The Magnificent Seven: GeForce3 Board Round-up – THG.RU

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Introduction

The flagship of the PC graphics business is GeForce3. Unfortunately, if you tried to buy a GeForce3 card in recent weeks you may have experienced a big disappointment. Despite the press being able to test GeForce3 as early as March, the average customer sought for boards in vain. In fact, it wasn’t until the beginning of June that the first boards began to appear on store shelves.

Maybe, NVIDIA had taken on too much. The GeForce3 had, in fact, been scheduled for launch in January. At Cebit in March, NVIDIA claimed that delivery would begin soon thereafter. When the end of May rolled around and there still weren’t any GeForce3 graphics cards on the market, a lot of users began to get annoyed. Fantastic test results are useless if you can only read about them.

Now, finally, consumer demand is being met – NVIDIA has officially introduced revision A5 of the chip, after having chucked the A3 stepping as “non-final.” Tom’s Hardware has taken this opportunity to test seven GeForce3 graphics cards from Asus, Elsa, Hercules, Gainward, Leadtek, MSI and Visiontek.

GeForce3 Up Close & Personal

We’ve already discussed the technical aspects of the GeForce3 chip in detail in High-Tech And Vertex Juggling-NVIDIA’s New GeForce3 GPU. You can read up on the first benchmarks in the GeForce3 Performance article. Above and beyond the high performance, the chip also offers a broad array of features. At present, quite a few of them are dormant, since the current generation of games doesn’t support all of the new features. Others, however, can already enhance your 3D-gaming experience. In the upcoming 8.1 upgrade of DirectX there will be significant improvements for pixel-shading so, all the more advanced features of the GeForce3 should eventually yield better 3D experiences.

Here is a list of the most important features:

• A total of 57 million transistors on the GeForce3 is more than double what its predecessor, the GeForce2, offers. This steps up the performance from 46 to 76 Gigaflops. The manufacturing process was also optimized thanks to the introduction of the 0.15 micron process. The die and power consumption were hardly affected. NVIDIA sets the clock speed of the chip at 200MHz. The RAM clock operates physically at 230MHz for DDR SDRAM, which NVIDIA and the manufacturers market as “460MHz” due to double data rate.
• Vertex Shader
  The GeForce3 is not only furnished with a ‘static’ Transform & Lighting Engine, which was also a feature of its predecessors GeForce 256 and GeForce2. Its functionality is improved by a programmable vertex processor, which NVIDIA dubs Vertex Shader.
• Pixel Shader
  Supplementary to the Vertex Shader, NVIDIA adds a texture combiner, in order to make texture operations programmable and thus more flexible. This module works hand-in-hand with the Vertex Shader, expanding the range of the GeForce3’s new potential effects.
• LightSpeed Memory Architecture
  The GeForce3 uses a form of memory management that is a novelty among 3D cards. The crossbar memory controller makes up for problems caused by limited memory bandwidth – it uses the bandwidth provided by the onboard memory of the graphics card more efficiently than previous 3D designs. This allows the GeForce3 to obtain frame rates that are significantly higher than NVIDIA’s older boards. The new chip still has the same memory bandwidth and, in theory, even higher fill rates. The GeForce3 comes furnished with an additional feature that aims to omit hidden objects from its calculations – the user doesn’t see them anyway. This function, called Z Occlusion Culling, helps to further increase effectiveness.
• Multi-Sampling Full-Scene Anti-Aliasing
  NVIDIA’s developers were painfully aware that full-scene anti-aliasing was a main cause of massive slumps in performance. As a solution to this, a compromise was worked out and titled Quincunx. This special version of multi-sampling anti-aliasing permits the GeForce3 to use FSAA at the high-res setting of 1024 x 768 without frame rates dipping below an acceptable level. Here are two example images with and without FSAA (each 1.1 MB in size).

The Boards in Brief

As you will read in the following detailed reviews, each of the 7 boards offers different features. In terms of hardware, these differences run the gamut from a standard VGA output to sensible expansions such as video-in, TV-out or a DVI-connector for digital flat panels.

