Introduction

nVidia recently introduced the latest addition to its video card line, the GeForce4. The GeForce4 series consists of three budget chipsets, the MX420, MX440 and MX460, and three high-end chipsets, the Ti4200, Ti4400 and Ti4600. Since its release, the Ti range has received a heap of praise because of its excellent performance at high resolutions, even with the highest quality settings turned on. While that is all well and good, not everyone can afford to spend about US$400 on a single component. That is where the GeForce4 MX comes in.

The GeForce4 MX has copped a bit of flack lately because, despite it being named a GeForce4, it is still based on the NV17 core and does not feature programmable pixel shaders or a second vertex shader like the GeForce3 and GeForce 4 Ti series does. That does not mean that this chipset is just a higher clocked GeForce2 MX, as it does include some great new features such as nView technology (multiple monitor support), Accuview Anti-aliasing (only present on the GeForce4), a crossbar memory controller and a Video Processing Engine (hardware DVD playback).

Today we are taking a look at a card that is based on the GeForce4 MX440 chipset, the Abit Siluro MX440. Will nVidia's mid-range budget chipset provide enough bang for your buck? Read on to find out!