Introduction

The GeForce4 market

It has been three months since the GeForce4 Titanium originally debuted, in that time we’ve seen GeForce4 prices fall slowly (Ti 4600 boards can easily be found for under $320 online) along with greater availability, there are well over half a dozen video card manufacturers producing Ti 4600 video cards with widespread availability of Ti 4400 while Ti 4200 boards targeted for the mainstream market are beginning to become available. With the GeForce4 Titanium line continuing to hold the performance crown (at least until Matrox Parhelia ships), the only option consumers have had in the high-end segment is from NVIDIA. Once you’ve determined your budget (and therefore the GeForce4 core you can afford), the only decision left is choosing the card manufacturer for your upcoming purchase.

Gainward: Video cards for the hardcore market

This brings us to Gainward, with well known names such as ASUS, VisionTek, and most recently, PNY (one of the world’s largest memory manufacturers) offering NVIDIA-based products, other manufacturers are making a name for themselves by offering unique solutions that deviate from the standard GeForce4 reference design. One of these companies is Gainward and the video card we’re reviewing today, the GeForce4 PowerPack! Ultra/750 XP is one such product. If you’re unfamiliar with Gainward, they’re a small company based in Taiwan. First established in 1984, Gainward has manufactured two generations of video cards based on NVIDIA graphics cores as well as one card based on 3dfx’s Voodoo3. Gainward has set itself apart from most other manufacturers by offering unique features that set its graphics cards apart from others.

For instance, for the GeForce3 Titanium, Gainward offered its “Golden Sample” line of products. These are special GeForce3 Titanium boards that have been adjusted to operate at higher clock speeds than all other GeForce3 Titanium boards. If you’ve ever been hesitant to overclock your video card on your own, these Golden Sample cards would make the perfect solution. Gainward also separated itself from the competition by offering a GeForce3 Ti 200 card with 128MB of memory, another first in the industry.

With so many unique products in its history, what does Gainward have in store for the GeForce4? Read on to find out!