There are also differences in the software bundled – some manufacturers are content with a thoughtlessly modified NVIDIA reference driver. Others, however, offer tweak utilities, full version games or basic video-editing software.

We also observed differences in overclocking adaptability. Although all the products were furnished with 64 MB DDR SDRAM (access time 3.8 nanoseconds), some products obtained a higher OC maximum than others. Prices range from $330 to $400.

The following cards hit the testing grounds here at Tom’s Hardware Lab:

• Asus V8200 Deluxe
• Elsa Gladiac 920
• Gainward CARDEXpert GeForce3
• Hercules 3DProphet GeForce3
• Leadtek WinFast GeForce3
• MSI Starforce822
• Visiontek GeForce3

Asus V8200 Deluxe

In addition to a VGA port, the deluxe version of the Asus V8200 also comes with video-in and TV-out connectors. The RAM used on the brown-black PCB consists of 3.8-ns modules from EliteMT. The encoding and decoding chip on this board, Philips SAA7108E, is a substantial deviation from the NVIDIA reference design.

A small port is also included on the board for the 3D headset (ASUS VR-100G) supplied with the board.

Asus V8200 Deluxe, Continued

When you open the package, you find Ulead VideoStudio and CyberLink VideoLive Mail. The first program is used to record videos that are fed in through the video-in port. The best output format to choose is MPEG-2. In addition to recording, some simple editing is also possible. CyberLink VideoLive Mail can be used to convert the videos into Windows Media format. If your Internet connection is high on bandwidth, you can even send them to a friend. Asus also includes the following full-version games: Messiah, Sacrifice, and Star Trek – New Worlds. The DVD player is a standard component for Asus.

The Asus V8200 board is available in two versions. In contrast to the Deluxe version, the Pure version is furnished with a VGA port and nothing else. Its allotment of software was slashed considerably, too. In return, the V8200 Pure is about $40 cheaper than the Deluxe version.

Video Encoder and Decoder in One Chip

The move to the Philips SAA7108E chip is a progressive one. Previously, ASUS had always installed two chips from Chrontel and Philips on its Deluxe cards. The new SAA7108E, however, combines encoding and decoding features in one chip. The codecs for the SAA7108E are automatically installed with the drivers. You can also make use of the features together with Ulead VideoStudio and CyberLink VideoLive Mail, both of which are part of the ASUS package. Don’t expect too much, though! The Asus V8200 Deluxe is no substitute for a professional video board, even if capturing and video editing features are available. The maximum resolution for playback on a television is 800 x 600 pixels.

Drivers

The information provided for the Asus software is more comprehensive than that supplied by the NVIDIA reference drivers. A good chunk of the information, however, is redundant. One feature you almost gloss over at first glance: cheating options, such as SeeThrough technology, which continue to be implemented. This sounds too good to be true, and in fact, this feature turns out to be a handicap. Many MP clan servers use Punkbuster software to block gamers with SeeThrough drivers.

In Schemes, you can enter individual settings for brightness, contrast and gamma for Direct3D games.

Pretty much the same story for OpenGL games, when you activate “Enable Color Adjustment”.

Hint: Only those driver extensions have been published that aren’t already available as part of the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone unfamiliar with the reference driver can find screenshots here.

Drivers, Continued

The Advanced tab contains all the settings for the 3D headset supplied with the board. Above all, though, make sure that the refresh rate is at least 120 Hz, although higher frequencies are even better. At 120 Hz, this headset has a refresh rate of 60 Hz per eye, at which point there’s still some distracting flickering. Settings higher than 140 Hz make for a more comfortable viewing experience.

Asus separates OpenGL from the Direct3D settings.

As you can see below, Asus also includes a taskbar that offers useful shortcuts.

Asus Taskbar

Not only can you quickly switch from one resolution to another, but you can also run the utilities included in the package such as Smartdoctor or the video recording software.

