| Product: |
General Comments on Video Cards |
| Date: |
27/03/01 (541 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Silky smooth graphics, unparalleled speed
Disadvantages: Sooo expensive
The GeForce3 is a powerful card, and there is no denying that. With many features unavailable on any other card, coupled with sheer speed this card is a gamers dream. But, is it worth splashing out on?
When its launched here it will be somewhere in the price range of £500. This card doesn’t come cheap. Whilst only available on the Mac at the moment (boooo), I know many people who are holding off from purchasing a less GeForce model in the hope that the GeForce3 fulfil their hopes and dreams.
But is £500 worth it? Would £400 be worth it?
As technology advances, software takes time to catch up. This will be particulary evident to early adopters of the GeForce3. So what features of the GeForce3 will early adopters experience? It seems only HRAA (high resolution anti-aliasing).. this feature will be useable in every game, new or old, and is designed to reduce “jaggies”. Obviously the super fast power of the GeForce3 will make all your games run smoothly, but what about all the features you’ll be missing out on?
Fully programmable – This gives the developers more control than ever over how they can use the card. These include the tools needed to make beautiful transform and lighting effects. Unfortunately none of this will happen for at least a year until the first games using this technique are available.
Vertex Shader – This controls what goes onto the screen and can add advanced effects to what you see. These can include lens effects (such as a concave lens) as well as atmospheric effects like fog. Again, this requires software which supports it hence early adopters will not experience these effects straight away.
Pixel Shader – Controls how each pixel looks. This can be used materials and shadowing amongst others. But yet again something which needs to be incorporated into the software.
DirectX 8 Compatible – Another feature which allows developers to add am
azing effects to their games, but then, how many games are using DX8 to the full? Not a lot. However, there is some hope. With the upgrade to DX8 some older DX supported games could see improvements.
As you can see the GeForce3 is a powerful card, and one which any gamer would kill to get :) but, for this price, is it really worth it when for 1/2 the price you will be able to buy a GeForce 2 Ultra.. or even a standard GeForce2?
A GeForce2 costs only £200, with the launch of the 3rd card it is sure to drop even lower (I reckon about £140)… this card will perform well for all games available now and I can’t imagine replacing it for at least a few years.
In my opinion, the early adopters of the GeForce3 will be wasting their money. My advice to anyone without a limitless bank account would be to buy a cheaper card (GeForce2, or the MX if you’re really poor) and upgrade in a few years time when your computer really starts to struggle.
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