Test: Leadtek WinFast GeForce 2 PRO (2/14)
This 4xAGP board differs from the usual reference design in that it features an enormous heatsink/fan combination covering the chip. A standard fan (connected with 2 cables, so no monitoring possible) blows air on the cooling fins. I found it interesting that the fan is not centered over the chip – this is an advantage, in my opinion, as the center of the fan houses the motor, and that would be the part that provides the least cooling. So by slightly offsetting the fan, Leadtek guarantees better cooling. Cooling in general shouldn't be one of your worries with this board. Even if the fan should, for some reason, fail, I am sure that the incredibly large heatsink will prevent the worst from happening. I'll take a closer look at the overclockability and the oversized cooling method's influence on it a bit later on.
The Elite MT memory is rated at 5ns. The modules don't have any dedicated cooling measures, though, like the kind Hercules uses. I believe this isn't necessary for 5ns chips at 400MHz. The TNT2 Ultra's and Matrox's G400 also run with 5ns SDRAM at 200MHz (SDR) without dedicated cooling. Question, though: How come 5ns memory is suddenly so much faster than it was a year ago (OC 470/2 = 235MHz)?! If no-one has been playing around with the laws of thermo-dynamics, then why....? As with most other GeForce 2 boards, the TV-Out can be found on a separate little PCB. Unlike ASUS and AOpen, Leadtek has decided to go with the Connexant Bt869, which is the chip Creative, ELSA and Hercules also use. The board made a very solid impression: All of the parts sit very straight on the board, which is a sign of good machinery and quality assurance at the factory. We've seen much more modern (that is to say, crooked) craftsmanship from Creative and Hercules. Leadtek is definitely not a cheapskate no-name company, even though this Taiwanese company's brand name is still relatively unknown here in Germany. The picture quality was also top-notch: crisp, and clear, I did not see shadows and no fuzziness. |
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Copyright: 09.12.2000 -
RIVA
Station 2000 - Lars Weinand Translation by Benjamin Kraft! URL of this Article: www.rivastation.com/leadtek_gf2pro_e.htm - If you want to link to it, please use this URL! :-) |
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