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Can someone explain the flavors of nVidia?


Joel Schultz
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Specifically, I wonder what the pros/cons are with respect to the various manufacturers who will be producing nVidia GeForce 3 Ti 200?

Obviously, some include various "extras" like TV out, dual-head, 3D glasses, game CDs, etc. I don't care about any of these, the closer to a plain old monitor out, the better.

And of course driver support is important - but I suppose everyone just DL's nVidia's anyway. I suppose what's important is that it works out of the box.

Has anyone heard pros/cons with regard to the following guys reputations? Or can recommend one? Looking to spend PNY Technologies (Verto)

Leadtek (WinFast)

Visontek (Xtasy)

Gainward (CardExpert)

Inno3D (Tornado)

Example of a card with way too much oozing off of it that I won't buy, despite me liking Hercules: Hercules (Prophet III Ti 200)

[ 10-25-2001: Message edited by: Joel Schultz ]

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Um, thank you for the recommendations for Asus, BUT there's a reason I listed the cards I did: they all come with MINIMAL "extras" that hike up the price. And since I'm looking only at GeForce3 Ti 200, I'd imagine that all cards with it are close enough together on the benchmarks to the point that it really doesn't matter if one is slightly above the other. Keep in mind I'm shooting for $200 (maybe a little more) or less, I've been to Pricewatch and know which cards I'm looking at. So unless ALL of them have bad reps, that's my price range and I'm sticking to it.

Thank you again for your advice...

[ 10-25-2001: Message edited by: Joel Schultz ]

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Well Joel for about 40 dollars more than the "basic" geforce card (ASUS) you can get the DELUXE package which brings VR glasses (useless, but they say they are free) and THE reason why to pay a bit more: TV in/out .

You can plug your card to the VHS and record whatever is on your screen (think:Make BC:M movies), and then play it back on your VHS while your PC records it (re-digitizing). It comes with a very powerful video editing software.

I have the ASUS Gforce3...and I LOVE IT.

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I used to worship Creative and still use the Annihilator 2 Ultra. Good card, and I don't plan on upgrading until it begins showing its age (About the time Doom 3 is released... or possibly sooner when I compare Aquanox on both my friends GF3 box and my then my own).

Anyhoo, all the GF3 boards you find out there are pretty much just the same reference boards Nvidia sent to them, so manufacturer, in the case, dosn't matter. Nvidia factory drivers are more trustowrthy anyway.

SO, if your looking for cheap, check out the Visiontek Xtasy 6564 GF3 Ti200. Retail is less than $200 (The cheapest your likely to find) and it even has TV /S-Video Out. Visiontek has been proving that they're a pretty reasonable mfgr, so I'd recommend that card.

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Well, at least in my experience, the ASUS are about the most expensive out there. If you WANT the extra features of the asus (3d glasses, etc...) go for it. They are almost always great.

Otherwise I have had good luck with MSI (I won a benchmark competition with one of their GF3 cards. The sucker went to 555 memory and 221 core. Don't try this at home kids you have to cool it way beyond the norm. ) and Leadtek makes the GF2 Pro card that's in my system right now. No complaints with it either.

Mainly, I'd say avoid the major generic brands. (The ones that don't get reviewed much, like Gainward, EVga, PNY, etc...)

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Actually, Advil, I've been seriously looking at Gainward. It has been reviewed - I'm kind of surprised you didn't think so. Maybe its because they keep a low profile since they don't put their stuff in stores (on-line is another story). But PNY - there's something I've yet to see a review of so I'll steer clear, thank you (and GREG). Ditto for "eVGA" - never heard of them.

Various reviews:

    [*]Anandtech review of their original Geforce 3 Golden Sample card

    [*]Anandtech again, July roundup of Geforce3 cards. I notice it got the best 2D quality marks.

    [*]PC World.com's review of their Geforce 256 DDR. Not as "glowing", but Gainward is still in the "top 10" list. Heh, the card (Guillemot) I had at the time it was written was too.

    [*]Bench-house review of GeForce 3 cards.

    [*]Hot Hardware review of their GeForce 3 Golden Sample.

    [*]Tom's Hardware round-up of GeForce 3's. Gainward comes out on the "recommendations" list.

No disrespect to ASUS, they are rock solid to infinity - which is why I use them for mobo's - but you pay somewhat more, and quite frankly, they ARE a bit pricey of a card with too many money-consuming extras.

MSI has a strike against them to me: their GeForce3 had poor 2D quality. As did Asus, though not as bad in the reviews done on them. I use 2D far more than 3D, so I don't like sacrificing quality on that front.

Leadtek - hmm. Seems to be all around OK card, though their own GeForce 3 drivers had some minor problems according to Hot Hardware (not so when used with nVidia's). Odd. But they got a good review. Bad point for me: their Ti 200's higher price seems because they included "extras" again on the hardware that the basic Gainward lacks.

It seems to me Gainward is a cheap (not cheapest) but reliable vendor for GeForce 3's. Any naysayers with bad experiences with their stuff? Because if not, I'm extrapolating that they will continue to be a reliable vendor for the GeForce 3 Titanium too, and am leaning heavily in their direction right now.

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