Primer for ASUS Graphics Cards
Firmly affixed at the top of the motherboard charts is ASUS, who has also built quite a reputation for itself in the graphics card business. Owing to its first rate R&D competence, as well as a never-ending quest for product perfection, ASUS has, from very humble beginnings (circa PCI era), become one of the worlds largest graphics card manufacturers today. Last year (2004), ASUS recorded graphics card shipments totaling 8 million units, which equates into a worldwide graphics card market share of 9%. Asus Graphics Card Series Every graphics card manufacturer categorizes its products according to product features and user purchasing power. ASUS is no exception to the practice, and currently has in its arsenal the TOP, Game Edition, standard cards, and X series graphics card lineups. TOP stands for Top Overclocking Performance. This series represents the pinnacle of the ASUS graphics card lineup. All models in this series are factory overclocked for core and memory speeds exceeding their respective reference cards. Inaugural TOP series member the Extreme N6600 GT TOP adopts the GeForce 6600 GT GPU just like the Extreme N660 GT graphics card, but its core and memory speeds are both advanced by 50MHz (effective memory speed is therefore boosted by 100MHz) to make full use of the GeForce 6600 GTs potential.
ASUS Extreme N6600 GT TOP The Game Edition series graphics cards are engineered especially for gamers, and are generally considered very good buys as they sometimes come slightly overclocked from the factory. Lets take for example the GeForce 6800 powered V9999E card, which has core/memory speeds of 350MHz/1GHz, or 25MHz/300MHz above the reference card.
At other times they have featured improvements such as widened memory interfaces (e.g. 64-bit in the ATI RADEON 9550 vs. 128-bit in the A9550E). Finally, one other approach that ASUS has been known to take is to reduce clock speeds to provide greater overclocking potential, while simultaneously reducing the price of the product. The GeForce FX 5900 V9950GE is an example; its memory speed reduced to 700MHz from the reference card speed of 850MHz. Pricing for the card compared to same-cored V9950 graphics cards was lower.

ASUS V9999GE

ASUS V9950GE

ASUS A9950GE

The standard edition graphics cards are 100% faithful to the reference cards, so the features and specifications are only as special as the reference cards themselves. ASUS has prepared the X series graphics cards as the entry-level option, but they usually still feature a rather complete set of common feature functions. The V9520-X below is a fine example built on low profile PCBs, it provides mainstream connectivity in the form of a full set of DVI, VGA, and TV out ports
ASUS V9520-X While these 4 graphics card series basically make up the ASUS graphics card lineup, sometimes customers are also treated to Deluxe edition graphics cards that are bundled with very special accessories such as 3D spectacles (previously) or webcams (currently). The Magic, SE, and Video Suite series graphics cards have been officially retired.

Naming Convention for ASUS Graphics Cards
ASUS graphics card business began early in the PCI era. PCI graphics cards of that era, however, exited stage right by the middle of the 90s, and were replaced completely by AGP graphics cards. To make things simple, well discuss the conventions ASUS uses when assigning model numbers starting with AGP graphics cards, which adhere to the following format:

