First look
Referring back to Ryszard's review for a second, the reference FX 5700 Ultra utilised a large GPU cooler, GDDR2 RAM, and an axillary power connector. In terms of pure specification, it had a 475MHz core and a whopping 906MHz memory speed, courtesy of Samsung's GDDR2 chips. The PCB, too, was a little larger than we had anticipated.
It's all change for the WinFast A360TD. You can see that Leadtek propose this to be a multi-card design. Two black dots signify that this is a 128MB card with PAL video output. It also uses regular TSOP RAM and not the new-fangled GDDR2 present on the reference FX 5700 Ultra. Further examination shows that the A360TD is bereft of VIVO functionality. We'd usually expect to see some form of Philips ASIC on the centre-left of the PCB. A simple, uncomplicated design.
The chunky aluminium cooler hides the NV36 GPU underneath. It's well attached and uses a mesh covering to stop larger objects from possibly disturbing the airflow. The aluminium fins give it a reasonable amount of dissipation area. Leadtek sees fit not to include an all-in-one design for concurrent GPU and RAM cooling. The cooler's size prohibits the user from attaching RAMsinks. It's attached on the GPU via two plastic pushpins and some sticky TIM (Thermal Interface Material).
Decent attention to care here. We prefer this kind of TIM to a blob of liquid-ish goo. The FX 5700 isn't a large GPU, so it's imperative for the cooler to be in decent contact with it. Leadtek's R+D team seems to have done a good job with the cooler here.
8 128MBit chips are used to provide 128MB of on-board memory. It's regular 3.6ns TSOP memory which will equate to a native RAM speed of ~555MHz. Here's where one of the most obvious sacrifices has been made with respect to the 906MHz RAM-powered FX 5700 Ultra. The Leadtek A360TD FX 5700 is giving away a significant amount of bandwidth, obviously.
It's as you were. HD15, TV-Out and DVI take their usual places on the back panel. The card features 2 x 400MHz RAMDACs for exotic resolutions and TV-Out has historically been an asset for NV cards. The WinFast A360TD feels like a budget card - that's fine as long as it's backed up by a budget price.