Overclocking Tool

Here’s how to pull a fast one on NVIDIA – despite the fact that the chip manufacturer doesn’t want you to touch the chip and memory clock speeds, overclocking the V8200 is a snap. And that’s not all – “Use tweak settings on next startup” activates the memory feature of the OC settings. This makes sure that your settings are retained the next time you boot up.

Video Recorder

The SAA7108E chip from Philips supports video capture and playback, for which Asus provides an easy-to-use utility. The Asus codec is a software algorithm for the CPU, though, since the Philips chip’s MPEG support is pretty meager.

The codec ASV2 is not a common compression codec, which restricts the playback of compressed videos to the PC they were compressed on. However, there are MPEG codecs available on the web. After reconverting the material, you can send it off.

This snapshot feature proves to be useful. This allows you to create stills of videos or scenes. Without this tool, you would only see pink-colored pictures of overlay videos.

Asus Live

Asus Live is similar to a remote control that lets you capture videos.

Part of Asus Live is this feature, which sets video size, display method and field scan method.

Hardware Monitor

The Hardware Monitor displays the graphics card’s operational state, listing values for temperature, fan speed and 3D chip voltages.

Overheat Protection is a really good idea if you choose to overclock your card. Dynamic Graphic Cooling, on the other hand, is unnecessary, since the fan on the graphics card ought to be running all the time anyway. The noise it generates is still less than that of the CPU fan, which cancels out the perceived noise from the graphics card fan.

Elsa Gladiac 920

Take a good look, now. Visiontek and ELSA’s graphics cards appear physically identical to one another and are almost entirely based on the NVIDIA reference design. This means that very little creativity was involved when selecting extra features to include on the board. In comparison, their competitor, MSI, offers its Starforce 822, complete with VIVO functionality, for $20 less.

There are two highlights to this card – it has a TV-out connector installed on it and it comes with the game Giants Citizen Kabuto. The game comes in a special DirectX-8 version that already makes use of the GeForce3’s Pixel Shader. This allows the card to display more detail than the original version.

Video Module

The video module installed on the board is based on a classic chip, the Conexant Brooktree Bt869. This chip converts digital signals into signals a television can read. This VO module doesn’t contain a video-in port, since an additional chip would have been necessary anyway.

This port can only be used to play games or DVDs on your living-room television set. With the notable exception of Visiontek, DVD player software is a standard feature of all the GeForce3 boards we tested.

Drivers

ELSA wouldn’t touch the drivers with a ten-foot pole. The NVIDIA reference drivers are more than adequate. You still can’t help but miss the additional features that the competition use to try to make themselves stand out from the crowd. In spite, or perhaps because of this, the overclocking tool activated using the tweak function (see image) is of interest.

Hint: Only those driver extensions have been published that aren’t already available as part of the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone unfamiliar with the reference driver can find screenshots here.

Gainward CARDEXpert GeForce3

The graphics master Gainward takes a shot at impressing gaming fetishists with the color red. Or at least that’s the color of the printed circuit board. Once you’ve banished this board to the narrow, dark PC case, however, you won’t get to admire its bizarre coloring.

The board’s slot bracket sports VGA and DVI connectors. The VIVO module has been installed in the middle of the board. Gainward scrimped a little on the software, only including Ulead VideoStudio and 3Deep. The manufacturer doesn’t throw in any games, either.

Video-In and Video-Out with Philips Chip

Philips is a fave-rave of graphics card manufacturers. Its SAA7108E isn’t only used by Gainward but also by ASUS and MSI. The reasons for this are patently obvious – this module is designed to encode and decode video signals at the same time. Since space is at a premium on the slot bracket, Gainward decided to use a combination port for the video-in and video-out. Into this port you insert an adaptor (included with the board) that branches out into two cinch connectors and two S-VHS connectors.

Powerpack / Expert Tool

Gainward’s main contribution here is some plastic surgery. These settings are already available in the NVIDIA reference drivers.

