Asus V8460 Ultra Geforce 4 TI

Conclusion

The ASUS V8460 Ultra Geforce4 Ti 4600 is a classic example of just how a Geforce4 Ti 4600 should look and perform. It's extremely well-built, and simply oozes quality of construction. The software bundle is reasonable, too, with 2 decent, full games in Aquanox and Midnight GT racing respectively, and a number of further demos to highlight the power of the Geforce4 Ti 4600. I also appreciate the care and attention shown, you get decent DVD software, and the all-important DVI-VGA / DVI converter as standard. We've previously seen both the MSI and Creative Ti 4600s ship without this converter.

The quality of construction extends to using gold contacts, the first time we've seen this on a video card. Whilst there is no hard evidence that these further enhance the performance, their inclusion can only be seen as a plus-point. The colour, a nice shade of purple, adds a touch of class to the package.

The fan on the ASUS looks innovative, but in my opinion, its main strength lies in its quietness of operation. As has been stated earlier in the review, other Ti 4600s that have been reviewed at Hexus have had disarmingly loud fans, hardly surprising when their job is to cool 63-million transistors still based on a 0.15u manufacturing process. So it comes as something of a pleasant surprise to be greeted by the muted sound of ASUS' card-cooling.

Performance at stock speeds was just a shade behind the MSI Ti 4600. This is perhaps to be expected as the MSI ran with a factory overclocked memory speed of 660MHz. The ASUS, however, played it firmly by NVIDIA's specifications by only clocking their memory at 648MHz. Overclocked performance was reasonable rather than spectacular. We managed to get a rock-solid speed of 318/740MHz respectively, the memory speed was impressive considering the lack of additional cooling. The core overclockability seems to have more to do with luck that cooling. It seems to us as if 320MHz core is just about as far as you can go with present yields and air-cooling. The ASUS firmly reaffirms this.

The ASUS does everything well but is not outstanding in any department. The fact that this is the Pure version without any added VIVO functionality somewhat detracts from its attractiveness. When spending £300+, one would expect to have every bell and whistle included. To be perfectly fair to ASUS, a Deluxe model will soon be available.

To sum up, if you're after a solid Ti 4600, from a respected manufacturer, with a comprehensive warranty, and have no real need for VIVO functionality, the ASUS V8460 Ultra Geforce4 Ti 4600 really should make it on your shortlist.

Highs