2 XXXX

3 XXX /

6 XXX / XXX / X

Looking at the above, it is obvious that an ASUS model number is made up of 6 portions. Portion 1 is the code used for the maker of the graphics processor. Portion 2 relates directly to the graphics processor adopted. Portion 3 represents the graphics card series, while portion 4 concerns the I/O interfaces. Portion 5 is generally used for graphic memory capacity, and portion 6 the TV output format supported. Portion 1 The letter/code most often seen in position/portion 1 used to be V, which stood for Video, and was meant to define the item as an ASUS graphics card product. This letter was used for products incorporating graphics processors from Intel, S3, 3dfx, NVIDIA (all series) and ATI (Rage series only). At the beginning of the AGP era we witnessed the starting of a solid partnership between ASUS and NVIDIA. Most ASUS products were powered by NVIDIA GPUs, which is the reason why ASUS graphics card products, having model numbers starting with the letter V still available in the market today, mainly adopt NVIDIA chips. In the meantime, ATI was growing in market share and influence, and had finally reached a point at which it could be considered equal to NVIDIA. To increase the competitiveness of its product lineup, ASUS set up a working relationship with ATI and started the manufacture of products powered by ATI VPUs. These products were given model numbers starting with the letter A.
In the present, ASUS lineup is an uncomplicated one consisting of only NVIDIA and ATI graphics processors. ASUS has also given up the letter V, which previously referred to both NVIDIA and ATI products. ASUS now uses A for ATI based products and N for NVIDIA products. Portion 2 The graphics processor model number is inserted here. While this is usually a 4-digit number, it also takes into account the name of graphics chip, so there might be an added suffix (e.g. the Ultra in the GeForce 6800 Ultra). For models starting with V, the rule of thumb here is the higher the number, the higher the performance. Being the 4 digit figure that it is, 9999 is the highest number that can be assigned to a graphics card. Currently, this has already been given to the GeForce 6800 series GPU products (V9999), so this method can no longer be applied to later products, which might deliver stronger performance. ASUS has now adopted a new method, which is to use the name of the graphics chips directly. This has been put into effect with the launch GeForce 6600 GT AGP With ATI products ASUS has always applied the VPU model number directly (ATI 3D graphics chips are called VPUs, while NVIDIAs are called GPUs), with examples being the RADEON 9800 XT-powered A9800XT and the RADEON X800 XT-powered AX800 XT graphics cards. Portion 3 The 3rd part of an ASUS model number is used to identify membership in an ASUS product series. TOP, GE and X series graphics cards all make use of this, while standard edition cards do not. Portion 4 This is used to describe the I/O interface, and is separated from the previous 3 portions using a /. Codes used here are H, T, V, D, and 2, with H standing for HDTV support, T for TV-Out support, V for Video in, and D for DVI interface. 2 is a bit more special, as it is used in conjunction with one of the previous codes as a means of conveying that there are two such I/O interfaces on the card. For example, 2D simply means that there are 2 DVI out ports. Portion 5 The 2nd to last portion is used to convey memory capacity and is also separated from the previous portion using /. 64M, 128M and 256M are used to communicate 64MB, 128MB, and 256MB capacities respectively. Portion 6 This model number portion conveys the video format supported, and is used only for cards that support video in and/or video out. This is necessary as the video format for television varies country to country. In most cases you will either see P (for PAL) or N (for NTSC).

PCI Express Era Currently, PCI Express graphics cards are gradually replacing AGP graphics cards. While ASUS new PCI Express cards adopt the same basic convention as AGP cards, an E (for Extreme) is assigned to the front of portion 1. The portions behind follow the same principles explained above. Code Legend Code V Portion 1 A N E(Extreme) Portion 2740 264GT3000ZX 385GX7700Ti 8200T2 8200TVideo ATI NVIDIA PCI Express SiS 6326 Intel i740 ATI Rage Pro NVIDIA Riva128 NVIDIA Riva128ZX SiS 305 S3 Savage 3D 3dfx Voodoo Banshee NVIDIA RivaTNT S3 Savage4 NVIDIA RivaTNT 2 S3 Virge/GX2 NVIDIA GeForce256 NVIDIA GeForce256 DDR NVIDIA GeForce MX4000 NVIDIA GeForce 2 MX NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTS NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ti NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX NVIDIA GeForce 3 NVIDIA GeForce 3 Ti200 NVIDIA GeForce 3 Ti500 NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti4200 NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti4400 NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti4600 NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX440-8X NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti4200-8X NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Portion 1 code V, all are AGP graphics cards. Explanation Remarks For graphics processors from NVIDIA, S3, SiS, and Intel
9570 9570LE 9900 9900Ultra 9950 9950Ultra 9980Ultra 9999 9999LE 9999GT 9999Ultra 6200 6200TC 6600GT 9550 9600SE 9600Pro 9600XT 9800Pro 9800XT X300 X300SE X600Pro X600XT X700 X700Pro X700XT X800Pro X800XT X800XT PE X850XT X850XT PE Portion 3 TOP GE
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 LE NVIDIA GeForce FX 5800 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra NVIDIA GeForce 6800 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 LE NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5750 NVIDIA GeForce PCX 5900 NVIDIA GeForce 6200 NVIDIA GeForce 6200 Turbo Cache NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT NVIDIA GeForce 6600 NVIDIA GeForce 6800 ATI RADEON 9200 ATI RADEON 9250 ATI RADEON 9550 ATI RADEON 9600 SE ATI RADEON 9600 Pro ATI RADEON 9600 XT ATI RADEON 9800 Pro ATI RADEON 9800 XT ATI RADEON X300 ATI RADEON X300 SE ATI RADEON X600 Pro ATI RADEON X600 XT ATI RADEON X700 LE ATI RADEON X700 Pro ATI RADEON X700 XT ATI RADEON X800 Pro ATI RADEON X800 XT ATI RADEON X800 XT Platinum Edition ATI RADEON X850 XT Platinum Edition ATI RADEON X850 XT Platinum Edition TOP series Game Edition Current mainstream ASUS graphics card series. Portion 1 code is A. If E affixed at the very front, product is a PCI Express graphics card Portion 1 code is N. If E affixed at the very front, product is a PCI Express graphics card.
Products with model numbers not featuring these codes are -X X series standard edition (100% reference-based) graphics cards. Luxury package (usually supports Deluxe video input and may bundle special products such as 3D spectacles, webcam) Magic SE Video Suite H D Portion 4 V T 2D 64M Portion 5 128M 256M Portion 6 P N Magic series SE series Video Suite series (usually supports video input) HDTV DVI Video in TV out 2 DVI 64MB 128MB 256MB PAL NTSC Basically no longer in use

