Guillemot Maxi Gamer Xentor 32

The Xentor 32 replaced a 16 MB TNT card in our test machines and the results were phenomenal. Games that formerly ran on the pokey side of sluggish suddenly sprang to life, in higher resolutions and with more graphics options enabled. Of course, the card doesn't run games that use the Glide API, but its butter-smooth Direct3D and OpenGL performance more than made up for that fact.

Installation was a snap. We turned off the PC, took the old card out, popped the Xentor 32 in, and turned everything back on. Windows detected the card, we loaded the appropriate drivers from the included CD-ROM, and one reboot later we were in business. Graphics in Windows applications (2-D programs) were crystal clear at all the resolutions supported by our monitor and flicker-free, thanks to the Xentor 32's 300 MHz RAMDAC. The card is equipped with its own fan to keep the graphics chip cool while performing its high-speed wizardry.

The card's S-video output is more of a gimmick than a viable means of using your PC, but it does have its uses. Playing Unreal Tournament on a 27-inch TV was an incredibly fun experience, even if the colors were a little washed out and text was difficult to read. For those of you without S-video inputs on your TV, Guillemot has bundled a converter cable that lets you output data via a standard RCA jack connection. It's a nice touch, considering how few older TVs can accept S-video input.

The card comes with a lot of software for the price, including the full version of Kingpin, an ultraviolent shoot-'em-up with more foul language than a George Carlin special. Unfortunately, the game only runs on systems with a Xentor 32 card installed, meaning if you upgrade your card later you may as well throw the disc away. We couldn't even get the game to run on one of our test machines, and it was a stupid move on Guillemot's part to hobble the software in such a way.

As we mentioned before, though, the games that did run on the Xentor 32 looked great and ran smoothly. Quake 3: Arena, Unreal Tournament, USAF, and other games known for delivering vibrant 32-bit color graphics when pumped through a decent video card all ran great at a resolution of 1,024 x 768 (and sometimes higher) on a lowly 400 MHz Pentium II test system. This is most likely due to the card's 32 MB of RAM and tweaked core-graphics chip speed, but whatever the reason, gamers will love getting this much performance for the money. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Fast core and memory speeds
• 32 MB of RAM
• S-video output
• Terrific performance
• Built-in fan

Cons:

• TNT2 Ultra no longer the fastest graphics processor on the block
• Kingpin game may not work on all machines

The gaming experience is boosted by a data transfer rate of 2.73 GBps. The results are high-definition resolution and improved single-pass multitexturing effects such as antialiasing, fogging, lighting, and mip mapping. The Guillemot Xentor 32 is AGP 2x compatible with full sideband support and AGP texturing. In addition to the frame buffer, the 32 MB RAM enables advanced texture support.

XingDVD is incorporated for software and DVD playback. The Guillemot Xentor 32 also features a TV-out for DVD-video and game rendering on your TV. Installation software, two bundled games--Speed Busters and Kingpin--and a user manual are included.

Guillemot offers a three-year exchange warranty.