Abit's Siluro GF4 MX 440
Most of you are probably familiar with our gripes about NVIDIA's GeForce4 MX chip. It's more of a GeForce2 on steroids than it is a GeForce4-anything (or even a GeForce3-anything). Considering how NVIDIA has spearheaded the move to a new approach to real-time 3D with vertex and pixel shaders, the GeForce4 MX is a bit of a disappointment. Look at it as direct competition for the Radeon 7500, though, and NVIDIA's thinking begins to make more sense. Clearly, the GF4 MX isn't a gamer's card, but it matches up well against the competing product from ATI.

Abit's version of the GeForce4 MX 440 comes in a stunning shade of blue with a very nice cooler.

The Abit Siluro GF4 MX 440

Abit's GF4 MX 440 includes 64MB of DDR memory clocked at 400MHz and an S-Video output. Unfortunately, there's no secondary output, DVI or otherwise, so this card can't support multiple monitors, even though the GF4 MX chip can. Abit is planning a "VIO" version of this card with a DVI output and a TV encoder.

Of course, the Siluro GF4 MX 440 includes all of the good things the NV17 chip brings to the table, including Accuview anti-aliasing, NVIDIA's efficient memory architecture, and a full MPEG2 decoder for effortless DVD playback.