Review: Leadtek Twinforce 2

Performance wise, proceedings rolled out as expected. Given XP2100+ and the Ti4200 card, the motherboard did its level best to eek out all the performance you saw. Quick glances at the graphs don't tell the full story with regards to system performance. The base system components like XP2100+ and Ti4200 are slower than the other systems on test so performance was never going to shake the earth but it was very commendable and shows us what a nice performing nForce and NV25 are.

For the cash you'll outlay on the pair, plus a suitable processor and memory, you can't ask for any more than what you saw in the graphs. It did well to hold its own, especially in the graphics test where the graphics card was the overriding factor in the final scores. The Ti4200 is a solid card with high performance and good API compatibility.

So performance overall was nice, if not outstanding, but given the components and scaled up to match it does very well compared to the other systems.

Overall Conclusion

Taking performance out of the final equation to leave the rest of the package (assuming good performance), what have we got.

We've got a motherboard that's slightly behind the times in terms of features with no IDE RAID or USB2.0 but with the nice inclusion of an Ethernet header to do away with the need for a network hookup. But it sports the still class leading onboard sound solution in the form of the v1.0 APU that resides on the MCP southbridge on the nForce chipset. It's better than many add-in PCI sound cards and I'd gladly use an nForce audio solution if they were available as standalone products.

We have a top notch graphics card with excellent cooling that begs to be pushed (overclocking wise Ti4600 speeds, albeit in 64MB form, were easily obtainable and running 300/650 should be possible 24/7 effectively giving you a Ti4600 for free).

Put the pair together with the features they bring including 1024x768 TV-Out and the excellent audio and you have a fine base platform for a media of games playing box without any of the hassle. Leadtek do a great job on presentation which makes things all the sweeter.

Paired with a mid to high end Athlon XP processor and some good memory and you have a fine performing solution with good base features. Only the pair of USB 1.1 ports lets it down for me, I would preferred a couple more, in USB2.0 format if possible but that's the only bad mark and it's to be expected since the board isn't a spring chicken any more.

I pleaded with Leadtek to let me keep it as a permanent sample for a box I had plans to build which is as about as high a recommendation as I can give it. For it's purpose and taken in context as a relatively cheap games and media box, the bundle makes a lot of sense. Recommended.

Pro's

Performance
Expansion
The audio hardware
Great graphics card from a pseudo-integrated solution
Cost

Con's

Lack of current up-to-date features
Maybe a little hard to find

Overall Score

9/10

Thanks

Leadtek (hi Claire!) for the sample.