Taking a look back at the past several NVIDIA product launches we haven't been overly positive about any of their flagship GPUs for quite some time. We hounded NVIDIA for bringing an overclocked GeForce2 Ultra to the market in order to meet their self-imposed 6-month product cycles. And while we praised the GeForce3 on a technological level we never recommended buying it as enjoyable DX8 games were clearly months (that turned into years) away from its release. NVIDIA's Titanium nomenclature was first introduced with the GeForce2/3 Ti series and even then we only found it prudent to recommend the GeForce3 Ti 200.

This all changed with the release of NVIDIA's GeForce4 GPU as the Ti 4400 and Ti 4600 models impressed us beyond belief. The performance these two GPUs offered not only in today's games but in other highly anticipated titles was beyond respectable. For the first time we had a graphics solution that could run almost any currently available game at 1600 x 1200 at very smooth frame rates. NVIDIA's new flagship also turned out to be the highest performing solution for Unreal Tournament 2003 and all other forthcoming games based on the latest Unreal Engine. To say the least, we were very impressed with the GeForce4 Ti 4400 and Ti 4600.

Then came the Ti 4200, a GeForce4 for the masses. While Ti 4200 cards are still a couple of weeks away from being in the hands of most retailers, the rest of the GeForce4 line are available in healthy quantities. Although NVIDIA's goal is to ship as many GeForce4 MX cards as possible, to those that know better, it's the real GeForce4 that we're after.

Because of a relative lack of interest in the GeForce4 MX, the existence of the GeForce4 Ti 4200 and as a semi-protest against NVIDIA's misleading nomenclature you won't find a GeForce4 MX roundup on AnandTech. Instead, we've gathered our IR thermometers and rounded up 11 cards based on the GeForce4 Ti 4400 and GeForce4 Ti 4600 GPUs. If you want the fastest 3D accelerator available today, we'll tell you which one fits the bill.

The GeForce4 GPU: Bursting at the Seams

This roundup will not feature regurgitated information from our GeForce4 review, instead we'll point you in that direction if you wish to learn more about the GPU and its performance relative to the competition. There are a few points that are relative to this roundup that we'll mention here in order to help you understand some trends we've been noticing in these cards.

For starters, the GeForce4 GPU is in fact bursting at its seams. The chip is quite expensive to manufacture on a 0.15-micron process and is in desperate need of a shrink down to TSMC's 0.13-micron manufacturing process. Unless NVIDIA decides to release an interim solution between now and this fall (which does have some likelihood of occurring given increasing competition from ATI and other next-gen GPUs being released this summer), the move to 0.13-micron will be made with the NV30. Because of the complex nature of the chip itself and the fact that it's being made on a 0.15-micron process we've noticed relatively little overclocking headroom in the GPUs themselves. In fact we get much better overclocks (percentage-wise) out of the memory on these cards than we do out of the GPUs themselves. Remember that the highest clocked GPUs (Ti 4600) are those that are picked out of the lowest-yielding bins and thus they have the least amount of overclocking potential. But since the GeForce4 is already so complex you shouldn't expect that the Ti 4400 GPUs will overclock just as well as the Ti 4600 parts, these speed bins are kept to very tight margins. We'll talk more about overclocking later in this roundup.

Next on the list of quirks to deal with is that the GeForce4 has no internal TMDS transmitters for DVI outputs. It is an extremely difficult task to integrate TMDS logic onto a GPU die and doing so requires a lot of engineering to insulate the high speed TMDS areas of the die from the rest. This is why you won't find any integrated TMDS transmitters on any of the large/high-speed GPUs. The lack of any integrated TMDS transmitters in the GeForce4 GPU puts the weight of providing DVI support on the shoulders of the card manufacturers. While all of the cards we tested feature at least one Silicon Image 164 transmitter capable of delivering enough bandwidth for a 1920 x 1080 resolution on a flat panel, there was only one card that featured two transmitters allowing for dual DVI outputs. All of the other cards simply provided a single DVI connector and a single analog VGA connector; in most cases a DVI-to-VGA adapter was provided to enable nView support for those that only have analog interface displays.