In the tab “Information” Gainward lists all the important features of the card once more. The window could have been designed a little larger to save you the headache of scrolling up and down.

Hint: Only those driver extensions have been published that aren’t already available as part of the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone unfamiliar with the reference driver can find screenshots here.

Expert Tool, Continued

The layout for screen positioning is strikingly well thought-out. Using the software to adjust screen settings is often a lot more convenient than using OSD.

Settings for gamma, brightness and contrast are found in only one tab – Gainward doesn’t offer separate Direct3D and OpenGL dialog boxes.

Overclocking your board is child’s play, even for the standard user – as long as you’re aware of the dangers.

Taskbar

This taskbar is well-designed. You can use it to get to a bevy of menu options a lot faster than you would using standard Windows options.

Video Recorder

Not only can you play DVDs, but you can also capture video signals – thanks to your friendly Cyberlink video recorder.

Gainward got stingy when picking out the recording codecs. The NVIDIA standard codec is the only codec available here. Be that as it may, you can still use MPEG codecs.

You set the video size and the frame rate in the “Video” tab. Recommended frame rates are 24 fps for PAL recordings (Europe) and 30 fps for NTSC (North America).

Video Recorder, Continued

“Profile” lists a slew of useful default settings for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. The space-saving MPEG-4 format is not available, though.

The timer features are not clearly laid out. This menu could have been designed to be used more intuitively.

The “CPU” tab only provides information about the capacity of your CPU.

Video Recorder, Continued

Overlay shows how the video signal will be displayed irrespective of the refresh rate settings. This helps you deal with any pesky flickering.

Device settings allows you to optimize brightness, hue and saturation.

How this tab is supposed to work remains a mystery to even an experienced user…

This tab is for setting the digital video format.

Hercules 3D Prophet III

Black, green, red – and now blue. Even though the manufacturers appear to have placed great stock in the color of their boards, it’s actually one of the few distinguishing features they offer.

Formerly an independent company, Hercules is now part of the French Guillemot Corporation. Retailers occasionally hawk Hercules products under the “Guillemot” brand.

This card doesn’t have a VIVO module – the Encoder chip is firmly connected to the circuit board. This makes it impossible to upgrade using additional modules.

Connectors and TV-Out

The 3D Prophet III has a DVI connector if you want to hook up a digital flat panel. There is also a TV-out connector in the middle of the slot bracket.

Conexant’s CX25871 Encoder chip is a novelty on graphics cards. This chip, the successor to the BT869, provides TV-out features.

Drivers

Video overlay is ideal for avoiding flicker. It permits a video signal to be displayed independently of the refresh rate. Once activated, this feature allows you to zoom and to set brightness, contrast, hue and saturation. Snapshots, however, can’t be made in overlay mode.

Video positioning on the monitor is as easy as one-two-three…

Tweak Utility

Overclocking features are activated per registry tweak. You can even retain them by clicking on the “Apply these settings at startup” option.

Hint: Only those driver extensions have been published that aren’t already available as part of the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone unfamiliar with the reference driver can find screenshots here.

Leadtek WinFast GeForce3

Leadtek has beefed up its GeForce3 graphics board using features similar to Hercules’ 3D Prophet III. These include a DVI connector for digital flat panels and a TV-out connector. The design is unusual in that Leadtek uses one single heat sink for graphics and RAM chips. This layout, however, causes the GeForce3 chip to heat up the RAM modules excessively.

The array of software included by the manufacturer is pretty scant – the package only contains 3Deep and Cult 3D. On the other hand, Leadtek has put some more effort in the drivers.

Drivers

Leadtek has organized information on the graphics card and the graphics subsystem clearly and understandably.

The display settings are redundant. They’re the same ones that are integrated into the Windows OS.

Gamma can either be set separately for each color or for all RGB colors at once (linear control).

Hint: Only those driver extensions have been published that aren’t already available as part of the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone unfamiliar with the reference driver can find screenshots here.

