Although I tested performance and the dual display features of both cards with NVIDIA's Detonator 6.49 reference drivers, I did take the time to spend a few days becoming familiar with the WinFox software suite. Since I normally use a variety of NVIDIA reference cards on my system, I've become accustomed to the capabilites of their software.

While NVIDIA offers an extensive set of display and tweaking software tools with their Detonator drivers, they can be intimidating for the novice user. Let's take a look and see what Leadtek's WinFast drivers are all about.

Leadtek includes two manuals which cover installing their GeForce2 MX under Windows 98, NT, and 2000. The General Guide, which appears on the left, contains 21 pages and covers installing the card, the WinFast software suite, Direct X, warranty information, and instructions on how to get in touch with Leadtek's technical support.

The Quick Installation Guide is a foldout and lists the package contents, the board layout and features, and quick installation instructions.

I followed the instructions in the Quick Installation Guide. Each of the following general steps contains additional details along with illustrations:

• Switching to the standard Windows VGA display driver.
• Shutting down the PC and adding the card to the system.
• Installing the WinFast drivers and software.

No fuss, no muss. The installation was totally painless.

WinFast Software Installation Menu

Leadtek's WinFast software basically sits on top of NVIDIA's reference drivers and provide the tools needed to easily manage display settings. However, you will still have access to the reference driver applets. The drivers that were furnished on the installation CD were based on the Detonator 6.27 drivers.

WinFast Information

The driver installation program will add an applet to the Windows task bar which allows quick acess to a variety of display settings.

WinFast Task Bar Applet

One of my favorite applets is the WinFast Display Settings. From this panel, you can change the resolution, color depth, and refresh rate all at once. Using the Detonator drivers to make the same changes requires two seperate panels to be updated (Display Property Settings and Adapter Settings).

WinFast Display Properties

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