GeForce 3 - 7 way shootout (41/42) |
Conclusion
Don’t expect to be blown away by pixel and vertex shader effects anytime soon though. Most likely they won’t see much use in the near future, except in tech demos and a few games. Nonetheless, with its more efficient memory management, better texture filtering, and faster multisampling FSAA, the GeForce 3 combines some outstanding features into an excellent package. The very good Pentium 4 optimization is another point in favor of this chip. Now, if it weren’t for the reduced FSAA image quality of the GF3.... The TV-Out functionality of these cards can only be deemed embarrassing. No DualView is bad enough. The complete lack of image adjustment options of the Philips based solution is completely unacceptable for a card with a 1000DM (roughly $450) price tag. Even the 200-300DM ($100-150) GeForce 2 MX with TwinView can do better. Especially cards that feature TV-In should have a good output quality - otherwise the best video editing software is useless. Thanks for playing, try again next time... Sadly, there isn’t much the cardmakers can do about this – the fault lies entirely with NVIDIA. After all, (fully functional) drivers are NVIDIA’s responsibility! Obviously, TV-Out isn’t given very much attention though and NVIDIA does not give out any chip details. The big question is, who should upgrade? Owning the latest hardware has never been cheap or, for that matter, a "lasting investment". This is no different with the GeForce 3. In my opinion, upgrading from a TNT/TNT2 or GeForce256/DDR is a good choice – provided you own at least a 700MHz CPU. As the benchmarks show, even GeForce 2 GTS owners can profit from an upgrade, although the GTS is still more than sufficient for today’s games. Even in a first person shooter it doesn’t make much of a difference if you’re playing at 100fps or 160fps. Upgrading from a PRO or even an ULTRA will only make sense if you play in very high resolutions with all the details and additional options cranked way up. One thing is for certain, though: If you buy a GeForce 3 now, you’re still paying a premium, despite the recent price cuts. Prices will inevitably fall, it is a market force. By then, the next generation NVIDIA part may already be ready to launch, if NVIDIA sticks to its six-month product cycle. Who knows – GeForce 3 ULTRA? And don’t forget that ATi is readying its RADEON II chip for release this summer/fall. If you’re happy with your current card’s performance, you’re definitely not making a mistake by watching and waiting. Then again, as with everything: No risk – no fun!
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Copyright: 12.06.2001 - RIVA Station 2001 - Lars Weinand - Translation by Benjamin Kraft! URL of this Article: www.rivastation.com/7gf3cards_e.htm - If you want to link to it, please use this URL! :-) |
NVIDIA has once again consolidated its position as a technology
leader and innovator with the GeForce 3. In 32Bit color, not even the GeForce 2 ULTRA is
able to compete with it – despite its higher clockspeed. Quick flashback: When the
GeForce 256 was introduced, TNT2 ULTRA boards offered much better performance in some
cases. It wasn’t until the introduction of the GF256 DDR that the new architecture
was able to unfold its full potential. Seen in this light, the GeForce 3 isn’t doing
too shabby! Then again, the card was almost six months late to market...