Drivers, Continued

You get to Leadtek’s extra options either by using the “Winfox” taskbar or by clicking on this tab.

Leadtek provides contrast, saturation and a flicker filter for the TV-out. Screen positioning is also available here.

Taskbar

“Winfox” is a taskbar with shortcuts to the extra settings.

Speedrunner (Tweak Utility)

Even Leadtek’s overclocking tool has a name – Speed Runner allows you to modify chip and memory frequency.

PCI Watch

PCI Watch is nothing more than Windows system settings in a prettier package.

Winfox

The manufacturer uses visual titbits to try to stand out. This is part of the Winfox menu.

Colorful buttons – that only lead you to the menus described above.

MSI Starforce822

Priced at $340, the MSI Starforce822 is one of the cheapest cards in this comparison. That doesn’t mean that extras have to be pruned back, as the manufacturer demonstrates. MSI is also poised to become a serious player in the graphics card market segment. Like Asus, MSI’s motherboard production has endowed it with outstanding production capacities and has placed excellent distribution channels at its disposal.

The software intended for use with the connectors we describe below is unsatisfactory. On the upside, Rogue Spear and V-Rally 2 have been bundled with the board.

Connectors and VIVO Module

The slot bracket sports a cinch port for the video-in. In addition to the cinch connector, an S-VHS port has been made available for the TV-out.

Removing the VIVO module lays bare the chip that processes the video signals. The Philips SAA7108E combines decoding and encoding.

Drivers

MSI lists the most essential information about the graphics subsystem in one window.

Tweak Utility

Chip and memory frequencies can be adjusted in this utility. However, there isn’t an option that lets you select whether the new settings are to be applied at startup or if they are to be only temporary.

Hint: Only those driver extensions have been published that aren’t already available as part of the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone unfamiliar with the reference driver can find screenshots here.

3D! Turbo

MSI has christened its extra display features 3D!Turbo. But haven’t we seen this window before? These settings can already be found in Windows.

Although you can reposition the screen on a monitor, this feature doesn’t work with TV-output.

3D! Turbo, Continued

Brightness and contrast can be set in Color Options. We still would have liked to have seen a linear controller to slide all three RGB controllers simultaneously.

“HSI” may leave inexperienced users in the dark – it contains the settings for hue, saturation and intensity.

3D! Turbo, Continued

We didn’t quite know what to make of this window – we had already seen it in another section of the driver.

The same goes here.

Desktop switching is a convenient feature, even if its usability is limited.

Visiontek GeForce3

We already mentioned in the ELSA section that the ELSA and Visiontek layouts are pretty much like two peas in a pod. With only one TV-out connector, this card has been pared down to the essentials.

The software bundle is rather spartan. With the lone exception of the driver CD, Visiontek doesn’t bundle anything else with the card.

TV-Out Connector

The TV-out is next to the VGA connector.

The Visiontek GeForce3 does without a separate video module installed on the board. It may no longer be a spring chicken, but the Bt869 Brooktree chip from Conexant does all the encoding for the video-out signal.

Drivers

The Visiontek drivers aren’t particularly innovative. They stay more or less faithful to the NVIDIA reference drivers. Here you see the screen positioning option.

Tweak Utility

The NVIDIA reference driver also contains overclocking features – this screenshot shows the activated mode.

Hint: Only those driver extensions have been published that aren’t already available as part of the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone unfamiliar with the reference driver can find screenshots here.

Test Methodology and Configuration

We ran two parallel testing platforms – one was an Athlon 1200 system and the other was a Pentium 4 platform clocked at 1500 MHz. Note: these benchmarks are not intended as a comparison between two competing CPUs.

The benchmarks focus on the graphics cards. We have published results obtained with the Athlon and the Pentium 4 for every category.

We pretty much limited our resolution settings to 1024×768 and the real bandwidth-chomper 1600×1200. The only time 1600×1200 wasn’t possible was during the 3DMark tests. In their stead, we’ve listed results obtained with 1280×1024.

