your "Digital Vibrance" bar 1 or 2 notches to the right. 1 is usually plenty for me, but 2 can be nice also, depending on your monitor's specs and your brightness settings. You'll notice a great increase in sharpness and depth of color. Who says the GF4 doesn't have awesome 2D?? This option alone could make the Parhelia obsolete! Ooops, too late.
Originally, I wanted to include a few pics of each setting to show you the differences, but for some reason, Hypersnap just does not show them properly. All settings look the same. But trust me. Play with Digital Vibrance and you'll thank me later.
Benchmarks. Now that we've seen some pics and specs on this card. Lets take a look at the performance we can expect in a few benchmarks I have set up.
Next: Benchmarks >>
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