Conclusion
The XFX GeForce4 Ti 4800SE is an average interpretation of a GPU that's been made redudant by a newer iteration of cards. NVIDIA seem keen on pushing their highly specified new cards, at the expense of pure all-out speed. The GeForce4 Ti series has served NVIDIA and its partners well, but, as you can see once we apply antialiasing and anisotropic filtering, the relative failings of the Ti 4800SE become all too apparent.
The XFX card arrives nicely packaged. The card itself is a pleasant affair, with an impressive single-sided heatsink that covers both the GPU and RAM. We're thankful that the fan isn't as intrusive as some we've heard. It's also pleasing to see a Philips VIVO chip, albeit the lesser specified 7108E. The accompanying Power Director Pro is both intuitive and easy to use.
The difficulty in recommending a GeForce4 Ti card now is level of competition, both from ATi and NVIDIA themselves. ATi have successfully implemented the key virtues of image quality and performance, both with and without antialiasing and anisotropic filtering.
We were a little unfair in not comparing the XFX GeForce4 Ti 4800SE with its immediate competition, but the two Radeon cards show just where performance stands today. A reasonable offering on a card that's a little past its prime. The bump up to 8x AGP specification does little or nothing for performance. We had have hoped for a speed increase to accompany the new name. Unfortunately, that never came to be. Priced at around £160, there's better value to be had elsewhere.
Highs
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Quiet fan
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VIVO and decent accompanying software
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Reasonable presentation
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Decent 2D quality
Lows
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Poor antialiasing and anisotropic performance
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No bundled games
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Performance has been surpassed by newer cards