Model Number Summary ASUS graphics card model numbers are broken down into 6 portions. While each portion provides us with important information, it is the first three that are the most important as they communicate the adopted graphics processor and the corresponding performance level. Understanding these codes means a rudimentary understanding of the major specifications Special Features and Functions The technological tour de force that is ASUS allows graphics card products to incorporate many exciting and unique features and functions. Some of the latest features are TV tuning capabilities as well as 3D display, the others we are quite familiar with, such as the SmartDoctor graphics card status monitor, VideoSecurity Online surveillance system and GameFace Live voice and video chatting feature. ASUS SmartDoctor This graphics card monitoring system is an ASUS classic that has benefited from continuous development over the last 3-4 years. Currently it is at V2.X. Major functions include direct graphics card frequency adjustments, as well as voltage, core temperature and fan speed monitoring.
SmartDoctor setting panel, displays voltages and graphics card frequency adjustment slider
Core/memory temperature readings

Fan speed reading

ASUS has also used the SmartDoctor program to fortify its graphics card-supported functions such as the HyperDrive function supported by the RADEON X800 XT. In addition, the SmartDoctor setting panel offers the 3D game, CPU Usage and Temperature modules that will, according to 3D game and CPU loads or graphics card temperature, perform dynamic overclocking. This system is slightly more flexible than ATIs HyperDrive, which adjusts only on the basis of temperature. In addition, ASUS SmartCooling feature is controlled by SmartDoctor. Users can choose to have SmartDoctor automatically adjust fan RPMS to pre-defined temperaturespeed settings as a method of minimizing noise.

HyperDrive options

Fan Control
The ASUS VideoSecurity Online program is a mini surveillance system that works by fixing the focus of a webcam on a certain area the user wants to keep dibs on. Anything that enters the webcams window of sight is immediately captured the image preserved as proof of intrusion. The system can email or telephone the user automatically to relay a warning. In the example below, we setup the Video Security Online system and test using a pen. The intruder enters the webcams view and is captured instantly. Video Security Online will produce two images: one for normal conditions (upper) and a second as proof of an intrusion (lower).
Video Security Online configuration panel
Our intruder is captured instantly
The ASUS GameFace Live is an ASUS exclusive feature that was launched not long after the company started producing ATI products last year. Currently at version 2.X, the program can be used to conduct video chatting and TV reception during gameplay without negatively impacting the game. Previous versions provided only one-on-one video chatting capabilities, whereas now it is capable of one-to-multiple.

Game Face configuration panels
Chat with multiple users during gameplay Note: To allow the above functions to work properly, please make sure you have the ASUS Enhanced Driver installed. Conclusion ASUS is a premium graphics card brand. The only downside to the graphics cards ASUS
produces is the relatively high prices compared to the competition, but this is to be expected from a brand of its stature. We hope the information we have presented in this document can be of help to you when choosing an ASUS graphics card!