Gainward CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!! 64MB

The Drivers

We must say that we were pleased with Gainward's driver package that came with our CARDEXPERT GeForce3 PowerPack !!!. Unlike many manufacturers, Gainward chose to take the extra time and add additional utilities to the NVIDIA reference drivers.

Gainward's driver suite, dubbed Expertool, does not modify the display property pages in any way but instead adds functionality accessible via a taskbar driven utility. Contained within the property dialogue boxes of Expertool are 5 setup screens that provide a variety of information and allow for some tweaking as well.

The information, monitor, and desktop tabs all provide a convenient interface for common display items. We were more impressed with the performance tab. Here, one can easily set core and memory clock speeds well over what the CoolBits hack allows. The "dials" can be turned up for maximum core clock of 300MHz and maximum memory clock of 600MHz; well over what any GeForce3 can be pushed to.

Upon installation of the drivers, the user is prompted with an option to use "Enhanced Performance Settings," a feature also available in the performance tab. Enabling this feature automatically overclocks the core to 220MHz and the memory clock to 480MHz. This is useful for those not knowing how far is too far when it comes to overclocking or don't want to know what is going on behind the scenes.

The other utility that Gainward provides is a zoom utility that functions similarly to Window's Magnifier.