Bundle and Presentation
XFX's snazzy box would immediately draw any consumer to its place on a store shelf. An X shaped outer box holds a smaller inner box.
The box art shows off the mechanical mutt we saw on the branding plate, scaring you into a purchase it seems. The detailing on the lower edge of the box leaves you in no doubt as to what you're looking at. GeForce 6800 Ultra, dual-DVI, AGP8X, 256MB of GDDR3, and DX9.0c compatibility all make it on there.
The rear of the box gives you a few specs and descriptions and a cut-out area so you can see the board in its plastic clamshell. Note that I've removed it for the photograph.
The rear of the box also present a little story about covert operatives using GeForce 6800 Ultras to defend gamers. Outlaw is the main character's name. Maybe NVIDIA have been waiting for him to send a few GPUs back from outer space before they can ship to gamers here on Earth?
Opening the box reveals the goodies.
The board has VIVO capability so XFX supply a dongle that provides the S-Video input and output ports. To feed those ports they also supply a pair of S-Video cables. To round off the connectivity you get a DVI-to-VGA adaptor for one of the DVI ports. It's a shame you don't get two, but it's not too bad since they aren't too hard to source from elsewhere.
The card manuals are succinct without being too terse and you get manuals for the bundled games too. You get Moto GP, Commandos and X² - The Threat.
XFX shipped Detonator 60.85 on a hand pressed CD with the review sample, but rest assured you'll get a proper retail CD with the bundle, should you buy one.
Summary
I'd like to have seen a pair of DVI-to-VGA adaptors, but that's my only real criticism. The presentation shows XFX are happy to make the effort, something you don't always see from board partners. The manuals are good and the games bundle is different from the norm. Three full titles is to be commended. VIVO support gets the cabling it needs, something that's always good to see.Good stuff from XFX.
