AX600XT bundle and presentation
The ASUS Extreme AX600XT's box, thankfully, is of average dimensions. The overall design is pleasing. The salient features are listed on the front so that you immediately know exactly what you're paying for. HDTV support is rare in midrange cards and ASUS makes sure everyone knows it.
The bundle is atypical of ASUS' recent offerings. Lots of CDs and a reasonable amount of hardware makes it better than the majority of other manufacturer's. As you would expect, the bundle is almost identical to the N5900's. Power Director 3 is required for Video-In duties. Then comes the ubiquitous Deus Ex: Invisible War, ASUS DVD XP, Medi@ show, Ulead COOL3D, and a driver/utility CD containing the excellent SmartDoctor software, GameFace and VideoSecurity (can't see the relevance here, folks).
Just to be a little different, this breakout connections box is purple, much like the ones that ship with reference cards. S-Video-In/Out and Composite-In/Out connections are still present.
The HDTV connector deserves a mention. Unlike the usual S-Video cable, HDTV's pushes into the port on the back of the card and locks into place. It disengages by pushing in the sides. Three component cables, on the other, end plug into a compliant HDTV device. Easy as pie.
SmartDoctor, as I've said on numerous occassions, is an excellent tool for monitoring voltages and temperatures. It's also handy at controlling fan speed, from around 2400RPM through to the default, high-pitched 4700RPM. The one area that this particular version falls down is in poor overclocking headroom. The sliders max out at 550MHz core and 780MHz memory, which is well within the card's compass.
Another top-notch bundle from ASUS.
