nVidia by EVGA e-GeForce 8400GS 512MB DDR2 Graphics Card

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Works great with Vista machine
Reviewer: MCM from Kentucky on Apr 7, 2008
34 out of 43 found this review helpful

Disable on board video on boot, go to Vista and shutdown. Plugged into PCI-e slot easily. On boot up Vista installed generic driver. I updated driver and got the Vista 8400GS driver installed no problem. Video quality much higher than on-board video. $69was a great value for double my video ram and the NVIDIA chips. My games rating went from 3.2 to 4.7. Interestingly enough, my Vista Aero rating only went from 3.2 to 3.4! Go figure! I am very pleased, up and running in 20 minutes, no problems at all. Video quality is superior.

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Works great, but...
Reviewer: Ako Kwan from Virginia on Sep 26, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

I'm not a gamer so I'm not as critical of video capabilities as some. But graphically and otherwise this card more than satisfies my needs. I do need to use dual monitors in my work, so replacing the built-in video in my new desktop was necessary. Thiscard was the least costly option to get dual monitor support: At $69 minus $20 rebate it was a great bargain.

I have only two quibbles about the overall product experience.

First, installation is not monstrously difficult but could confound the noviceor less experienced user. The physical plugging in is simple enough. But with two monitors to connect, it's not immediately clear which one will come up as the Primary. One may have to switch the cables.after starting up -- but you don't have to shut down to do that.

However the driver CD that comes in the package is not compatible with Vista. Vista will start the card with a generic VGA driver that does not support dual monitors. It does not automatically seek to download or update to get the correct driver. The user has to do that, either by going to Device Manager to request a driver update or by downloading from the EVGA website. Once the driver is updated, one then has to configure the display for dual monitors, either via the Vista desktopPersonalize window or the nVidia control panel. None of this is difficult for the experienced user but novices might find it challenging.

My only other complaint about the card is fan noise. Having installed the card after using my new desktop computer's built-in video port for a while, I clearly noticed that what had been a whisper-quiet machine became somewhat distractingly noisy. And because my desktop really sits on my desk top, the noise is hard to avoid.

This is my second EVGA video card. Actually my third. The first had a severe fan noise problem due to a bad bearing. EVGA honored the warranty and replaced it. (Note that it is necessary to register the product with EVGA within 30 days to keep warranty coverage.) That card had 256 K of memory and hence a proportionately smaller fan -- it seemed a bit quieter than this one. Well, more power and more memory mean more heat, which requires fans. I don't know if other producers manage to make comparable cards with any quieter fans, so thisjust may be par for the course.

A further note about warranty coverage: EVGA provides a higher grade of warranty for some additional payment -- for that, they will send you a replacement card before you return yours to them. They also reduce shippingcost.

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Great Buy
Reviewer: Laurido from San Antonio, TX on Sep 23, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Bought to install a second monitor. I am very impressed with the ease of installation. Followed the instructions and in about 10 mins I was up and running. I also liked the programs that came with it. Colors look better than factory motherboard and it's faster, even with two monitors running. I use one with my tv tuner card and the other to browse web and play around. Very happy. I'm also getting a $20 rebate with it.

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