1st Geforce3 for PC

[phsstpok]

March 1, 2001, VisionTek announces the 1st Geforce3 card for the PC. Read about it <A HREF="http://www.visiontek.com/news/preleases/geforce_3.html" target="_new">here</A>

March 2, 2001, Kyle at <A HREF="http://hardocp.com/index.html" target="_new">[H]ARD|OCP</A> receives a review sample.

No review yet but it should be soon.

I, for one, am excited about VisionTek's upcoming move to the retail market. I first learned about VisionTek when I bought a second-hand Geforce256 SDR card at an EBay auction. I was surprised to find that for an OEM card it was very overclockable with it's 5.5ns SDRAM.

Visiontek has been producing a whole line of Geforce powered cards for some time but these were for system manufacturers and integrators with a few slipping through the cracks for individuals. All of the cards have been very overclockable and at very low prices. I hope the Geforce3 continues with this tradition.

 

[mm2k]

Elsa's Gladic 290 GeForce 3 64MB is available from Dabs.Com for £405. I think I'll wait for the GeForce 4!! (and stick to a Radeon or GF2 in the meantime).

 

[phsstpok]

Elsa's Gladic 290 GeForce 3 64MB is available from Dabs.Com

They advertise the Elsa Geforce3 but they have none in stock.

This is what Dabs.com states for availability, "Long Lead Time Expected ".

 

[mm2k]

Oh, Sorry. I saw it just in the Elsa shop in one of the 'specials' windows. I didn't quote availability, just had 'buy now' and 'more info'. I just assumed it was available. - I'll check first next time, Sorry.

 

[Guest]

The projected speed of the GeForce 3 wasn't that much greater than the GeForce 2 Ultra on current titles. But the GeForce 2 Ultra is more than good enough on todays titles. Just don't start thinking that this similar performance will stay that way. The value of the GeForce 3 lies in adding things like FSAA and several times more polygons, all the nifty DX8 stuff, etc., while STILL providing good speed. In these situations the GeForce 2 Ultra can't keep up.

Regards,
Warden

 

[phsstpok]

When I saw the specifications in Tom's article I wasn't expecting huge speed improvements for existing software. That is because the Geforce3 has the same speed memory as Geforce2 Ultras and haven't people been saying all along that the memory has been the bottleneck in the Geforce 2 line. Still, I was hoping that the advanced memory management in the Geforce3 would provide more improvement.

We shall see when more testing is done and the drivers are mature.

 

[Tempus]

Just as the GTS is the fast middle child of the GeForce2 family, the GeForce3 is also the middle child of the Geforce3 family. The GeForce3 Ultra will be the trail blazer of the family.

- I don't write Tom's Hardware Guide, I just preach it"

 

[Guest]

me is hoppping too...

"akuna mutata" braza...

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Yeah. Just think what'll happen when they pair a GeForce3 GPU up with quad-rate SDRAM. And by then maybe we'll see some games that actually use the new features in the card. That's when I will be buying mine. I've turned my PC life into the eternal wait because there is always the 'Next Best Thing' to wait for.

- Sanity is purely based on point-of-view.

 

[Guest]

Does the software have to be written to use the features in these cards? I'm thinking of getting one but not sure it will give me a performance boost for the programs I normally run - Photoshop, Poser 4.0 and Bryce 4.

Gromit


Drawing or erasing, it all pays the same! - Quote from a retired Hughes Tool Co. draftsman.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Yes and no.

Some things like the performance improvement from more intelligent memory handling and the faster FSAA don't need software support.

But the programable vector stuff and the likes all need software support to be used, because that's how they are programmed.

Really though, if you need just a kick-butt video card for running today's software, then the GeForce2 Ultra will meet your every need because it's just about as fast. Right now the only real difference that you'll probably see between the two is the FSAA speed difference.

In the future though (or currently if you are a 3D programmer) you will benefit more from a GeForce3 because there is a lot of fun stuff in the GeForce3 that the GeForce2 cards don't have.

- Sanity is purely based on point-of-view.

 

[Guest]

Something to consider, and I don't know how much of a difference this will make, but we keep comparing the GeFore 2 Ultra and the GeForce 3 on games written for DX7. The Ultra was made for DX7 but the GeForce 3 was very specifically designed for DX8. A game that simply was written for DX8, even if it didn't support all the advanced features, might make some speed difference. Maybe a lot, but I don't know. I have read that there will be patches for some current games like Giants which will update the games specifically for the GeForce 3. Whether these games will then require DX8 I don't know, but either way, I will be interested in seeing some benchmarks comparing the old and new game versions. Has anybody heard if patches like this are out on any game and/or has anybody seen benchmarks of such titles?

Regards,
Warden