Remember what I was saying about support? Creative got tired of letting NVIDIA's reference driver updates run on their cards. Their support staff decided to create FastTrax drivers which can be quickly changed to incorporate updated reference drivers.
With FastTrax, you get the Display Director. It's a driver setting interface which launches from the system tray. Instead of having to navigate NVIDIA's reference driver properties to enable FSAA in OpenGL, Display Director provides access to the same settings in two or three mouse clicks.
Display Director
System Information
OpenGL System Information
Gamma Correction
| More FastTrax Screenshots |
As you can see, there is no shortage of information or features with the FastTrax drivers. Let's take a look at Direct 3D, OpenGL and AGP settings.
Direct3D Settings
OpenGL Settings
AGP Settings
The FastTrax drivers and Display Director give full reference driver functionality in a user friendly interface. Especially those of us that change settings more often than our underwear(?). Tweaks become painless and, in fact, I found myself playing with settings when using the Fast Trax drivers just because it was so easy. The AGP settings default to AGP 2X mainly because Creative expects FastTrax users to be more savvy than the average Best Buy shopper. (Notice the Disclaimer, though.)
Annihilator2 Clock Settings
I've been able to get the Annihilator2 to 235MHz core and 386MHz memory speeds, which I set using Display Director. You may notice that the maximum clock settings are on the conservative side. But, if you're feeling adventurous, double click on the 220 next to the core clock slider and you get the following window to pop up:
Overclocking Thresholds
Use this window to change your maximum settings. After some adjusting, my overclocking sliders look like this:
Modified Overclocking Thresholds
You're now ready to push the limits of the Annihilator2.
On the following page, I'll give some of my experiences with the Annihilator2 thur far and sum up this section of the review with what's to come.
Next Page: Conclusion: Part One
