Product: Xentor
From: Guillemot International Inc.
5505 Blvd Saint Laurent, suite 4204
Montreal H2T 1S6 Quebec - Canada
Tel : (514) 279-9960 - Fax : (514) 279-0194
Price: US$129.99
Tested Drivers: CD ROM 1.0 (listed as 4.11.01.0122) and May 31st update.
Pros: AGP 2x TNT2 clocked at 135MHz with 16MB of 166MHz SDRAM, software bundle includes Xing DVD 2.01, various game demos. $20 rebate until Nov. 30, 1999. Includes Kingpin: Life of Crime and Speedbusters games.
Cons: No TV out or other unique features.
The Xentor is based on nVidia's market-leading TNT2 chipset, essentially a faster verion of the TNT chip that fared so well in our Graphics Lab '99 roundup several months ago. The Xentor, like other cards based on the TNT and TNT2 chips, is notable for outstanding Direct3D game performance, and the inclusion of a full-fledged OpenGL Installable Client Driver, making this 16MB card a decent choice for low-end to mid-range 3D graphics design work as well. But clearly, this card is marketed to -- and ideally suited for -- the 3D gaming enthusiast.
Installation was straightforward, giving us only a minor hiccup when we tried to install it on a test machine that also had the Voodoo3 "3dfx Tools" installed. This caused a crash. Removing the 3dfx tools with the Add/Remove Programs control panel quickly solved this issue.
2D image quality is excellent. On-screen images are crisp and the screen refresh was optimal. 3D image quality was also good, although darker than we'd have liked as a default. This can easily be changed using the Advanced Properties in the Display control panel. There, you'll also find controls for Direct3D and Open GL modes. As is the case with other cards based on the TNT and TNT2, the Xentor provides a full OpenGL ICD with very good performance -- better than anything 3dfx, ATI or Matrox offers.
The Xing DVD playback software is also good. Xing's player is one of the few that contains a function to temporarily disable your system's screensaver while movies are playing (why don't they all do this?), and it's keyboard shortcuts for changing display modes and performing various functions are sensible and easy to remember. It also includes a file mode that plays MPEG2 and MP3 files. We've reviewed the Xing Player in more detail in our DVD Player review. Our review copy lacked the other games mentioned on the box, but Guillemot says shipping versions include them as promised.
Performance in 3D modes was very good, particularly when compared to the previous generation of TNT cards. On our overclocked Celeron 450 test machine, the Canopus Spectra 2500, a TNT-based card that was one of the best cards in our 1998 graphics card roundup scored a 2710 in 3DMark 99 tests. The Xentor zoomed past it, scoring an impressive 3625. This narrowly edges out a pair of Voodoo2 cards connected in tandem (in "SLI" mode), which scored 3610, and handily beats a single Voodoo's score of 2572. However, the Voodoo3 blasted past them all, scoring 4007.
The 1.0 driver gave us remarkably few problems, displaying all effects correctly during our 3DMark99 MAX tests, and otherwise performing beyond our usual expectations of 1.0 drivers. Nevertheless, Guillemot released an updated driver on May 31st; it contains a new set of tweaking options the company calls "Control Freak." It's a safe bet that there will be several more updates as time progresses.
Aside from the software bundle missing from our review package, there's little to complain about with this card. It's an excellent choice for those looking for a low-cost card that delivers high-performance gaming and OpenGL/Direct3D acceleration.
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