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Strengths: Smooth gameplay at max details, good video decoding, exhausts air through back.
Weaknesses: Can get loud, runs warmer than competition, heavy, pricey.
Summary: I got this card on a very nice deal with rebates, otherwise, I normally don't go for top-of-the-line stuff. This card rocks! I run my gaming/movie PC on a 37" LCD TV, so I only run at 1280x720 res. But at that resolution, I can max all settings with 4xAA and 16xAF and still get butter-smooth gameplay. I'm sure this card can handle higher res at those settings and still deliver smooth gameplay, but that's all my display can do for now. I also tested it's DVD playback with HQV, and it did well, particularly with the jaggies tests, which my GeForce 6xxx cards didn't do too well in. Although loud at times, the two-slot cooler blows air straight out the back of your PC, so no worries about excess heat inside your system from this card.
As mentioned, this card can get loud. I'm sure if I ran 3D games at a higher res, it would get loud and stay loud. But for gaming at 1280x720, and for normal operations and movie watching, it's not bad at all. After a gaming session, I can see temps in the mid to high 70s, which is still ok, but a bit warm in my opinion. To handle all that heat, this card employs a hefty heatsink/fan, which makes the whole card pretty heavy. But it sits in the computer once you install it, so no need to worry about it's weight much. As stated above, I got a good deal on this, considering it's the latest-and-greatest right now. But I still think $400 or $500 for a video card is a bit insane.
Overall, this is the best video card I've ever had. I've never been able to max all games without experiencing dropped frames and stutters. Also, reviews state that DVD/MPEG quality on X1xxx series cards is much better than the latest GeForce, so that was one big reason I picked this card. I'm happy with this card, and it's all I need for the next year or so...
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