GeForce 2 Ultra?!

[The PIT]

Bloody fast B>?$%!£ isn't it. Come on Matrox wheres the G800.

[Liquid Snake]

40fps is more than playable for me. I have no problem as long is fps is >40, then I'm happy. Frankly, I don't see the difference between 60 and 100. I put image quality before fps, as long as fps is decent.

IMO, $500 is way too much for a video card. I certainly feel sorry for the GF2 DDR owners who just bought a $400 card only to discover the next day that the GF2 Ultra is out. I would never pay more than $300 unless the G800 happened to be >$300.

About nVidia's support for older cards: They only support TNT and onward. They aren't supporting the Riva128 (1998). Matrox is still supporting the Millenium I from 1995.

[Brian R.]

Don't feel sorry for me, I'm quite satisfied with both the GTS and the MAX. I have no desire to buy the Ultra. $500 is too much. $350 is not.

[tuco]

i'd rather spend that kind of money on something thats got a shelf life of 3-5years than something that will almost certainly be superceeded within 3-4months.

[LAMFDTK]

GF2 Ultra gets 64 fps in Q3 in 32bit @1600x1200 and 97 in 16 bit. (Anandtech) I think thats pretty amazing. I still think its way too much cash.

[cputnam]

As far as the latest Nvidia Detonator 3 drivers, yes there is an increase in speed. Along with added features to the Win2000 Pro driver set that the Win98 drivers have. They do seem to provide better image quality than the last set.

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1. Gateway Performance 850 - Nvidia GeForce2, SB Live! Value, Promise UltraATA 66 & 30GB HD - and Windows 2000 Pro

2. Gateway G6-400 - Intel PIII 550, Matrox G400MAX, Ensoniq AudioPCI, Win98SE

[Brian R.]

Tuco - Name a computer-related item that has a shelf-life of 3-5 years. There isn't any. What do you suggest? Going along with a video card that is inadequate for my needs?

Currently putting money into upgrading video is the best bang for the buck available. That and maybe upgrading your processor.

[This message has been edited by Brian R. (edited 15 August 2000).]

[The Rock]

I must admit I'm loving my GTS, but this new ultra version doesn't tempt me. Hell, it shouldn't tempt ANY GeForce 2 GTS owner. Unless they're an immature 12 year old who MUST have the fastest video card on the planet. I do agree that Nvidia charges way too much $$$, but you do get quite a bit of card in return for that money. Not to mention damn good drivers for multiple OSes. Personally, I hope Matrox leaps to the top with the G800, but Nvidia is looking like quite the juggernaut right now.

Bart

[tuco]

the item i was refering to was the ps2 ( as i had mentioned that in an earlier post ), it was merely a comparison of what you could get with the same money.

ps2 will be around for 3-5 years, & even though it is overpriced, it is better value than $500 for a graphics card.

i'm with liquid snake, i wouldn't pay more than $300 for a graphics card.

[Himself]

Some Radeon pricing:

https://shop.pccanada.com/sp_vc2.shtml

Around $300 for 64MB DDR with video in/out.

[GT98]

Brian R,

You said name something that lasts three to 5 years in the computer market. You could say a BX motherboard is still going strong after all these years and the new intel 820/815 boards still can't match its speed with the same processor in it. Then again with certain people (depending on what they use) they are quite happy with a P2-300 for just surfing the net. It just depends on the persons need and why/if they need to upgrade it. I'm currently running a Celeron 566@877 mhz, but I'm looking at getting a Althon 1Ghz+ machine around the christmas time frame. I don't think that I'll see that big of jump in performance compaired to when I went from a P-166 to my current machine which started life as a Celeron-300A@450, but why I am I upgrading? Because I want to have an extra machine just for gaming and tie up the current system for other stuff like video editing etc. And I want to also experance the AMD/VIA way of doing things instead of the Intel way of doing thing since I work with computers for a living.

Scott


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Abit BH6 with a Celeron 2-566@877mhz,128mb RAM,G400 MAX,SB Live!, Optiquest V95 19in montor, Asus 40x CD-ROM, Aopen 5x DVD-ROM,HP9110i 8x4x32 CD-RW,SupraMax 56k modem, Win2000 on a WD 13 GB HDD, Win98 SE on Western Digital 30.7GB DOA....

[Brian R.]

You're on good ground, however, hasn't the BX chipset only been around for 2 years and a few months? That barely qualifies, but I see your point. I could find examples of people who still us IBM XTs. I was thinking more of technologies which are able to fit in with state of the art components. The BX may be the only current example on the planet. Sony PS does not fit in as a computer (in my book).

[This message has been edited by Brian R. (edited 15 August 2000).]

[Dyre]

Just so you know, not many people buy EVERY card nVIDIA puts out. Most end up getting every 2nd or thrid card, and this card WONT cost $500 on the streets.... The $350 GF2 card can already be bought for $250 or so. Yes it is alot of money, but there are people out there that want the absolute fastest. One reason this card costs sooo much is the DDR RAM on it. nVIDIA said they has problems finding enough of this ram to be able to produce enough refrence cards for all the reviewers! Thats pretty scarry. nVIDIA basically put this out to beat the pants off the V5 6000 in speed.
How does it look?
Well, i got the chance to use one during a lan party last weekend, and the image quality in games was excellent. It was also incredably fast... Never, in 1280 Q3 all settings up did it drop below 60 FPS. never. And windows looks pretty good in 1280 on my crappy monitor (but my max still looks better on these things).
nVIDIA defenatly has the fastest card on the planet, again. They wont sell many of these, and they wont be able to produce many either.

[paulcs]

The BX chipset, I believe, stands out the way is does, and therefore is so easily cited in a discussion like this, because it is a remarkable and almost unique work of engineering. It's kind of a "man bites dog" story, the exception that proves the rule. If it wasn't so unusual, it wouldn't stand out like it does.

It also doesn't quite qualify as a product that has endured for 3-5 years. I believe we'll have to wait until next Spring for that.

I purchased several PII 300 systems soon before the BX platform was introduced. Most of them are still in service, and frankly, they are a thorn in my side and in the sides of their respective users. Software and OS's seem to get slower and more demanding, and these machines are really showing their age. It might be fine for some people, but I suspect the PII 300/LX platform is a poor solution for most.

I think the GeForce2 Ultra is a real niche product. I suspect it will be in relatively short supply, and the high price covers the costs of binning and that expensive 4 ns DDR RAM. I should appeal to people with deep pockets who are will to pay a lot of money to get 80+ FSP at 1280x1024, 32-bit. Nobody needs it, and I suspect no one will ever need it. I say this because I suspect it will still be a high priced product up until the release of the NV20, which will most likely be faster and cheaper, or until one of NVIDIA's competitors releases something cheaper and faster.

For now, it appears to be a luxury item with a relatively short shelf life.

I do think it's at a legitimate price point, however, given the relatively small market NVIDIA is aiming at. And it's certainly cheaper than the top of the line 3D gaming solutions from three years ago. If you're going to exceed Moore's law, which NVIDIA appears to be attempting, it's going to be expensive and someone's going to pay.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 15 August 2000).]

[Brian R.]

This card is like the production cars put out every year in limited quantity to allow their use in racing by virtue of a minimumn manufacturing quantity required by the sactioning body. NVidia wants the fastest production gaming card badly.

Paul - 11,389 posts?

[This message has been edited by Brian R. (edited 15 August 2000).]