Conclusion and Score
Looking back on the original reference board review, we knew what performance would be like before we started. The Aeolus is reference design through and through, deviating from it not one iota, save the Philips video ASIC. Tiger Woods 2004 gave us a new helping hand in evaluating DX9 performance that, lets face it, could probably be better. It's mighty fast in 90% of games, it could be faster in the other 10%, but certainly isn't slow. It looks nice too, image quality is subjectively good.Performance aside, the Aeolus also impressed in other areas. After the fanfare of recent boards, with boxes as big as a terraced house, more copper than is decent and remote controls aplenty, the pared down minimalistic nature of the Aeolus appealed. The card, a few CD's to let you use the card features and a nicely presented box. Just what the doctor ordered.
As far as pricing goes, since it sticks with the reference cooler, presumably a pretty cheap solution if AOpen and eVGA are sticking to it, I'd expect it to be even cheaper than the Leadtek. The Leadtek can be found in the UK at a pretty decent £345 or so, quite good for a high-end board today, so pricing bodes well for the AOpen when it hits UK retail outlets.
The minimalist nature of the AOpen presentation will be right up the alley for some of you. If it is, I highly recommend you consider it, should your pockets be bulging with £350 or so to spare.
It's quiet, nView 3.0 is excellent, the 2D quality was the best I've ever seen in isolation using my Sony G400 monitor and it should be comparatively cheap. Radeon 9800XT's are quicker, but FX 5950 Ultras make a decent case for themselves. Overclocking was a highlight too.
Well done AOpen.
Score
Pro's
Should be cheapGreat performance
Excellent 2D image quality
VIVO features
Good overclocker
Nice presentation
Quiet
Con's
Not the last word in overall DirectX 9.0 performanceMight be hard to find in the UK (Dabs is your best bet I think)
An S-Video cable would have been nice
Thanks
Komplett for the digital camera used to take the shots.AOpen for the sample.
