Presentation, bundle, warranty
ASUS hasn't squandered any unnecessary money on packaging the card. This is a good thing because, as far as we're concerned, that's money spent on filling the bin!
There's no money wasted on the bundle, either. All you get is what's needed to get the card into your PC and working. It's possible, albeit unlikely, that ASUS may have squandered a couple of pennies on the faux leather wallet, but all you get within are the driver and utility CD. Not a penny has been wasted on software you may already own.
We like the fact that it does ship with ASUS' SmartDoctor software, which provides for both fan control and overclocking. However, the overclocking function, called HyperDrive, requires the installation of an ASUS-modified version of the CATALYST drivers in addition to an ASUS 'Enhanced' driver, and, as such, you are reliant on ASUS updating its set as soon as AMD releases new drivers.
We noted that ASUS' Smart Cooling - an automated, temperature-controlled option for the card's fan - didn't work correctly, irrespective of which drivers were installed.
Cabling is also frugal, where you only receive a Component-Out (HDTV) cable, DVI-to-DSUB dongle, and the ever-useful PCIe power adapter. Arguably, the HDTV cable would be more useful if it was S-Video, but that's only an issue if you intend to attach the card to a fuzzy CRT TV.
