ASUS EN8600GTS - bundle, presentation and warranty
Always with an eye on its key demographics, ASUS has packaged the card to appeal to female Roman archers. Surely, others will follow suit to take advantage of what must be a burgeoning market segment?
The box also boasts of 'Superior Cooling Efficiency' with temperatures 'Up to 10C' lower, which correlates with our testing results.
Around the back we see the usual feature-lists and specifications.
| Items | Drivers CD Manuals CD Quick-start Guide Faux leather CD wallet One DVI dongle HDTV-Out (component) lead |
|---|
Along with a quick-start guide and the CDs for driver and manuals, there's an ASUS-branded faux mock-leather CD wallet. A little bit strange for a card that, in other respects, seems to be stripped back to the essentials and should be competing hard on price.
[advert]A single DVI adaptor, along with a component-video cable for TV out, round out a rather slim bundle. There's no S-Video lead and no composite-video cable for those hoping to feed the display to older TV sets.
Warranty
The EN8600GTS is covered by ASUS's usual warranty - three years from the date of purchase, transferable between owners.The warranty is directly through ASUS, not the supplier, and sees the card being returned to a UK address with a claimed average turn around of 14 days from collection to return.
Summary
With the exception of the nice quiet cooler, ASUS has opted for a no-thrills approach with its 8600GTS offering, with clock speeds as near to stock as makes no difference.This makes the inclusion of the CD wallet seem a bit silly. It adds little in the way of value (perceived or real) and we'd have rather seen an extra DVI adaptor or a full complement of TV-out cables. Or even a slight reduction in the price.