When the GeForce4 was first released Visiontek was the manufacturer with cards first in the retail channel. They managed to pull this off by following NVIDIA's reference design down to the smallest capacitor and inductor specifications and thus their Ti 4600 cards suffered from the same problem as the NVIDIA reference design. The problem we're speaking of isn't really a fault of NVIDIA or Visiontek, rather of some motherboard manufacturers and their lax adherence to AGP layout specifications.

The tall capacitor to the left on the 8KHA+ prevents the Visiontek Ti 4600 from sitting properly

Our good friends at HardOCP.com first publicized the problem when some of their readers reported that the Visiontek Ti 4600 cards wouldn't physically install in EPoX 8KHA+ boards because of a capacitor on the motherboard that was too tall to clear a capacitor on the video card.

All other GeForce4 cards now use smaller capacitors in this location and thus fit fine.

It seems as if all of the other manufacturers have learned from Visiontek's unfortunate encounter and have designed their boards around EPoX's poor design by using a smaller capacitor in the offending location.

One of the biggest gripes that users in general have had with third party NVIDIA cards is that they often suffer from poor analog output quality. With the GeForce4 the RGB output voltages leading to the analog VGA output are held with much tighter margins, resulting in better output quality than any prior NVIDIA line. We're still working on a testing methodology to quantify this but if you're happy with the output quality on the Radeon 8500 you'll be fine with these GeForce4 cards.

In terms of what you should look for in a GeForce4 Ti card, once you have decided on the model you'd like (4400/4600) then the biggest consideration should be price. As we've seen in countless prior roundups, these cards will perform very close to one another and unless you're looking for specific VIVO (Video In/Video Out) features, you'll want to go with the card with the lowest price tag.

The Test

ABIT Siluro GeForce4 Ti 4400

ABIT Siluro GeForce4 Ti 4400
Click the Images to Enlarge
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400 (275/550 core/memory clock)
Memory	128MB Samsung 3.6ns DDR SDRAM
Cooling (Core)	Rectangular HSF Unit
Cooling (Memory)	4 - Heatsink Strips
External Video Encoder Chip	Conexant CX25871-14
External TMDS Transmitter(s)	1 - Silicon Image 164 Tx 1 - DVI-to-VGA adapter included
Software/Gaming Bundle	ABIT SiluroDVD Player
Observed Online Price	$265.00

ABIT has been making NVIDIA based graphics cards for a while now and their Siluro GeForce4 Ti 4400 is another release from the company. There's nothing all to special about the Siluro 4400 outside of its unique cooling setup (you'll hear us say that about a number of the cards in this roundup). ABIT hasn't gone for anything too fancy with this Siluro but at the same time they haven't produced the most effective cooling solution.

The memory heatsinks are attached using a sort of glue which we hope conducts heat well but we fear does more to insulate than conduct. Luckily the GPU itself is covered with a thin layer of thermal grease that provides for ample heat transfer between it and the rectangular heatsink above.

The Siluro 4400 is outfitted with only a single Sil 164 TMDS transmitter meaning that only one DVI output is offered. For those of you without DVI displays, ABIT has provided a DVI-to-VGA adapter so you can utilize both outputs.

The Conexant video encoder chip is identical to the one featured in the Xbox and supports desktop output resolutions of up to 1024 x 768. The single TV-out port on the card is split into a s-video and composite out using a cable provided by ABIT. The card also comes with s-video and composite cables for actually outputting to your TV.

ABIT's only bundled software is their SiluroDVD player software which is simply a re-badged version of WinDVD.

