Thoughts

Our initial impressions of the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 XT are favourable. It brings top-end power down to an affordable price-point. The reality is that any derivative of the FX 5900 cards is going to perform well - the over-riding question was just how cheap could NVIDIA and its partners make it. AOpen's interpretation borders on the generic, as the card and bundle seem to offer nothing more than the bare minimum. Here's where AOpen becomes unstuck. The GPU is good, so any card based upon it will undoubtedly be reflected in a positive light. Our benchmarks make that clear. It's then up to the partner to create the best possible FX 5900 XT it can, or differentiate it from the others in some way. AOpen's is neither the best in features or price. We've scoured the web and found lesser-known partners' XT cards retailing at no more than £130 - £20 or so cheaper than the Aeolus model.

Our final thoughts are simple. NVIDIA's done a good job in ensuring that a midrange GPU has true top-end performance clout. AOpen hasn't seized the opportunity with both hands. The Aeolus FX5900XT doesn't have enough going for it at the asking price of £150 to seriously warrant an immediate purchase, and the lack of a bundled game is disappointing. We'd either opt for another partner's card that offers the full gamut of hardware (VIVO) and software (games) extras, or we'd plump for a generic model at a lower price-point.