In this test we used factory-supplied drivers, i.e. the manufacturers’ drivers and not the NVIDIA reference driver. Anyone wanting to use the NVIDIA driver will probably lose the manufacturer’s add-on tabs.

Game Benchmarks at 1024×768

The following charts display frame rates obtained on an Athlon 1200 system and then the same set on a Pentium 4 1500 platform. The same settings are applied in every category. In this section, we tested with a resolution of 1024×768 pixels.

Evolva 1024

Evolva is a DirectX-7 game, which means that it isn’t in a position to take full advantage of the GeForce3’s extra features. On the Athlon platform, Leadtek and Gainward fight for top honours, while Elsa is the king of the hill on the Pentium 4 system.

MDK2 1024

Frame rates of this magnitude are pure overkill. In MDK2 it makes not one bit of difference whether you use a GeForce3 or a GeForce2 graphics board.

Aquamark 1024

Aquamark is one of the benchmarks that really push graphics cards to the limit. The attention to detail of this DirectX-8 game is impressive. More reality, however, drags down the frame rates. Although the Leadtek leads with 34.6 and 32.2 fps, these levels won’t guarantee flicker-free gaming fun.

Quake3 Normal 1024

Quake3 has become a classic in 3D testing circles. under the “Normal” setting, the leader of the pack is, strangely enough, the earlier model GeForce2 Ultra.

Quake3 High Quality 1024

Once we switch to High Quality, though, the GeForce2 Ultra has to make way for the newer model. The GeForce3 on the Leadtek Winfast takes the lead again.

Dronez 1024

The OpenGL action game Dronez runs faster on a Pentium 4 1500 platform than on an Athlon 1200.

MTBR 1024

We measured minute differences during Mercedes Benz Truck Racing. The GeForce3 really struggles to increase the lead it has in percentage over the GeForce2 Ultra.

Game Benchmarks at 1600×1200

The following charts display frame rates obtained on an Athlon 1200 system and then the same set on a Pentium 4 1500 platform. The same settings are applied in every category. In this section, we tested with a resolution of 1600×1200 pixels.

Evolva 1600

In the first test run at 1600×1200, Leadtek and Visiontek dominate the Athlon testing field. The Pentium 4 gives Elsa a boost.

MDK 1600

At a resolution of 1600×1200, the differences between the boards approach diddly-squat.

Aquamark 1600

Although Aquamark is able to make use of the GeForce3’s Pixel Shader, the game remains unplayable at such a high resolution. Frame rates lower than 20 fps are nothing but flicker.

Quake3 Normal 1600

Here we observe the same results as during the 1024 tests. If Normal settings are selected in Quake 3 Arena, GeForce2 Ultra graphics cards win the gold.

Quake3 High Quality 1600

Once High Quality is selected, the GeForce3 takes the lead again.

Dronez 1600

Anyone wanting to play Dronez at 1600×1200 is still hitting hard and heavy with a GeForce2 Ultra card.

MTBR 1600

The MSI Starforce822 is the leader of the pack in Mercedes Benz Truck Racing.

3DMark 2000/2001 at 1024×768

The following charts display frame rates obtained on an Athlon 1200 system and then the same set on a Pentium 4 1500 platform. The same settings are applied in every category. In this section, we tested with a resolution of 1024×768 pixels. Whether you use the 2000 or the 2001 version, 3DMark is a synthetic benchmark. Real performance situations are not always simulated during synthetic tests. The following results should thus be taken with a grain or two of salt. They are only intended to supplement the game tests.

3DMark2000 at 1024×768

In terms of its total score, the GeForce3 is about 25 percent faster than the GeForce2 Ultra in this test.

3DMark2001 at 1024×768

In the 2001 version, the 3DMark simulates applications that are real bandwidth gluttons. The GeForce3’s lead grows from 25 to approx. 33 percent.

