Bundle and presentation
We've established that the card is a cut-down reference design model, most likely manufactured by Flextronics and marketed by Gainward. With that being the apparent case, the onus is now on the Gainward to distinguish their overall package from the competition. One simple method is to have a strong bundle and feature set. So let's have a look.
The box the Gainward Golden Sample Ultra/1600XP GeForce FX 5900 Ultra 256MB (phew!) arrives in is more akin to a motherboard's box. The relative size of a Nokia 7210 should highlight this fact. The first feeling one experiences is of contentment. It seems as if your hard earned cash has gone somewhere good. The contents are a little like a treasure cave - you dig deeper and keep unearthing new kit.
Stage 1 of the bundle is the is shown above. InterVideo's WinCinema, comprising of WinDVD 4 (DVD playback, multi-channel use), WinRip 2 (WAV ripper and MP3 player) and WinProducer 3 (Capture, edit and burn VCDs), allows you to explore the card's abilities and talents. A reasonable 50-page quick start guide covers most of the basics in detail. A utility / driver CD features the 44.03 drivers, Gainward's EXPERTool - one that guarantees an overclock from 450/850 to 460/870 on this Golden Sample, video capture drivers and DirectX9. We're led to believe that this bundle is missing a gaming CD. Knowing Gainward, that'll entail the original Serious Sam and another older title.
Gainward often bundle a 3-port VIA 6306-powered FireWire card with their prestige cards. It's no different here. The card will allow faster capturing for the many camcorders equipped with Apple's high-speed standard. The sound card's CD and optical cable will make greater sense with the next picture.
Yup, Gainward attempt to provide half a PC. A CMI 8738 5.1 channel CODEC provides the brains of this outfit. Together with the optical cable and S/PDIF module on the right, one that provides both optical and RCA inputs and outputs, capturing both vision and sound has never been so easy.
There's more !. A 6-foot FireWire cable, MOLEX pass-through, DVI-to-VGA dongle, VIVO cables and a natty pair of earphones mark out this card's hardware package as one of the very best. It's a shame that more attention hasn't been paid to the gaming side of things. A couple of recent titles would have made all the difference. Hardware heaven.