ASUS V8440/TD GeForce4 Ti 4400

ASUS V8440/TD GeForce4 Ti 4400
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GPU	NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400 (275/550 core/memory clock)
Memory	128MB Samsung 3.6ns DDR SDRAM
Cooling (Core)	Circular HSF Unit
Cooling (Memory)	None
External Video Encoder Chip	Conexant CX25871-14
External TMDS Transmitter(s)	1 - Silicon Image 164 Tx 1 - DVI-to-VGA adapter included
Software/Gaming Bundle	ASUS DVD2000, Aquanox, Midnight GT Racing, various game demos
Observed Online Price	$285.00

With the V8440 ASUS illustrates the desire for function over form and thus you won't find a single heatsink on any of the eight Samsung DDR SDRAM chips on the card. In fact, any of these cards compared here today can be run without heatsinks on the memory just fine and there are a few manufacturers that set out to prove just that. The GPU however, is a different story; the oddly decorated circular heatsink has a layer of thermal grease between it and the GPU itself which we've found to be very helpful in cooling these GeForce4 cores. While the GPU ran a few degrees warmer than any of the other 4400 cards in the roundup, the memory temperatures were on par with both the ABIT and Visiontek 4400 cards.

The V8440 is outfitted with only a single Sil 164 TMDS transmitter meaning that only one DVI output is offered. Instead of providing a simple DVI-to-VGA adapter, ASUS bundled a strange thing: a DVI-to-DVI/VGA cable. We found it strange because ASUS could have just as easily offered a simply DVI-to-VGA adapter like they do with their Ti 4600 card.

The Conexant video encoder chip is identical to the one featured in the Xbox and supports desktop output resolutions of up to 1024 x 768. ASUS provides a s-video to component adapter cable so you can use the s-video TV out port with either type of cable, but they fail to provide either cable in the box itself.

ASUS has more of a software bundle than most competitors but it also results in a price increase over the rest of the contenders.

MSI G4Ti 4400-VTD (MS-8871)

MSI G4Ti 4400-VTD (MS-8871) GeForce4 Ti 4400
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GPU	NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400 (275/550 core/memory clock)
Memory	128MB Samsung 3.6ns DDR SDRAM
Cooling (Core)	Modified Reference HSF Unit
Cooling (Memory)	None
External Video Encoder Chip	Philips SAA7108E
External TMDS Transmitter(s)	1 - Silicon Image 164 Tx No DVI-to-VGA adapter included
Software/Gaming Bundle	MSI DVD, No One Lives Forever, Aquanox, Sacrifice, WinProducer/WinCoder, various demos
Observed Online Price	$259.00

Much like the V8440 we just saw, you won't find any heatsinks on anything but the GPU on MSI's 4400 board. A modified version of NVIDIA's reference GPU heatsink/fan unit is attached via hardened thermal glue and provides excellent cooling. What truly gave the MSI card the edge however was a faster spinning fan that ended up creating an annoyingly loud sound when compared to the other fans. The plus side of this was that the MSI card ended up being the coolest running GeForce4 Ti 4400 out of the entire roundup by a significant margin (you'll see the results in the performance section).

The G4Ti 4400-VTD is outfitted with only a single Sil 164 TMDS transmitter meaning that only one DVI output is offered. Unfortunately MSI does not provide a DVI-to-VGA adapter in the box so you'll have to find one on your own if you want to use nView with dual VGA outputs.

Unlike the other Ti 4400 cards in this roundup, MSI chose to outfit the G4Ti 4400-VTD with a Philips video encoder chip. This particular chip limits output resolution to 800 x 600 but does allow for video input as well as output. In order to take advantage of this MSI bundles a dongle that has four connectors on it: s-video in/out and composite in/out. Only a single s-video cable comes bundled with the card however.

In order to take advantage of the video capture features MSI bundled their card with WinProducer/WinCoder which we have covered in our recent review of ATI's All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 128MB. As was the case with most of these cards, MSI's DVD player is a re-badged copy of WinDVD. You also get a healthy software bundle with the card at the lowest price out of all the Ti 4400s (it actually tied with the Visiontek Ti 4400).

With the G4Ti 4400-VTD MSI has put together the best balance of features (through their VIVO) and price; our biggest complaint is the lack of a DVI-to-VGA adapter which is quite useful as these cards are perfect for exploiting the benefits of nView.

