DukeOfURL: Abit Siluro MX400

Patrick Mullen writes:

Over the years, graphics cards have become more and more of an integral component in our computer systems. While some companies are bundling cheap graphics cards like the TNT2/Vanta, ATI Rage LT, and the S3 Savage, some companies are clearly seeing the light of day. This is a far cry from only a few years ago, when prices were high, and all of the high-end cards sat on the shelves -- and not in your system.

NVIDIA has done some growing since their TNT2/Vanta, and has really found a niche for just about every card they sell. With cards based on the GeForce2 MX getting cheaper and cheaper, it finally starts to make a decent graphics card in your new system a reality. If you're building your system on a budget, that killer gaming performance you've been looking for is finally here for a price you can handle.

Not only is the GeForce2 MX (400, 200 and regular series included) a great card for a Windows box, but if you're looking to put it in a Linux box, you can be sure it's backed by some great drivers straight from NVIDIA. If you don't like that closed-source thing, however; you're going to have to put up with a 2D driver only.

Now it comes down to the Abit Siluro MX400. Does the MX400 destroy the old MX chipset? Does that extra 64 MB of SDRAM on the card help push it by the competition and up into the GeForce2 GTS performance bracket? Will you be able to put up with closed-source drivers on Linux?

Read on to find out.

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