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» Channels :: Graphics Card
World Exclusive : MSI NBox N5900 ULTRA
By Vijay Anand
Category : Graphics
Published by Jimmy Tang on Thursday, 10th July, 2003
Rating : 4.5 out of 5 stars  


The MSI NBox Promotion

The NBox is a special limited edition offering that consists of MSI's graphics card packaged with some of the most sought after games in present timeline. The game titles may not be fresh out of the oven, but they certainly are in the list of the most desirable games that any true gamer should possess. There are two variations of the NBox series and the table below will detail what would be offered in both of them:

NBox Variants
Items / NBox package NBox Pro NBox Plus
Unreal II: The Awakening Yes Yes
Battlefield 1942 Yes Yes
Command & Conquer: Generals Yes No
MSI Optical Aluminum mouse with 800 dpi resolution Yes Yes
Deluxe Inner Box Design Yes Yes
Graphics Card Models Applicable MSI GeForce FX 5900 Ultra / 5900 / 5600 Ultra MSI GeForce FX 5600 / 5200

You just got to love the NBox for these premium full-version game titles that take advantage of your modern graphics hardware. This could probably be the most modern game bundle ever made for any graphics card at the point of launch. Although they do not use DirectX 9, these games certainly do tax both your system and graphics hardware, especially when FSAA and AF are utilized. For the NBox, these new games replace the older game bundle provided in the normal MSI graphics cards.

Games such as Command & Conquer: Generals and Unreal II even included the materials that come with the full game packages such as the manuals and supporting materials. Battlefield 1942 didn’t come with any, but we can’t be for sure since ours was an evaluation sample. Lets hope the retail versions do have it all.

The NBox that we have here for review today is the MSI NBox N5900 ULTRA, which ships with the MSI FX5900Ultra-VTD256 graphics card in an NBox Pro package. We will discuss more on the graphics card itself on the next page, but first let us show you more pictures of the NBox packaging where we can see how much effort MSI has put into.

With the outer box cover off, this it the inner deluxe box design.


With the box cover off, you can see the MSI FX5900Ultra-VTD256 very safely secured with thick black foam packaging around it.


Lifting the top portion via a handle revealed all the goodies in store for the graphics card from cable accessories, to games and drivers. Even the aluminum mouse is bubble-wrapped in there as well.


The 800-DPI aluminum top optical mouse is a bonus item with the NBox package.


The scroll wheel even has a blue LED underneath to give it the nice blue glow. Sadly, the size of the mice and shape isn’t quite suitable for gamers.

Did the aesthetics of the mouse appeal to you? Well, whether it did or did not, we doubt it would make much of a difference because we found the size a tad too small to be useful in real gaming. The movement was fluid, but the build of the mouse is just not comfortable for prolonged periods of use, let alone the size. In the end, the aluminum mouse was more of a souvenir than of real use for a gamer. All isn’t bad as we find it still suitable for lighter use such as Internet usage a light office work.

Do note that these attractive NBox packages are really limited editions and are available from this month, July 2003. The best part about the NBox is their relatively small premium for all the extras that you receive over the conventional packages. As such, the NBox is a sure winner in the value department. Of course the NBox would not be complete without the graphics card component, so find out all the juicy details of the MSI FX5900Ultra-VTD256 graphics card in the next page.

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