Visiontek Xtasy GeForce4 Ti 4400

Visiontek Xtasy GeForce4 Ti 4400
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GPU	NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4400 (275/550 core/memory clock)
Memory	128MB Samsung 3.6ns DDR SDRAM
Cooling (Core)	Reference HSF Unit
Cooling (Memory)	None
External Video Encoder Chip	Conexant CX25871-14
External TMDS Transmitter(s)	1 - Silicon Image 164 Tx No DVI-to-VGA adapter included
Software/Gaming Bundle	Cyberlink PowerDVD & PowerDirector
Observed Online Price	$259.00

What does it take to be the first Ti 4400 to hit the streets? If you have a look at Visiontek's Xtasy Ti 4400 you'll see that it doesn't take much, just a strict adherence to NVIDIA's reference design and strong retailer connections. In fact, as far as availability goes, Visiontek is the easiest out of all of these cards to find which is a definite plus.

As was the case with the ASUS and MSI Ti 4400 cards, the Xtasy Ti 4400 has no heatsinks on its memory and uses the reference NVIDIA heatsink/fan unit attached using thermal glue. The stock setup didn't help this card too much in our thermal tests as it ended up scoring far worse than the top-performing MSI solution. One benefit of this was that the fan wasn't as loud as the MSI unit.

And just like all of the other Ti 4400 cards, there was only a single Sil 164 TMDS transmitter on the board with no DVI-to-VGA adapter provided in the box. The card comes with a sparse software package but at a great price. If you're buying locally then this is probably your own option however if you aren't averse to buying online then you'll be much better off with the MSI card. If Visiontek bundled the card with a DVI-to-VGA adapter we'd be able to recommend this card over the MSI as the cheapest Ti 4400 for those users who only want dual VGA outputs and nothing more.

With the V8460 ASUS illustrates the desire for function over form and thus you won't find a single heatsink on any of the eight Samsung DDR SDRAM chips on the card. In fact, any of these cards compared here today can be run without heatsinks on the memory just fine and there are a few manufacturers that set out to prove just that. The GPU however, is a different story; the oddly decorated circular heatsink has a layer of thermal grease between it and the GPU itself which we've found to be very helpful in cooling these GeForce4 cores.

The V8460 is outfitted with only a single Sil 164 TMDS transmitter meaning that only one DVI output is offered. Unlike the V8440, this card comes with a simple DVI-to-VGA adapter. The Conexant video encoder chip is identical to the one featured in the Xbox and supports desktop output resolutions of up to 1024 x 768. ASUS provides a s-video to component adapter cable so you can use the s-video TV out port with either type of cable, but they fail to provide either cable in the box itself.

ASUS has more of a software bundle than most competitors but it also results in a price increase over the rest of the contenders.

Chaintech GeForce4 Ti 4600

Chaintech GeForce4 Ti 4600
Click the Images to Enlarge
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4600 (300/650 core/memory clock)
Memory	128MB Samsung 2.8ns DDR SDRAM
Cooling (Core)	Modified Reference HSF Unit
Cooling (Memory)	4 - Heatsink Strips
External Video Encoder Chip	Philips SAA7108E
External TMDS Transmitter(s)	1 - Silicon Image 164 Tx 1 - DVI-to-VGA adapter included
Software/Gaming Bundle	WinDVD, Aquanox, MDK2
Observed Online Price	$319.00

By far the shiniest card in the roundup, Chaintech put gold accents on virtually every piece of metal on their Ti 4600. The GPU heatsink, the memory heatsinks, even the DVI and VGA connectors look like Mr. T should be wearing them. It's quickly proven that function should take precedence over form as the shiny elements end up providing the worst cooling out of the batch. As you'll find out later on, this doesn't necessarily mean the poorest overclocking potential but we should make it clear that making your heatsinks look like gold doesn't actually improve anything either.

The only DVI output is driven by the sole Sil 164 transmitter and Chaintech graciously provides a DVI-to-VGA adapter in the box. Chaintech makes the second card we've seen thus far in the roundup with a Philips video encoder chip. The chip allows both video output and input; although Chaintech provides the proper dongle to accept an s-video input they don't provide any video capture software to take advantage of it.

The Chaintech software bundle would have been improved tremendously with software to take advantage of the card's VIVO capabilities but its absence helps result in an extremely low price.