ASUS V6800/64 MB GeForce

Conclusion

ASUS's products have always gotten high marks for quality and additional features, a place where the V6800/64 also stands out. By incorporating advanced features such as hardware monitoring and a useful driver set into the V6800/64, ASUS has made a very powerful and very attractive card. It was a bit disappointing to find that ASUS stuck to the reference design for the V6800/64, however considering the fact that more powerful products are weeks away it seems only logical that ASUS not put extraordinary effort into a card that could very well be dominated in no time at all.

Additional features we are used to seeing on some ASUS cards, such as video-out and video-in are purposely left off the V6800/64. The reason for this is price: adding anything but the essential would only have made the card basically inaccessible to the average or even power home user. The one addition that the V6800/64 does include, hardware monitoring, is very attractive and functional. This is one way that ASUS sets itself apart from the competition. In addition, the high quality of manufacture that goes into the V6800/64 is the same high quality we have seen in every ASUS video card since the V3400. Not only are the cards rock solid and good overclockers, the use of thermal grease to attach the heatsink to the GPU shows ASUS's high attention to detail. The 2D image quality is what we have come to expect from ASUS GeForce products, meaning that it looks good at resolutions up to 1600x1200.

As far as software bundle is concerned, the V6800/64 comes with the same software as the whole V6x00 line. This means that in addition to a driver CD, you also get the full versions of Rollcage and Darkan, a CD with 12 demo games on it, and ASUSDVD for DVD playback. Of the included software, the games are pretty much useless for the hard core gamer that would be purchasing such a card. As far as ASUSDVD goes, it seems quite ironic that ASUS would bundle a software DVD decoder program for use with a card that has no video out capabilities.

The ASUS V6800 is a very powerful card, however this power comes with a cost. We do not know what the retail price of the card is yet, however expect it to be in the mid $300 range. In addition to high price, the card is yet to hit retail shelves, making availability a concern. Is the 64 MB GeForce line too little too late? Will the NV15 slated to come out soon force the 64 MB GeForce cards out of their top performance slot? Perhaps, however if you are out to get one of these powerful video cards, of the cards examined the ASUS V6800/64 is the card to go with.

Note: this review is a review of the ASUS V6800/64, NOT of the 64 MB GeForce production. To learn about the 64 MB GeForce in general, please see our 64 MB GeForce review.