Introduction

As NVIDIA aggressively attempts to introduce the GeForce FX family down the retail channel and replace all existing GeForce4 products, we are certain that such an undertaking would take quite a while to take into effect. After all, the GeForce4 series was introduced more than a year back and yet you can still find a few GeForce3 products lurking in shop corners (the GeForce4 was to replace all GeForce3 products). Due to the low entry price of the GeForce4 Ti 4200, the stagnated pricing of the GeForce3 products crippled its own sales, which is why they are still available to this date, albeit they are more affordable now. Likewise, unless the new GeForce FX entrants have been priced all too attractively to resist, the existing GeForce4 solutions would be in greater demand (at least in the short term).

Mid-range priced graphics cards are some of the biggest sellers in the DIY arena where reasonably well performing graphics cards can be had. The GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x based cards best fit in this segment and have been very prevalent too. Having reviewed a few of them earlier this year, today we take a look at another from a well-recognized vendor -- the Gainward GeForce4 PowerPack! Ultra/700-8X XP Golden Sample (what a mouthful! - Ed.). The Ultra/700-8X XP is no stranger to us since we reviewed the Ultra/750 XP version (GeForce4 Ti 4600) last year and were more than content with the product.

To those unfamiliar with Gainward’s use of the ‘Golden Sample’ phrase in their product names, it is a sign of overclockability of the graphics card as Gainward has a special agreement with NVIDIA to supply them with graphics cores of better yield and perhaps other components as well. We shall look into the overclockability advantage of this card in further pages, but for now, here are the detailed specifications of the Ultra/700-8X XP.