3DMark 2000/2001 at 1280×1024

The following charts display frame rates obtained on an Athlon 1200 system and then the same set on a Pentium 4 1500 platform. The same settings are applied in every category. In this section, we tested with a resolution of 1280×1024 pixels. Whether you use the 2000 or the 2001 version, 3DMark is a synthetic benchmark. Real performance situations are not always simulated during synthetic tests. The following results should thus be taken with a grain or two of salt. They are only intended to supplement the game tests.

3DMark2000 1280×1024

At a resolution of 1280×1024, the hunger for more bandwidth starts to make its presence felt. The GeForce3’s lead over the GeForce2 Ultra has increased to 36 percent.

3DMark2001 1280×1024

The pattern is crystal-clear here – Leadtek always takes the gold.

Overclocking

Quake 3 High Quality 1600

Overclocking helps you to eke a little more performance out of your cards. Anyone who decides to overclock his or her card, however, risks an unstable system. If a graphics card overheats, it can be ruined permanently. For that reason, we would like to remind you that you overclock at your own risk!

You ought to know that overclocking your memory is a lot more effective than increasing your chip clock, since that helps to ease intrinsic bandwidth problems on graphics cards.

All the cards come furnished with RAM modules with a nominal cycle time of 3.8 nanoseconds. This makes the theoretical peak memory frequency 263 MHz or “526 MHz DDR.” As you can clearly see on the chart above, this was a doddle for all the cards except the Hercules 3D Prophet III. We performed several tests until we discovered a pattern – Elsa’s Gladiac 920 and the MSI Starforce 822 always came out at the top of the pile. Interestingly enough, the MSI card has very good overclocking features despite the fact that there is no heat sink attached to the RAM modules.

One explanation for this behavior may be found in the capacitive effect a heat sink can have. Electrical fields between the heat sink and the connecting pins on the RAM interfere with the signals. As a basis for comparison, top physical clock speeds max out around 250 MHz. A Pentium 4 from Intel has a system bus frequency of only 100 MHz, while an Athlon has at most 133 MHz. The RAM industry has already discussed building modules as something called “BGA packages”. Instead of having legs attached to the body, these memory modules have solder balls that are bonded to the circuit board. This makes the capacitive interference less noticeable and clears the path towards higher frequencies.

Recommendations

We recorded negligible differences in performance among all the boards tested. This isn’t unusual, since they are all based on the same 3D chip GeForce3 and have 64MB DDR SDRAM with an access time of 3.8 nanoseconds. Anyone buying a GeForce3 card is buying in the same performance range. Driver updates can change the performance a little in favor of any manufacturer. Those vendors who provide a driver update first, will usually benefit from it for a short while until the competitors catch up or overtake them. Therefore, the only thing to keep your eye on are the hardware and software extras.

The winner with regard to extras is the Asus V8200 Deluxe. It has video-in and TV-out connectors and comes with 3D shutter glasses. Asus includes Ulead VideoStudio and CyberLink VideoLive Mail as software extras. Also bundled are the full versions of the games Messiah, Sacrifice and Star Trek – New Worlds.

The Gainward CARDEXpert GeForce3 offers very good value, particularly for those interested in hardware extras only. Gainward adds video-in, video-out and a DVI connector for digital flat panels to the VIVO board we tested. This makes its package almost as comprehensive as the Asus V8200 Deluxe. The software extras aren’t quite as abundant, though. Although there were no games included, you can still fire up the CARDEXpert card for some simple video capturing and editing in Ulead VideoStudio.

The third recommendation goes to the MSI Starforce 822. Priced at $340, it’s one of the cheapest cards we tested, but one with useful features such as video-in and TV-out. Games weren’t neglected, either – Rogue Spear and V-Rally 2 are included in the package. The MSI also won us over with its very good overclocking features.

Features Table

* ) Last Update: July 4, 2001
**) Physical frequency. Since both the rising and falling edges of the signal are used in DDR SDRAM, the effective bandwidth is twice as high as cards equipped with SDRAM at the same clock speed. The driver lists the RAM frequency as “460MHz”, which is marketing-friendly.