Dessert: Chef's Surprise

In almost all benchmark tests, whether synthetic or application-based, 3Dlabs' Wildcat VP 970 is assured first place. The picture in the class comparison is generally clear, too: the Wildcat VP products are mostly quicker than their rivals from NVIDIA and ATi. While the Wildcat VP970 knocks the feet out from under the highest-ranking Quadro4 900XGL and FireGL 8800, the picture is also repeated when, for instance, the VP870 is compared with the Quadro4 750XGL or FireGL 8700.

Anyone considering 3Dlabs last year wouldn't have given them much chance of survival. But thanks to its new strategic partner Creative Labs, 3Dlabs is back on its feet again. Fresh investment capital has helped its outstanding development team to successfully realize ambitious plans.

This test of workstation graphic cards shows the high potential of the P10 chip. It has enough of a lead to be a match for the up-and-coming NVIDIA and ATi chip generation. If 3Dlabs does gain a foothold in the consumer area with the derivatives to match, users can look forward to a lot more competition in the graphics card market.