GeForce2 PRO 32mb - $174!!

[Spartacus]

They are listing this card for $169 +$13 S/H on pricewatch.com
(to bad they are in OHIO)... Tax .. tax...

Can anyone recommend this card? Is it worth to spend an extra $100 to get the 64MB model???


Thanks....

 

[jskibo]

Can't say anything about the card, but never had a problem with United.......

 

[Cocytus]

Uh, ladies...$174 isn't bad, but when you place that order, you better mention that you see that their promotion on Pricewatch puts it down to $169. That'll take the edge off the $13 shipping...Heh.

 

[OJ]

United Micro is local for me and I have bought with no problems from them, they are mostly Russian and offer good deals. Glad they are local, shipping is a good trade for tax

 

[Spartacus]

Ohh., they have a reseller area.., I might just go apply tomorrow to see what kind of deals I can get there

 

[Fubak]

By the way guys....

your welcome hehe

 

[WetWilly]

Ummm...I just went to eVGA's eStore for info on the 32MB GeForce2 Pro. Here's what it says about the memory:

This card uses 6ns memory and is a replacement for the e-GeForce2 GTS - it does not use the faster 5.5ns memory found on the 64MB e-GeForce2 PRO card.

Sounds like they just replaced the GPU chip with one stamped "Pro"

 

[Fubak]

Guess we'll find out next week

 

[Cocytus]

GD it! Never buy impulsively! I can't afford to gamble...it clearly says it's only a replacement for the GTS.

Grumble...better cancel my order...MOAN.

 

[dougjnn]

Hey, the thing is its still a great price for a Geforce2 GTS with TV out.

In fact it's the same price I had on my spreadsheet to pay for the non "Pro" version. Best price for a GTS, or within spitting. I read a good review of the eVGA GF2 GTS. Actually, the performance of the same model is pretty much the same regardless of maker. Build quality, etc., is the main diff. And features. Like TV out.

 

[Fubak]

Hey, can you post a link to that review? I'd like to see it!

thanks

 

[dougjnn]

Didn't bookmark the review. Don't remeber where it was from. Wasn't one of the super biggie sites, but it was a legit review. Basically said the card worked fine, no probs, performs like all of its sister cards of the same level, good quality.

 

[Cocytus]

Yeah, it is a good price, but with the pending NV20 billion, the big price cuts can't be but 2-3 months away.

..must be patient...must...wait.

 

[Cessna172]

I'm not sure this is a real Pro card. Read the text on the site. It says it's a replacement for the Geforce GTS and does NOT have the 5.5ns RAM. It's simply a Geforce 2 GTS card marketed under their own "PRO" name.

It's still not a bad deal, but you can get a ELSA Gladiac GTS at Buy.com for less with a $30 off coupon, and that's for a respected brand name card (I personally bought mine for $127 shipped over the holiday). You can also buy the Leadtek Winfast GTS 32mb for $175 or so at many places on the web (just check any search engine). And that card is one of the faster GTS cards out there and comes with a huge-ass heatsink for overclocking.

I would not recommend anyone buying this card. Look around first. This is a luke-warm deal at best.

 

[BurninUp]

I agree - not a GTS Pro only the name is "pro"
From eVGA website


e-GeForce2 PRO - 32MB 4X AGP
Regular Price: $249.99
Our Price: $199.99
You Save: $50.00





The e-Geforce2 Pro is the ultimate in 3D graphics. With the highest frame rates and the highest fill rates, this 3D screamer will accelerate your games to levels never before seen. Complete with nVidia's 2nd Generation Hardware T&L Engine and their exclusive nVidia Shading Rasterizer (NSR), this card is even more powerful as its GTS predecessor! This card uses 6ns memory and is a replacement for the e-GeForce2 GTS - it does not use the faster 5.5ns memory found on the 64MB e-GeForce2 PRO card.


eVGA store

 

[WetWilly]

No, it's possible for the board to have a GeForce2 Pro because nVidia stamps some of the GTS chips "Pro" as the picture from Anand's review showed. I'd guess that eVGA got a bunch of Pro chips and is using them instead of the plain GTS chips. Unlike the Ultra chips, the Pro chips apparently aren't hand picked.

For that matter, some Asian company is making a SDR GeForce2 Pro board.

 

[dougjnn]

The deal that is catching my fancy right now is a Radeon 64 meg DDR VIVO from buy.com, which comes in at about $158 after the call in $30 off 150 coupon, which apparently works fine.

Unlike the Geforce2, which doesn't improve much at all by going up to 64 megs (only by getting the faster memory and clock in the ultra), the Radeon really benefits from the extra ram. ANd the Radeon 64 is clocked higher and overclocks higher as well.

It beats the Geforce2 in speeds like 1280x1040x32 in almost everything. It's a bit worse in lower speeds and especially at lower speeds in 16 bits, but that isn't what i plan to run.

The VIVO is also real sweet. Video editing and all. TV out and capture.

It's a real breakthrough for the 64 meg radeon to come down that much.

 

[Cessna172]

Yeah the 64MB DDR Radeon deal at Buy.com is pretty incredible. I almost wish I'd waited a month before buying my Gladiac GTS 32MB. Oh well, in another month or two I'm sure we'll be seeing even better deals.

 

[WetWilly]

I guess ATI is bracing themselves for the launch of the NV20 by dropping prices now. Hercules is supposed to ship their NV20 right after nVidia officially announces at the end of February. Also saw that the Radeon VE (dual display) and Radeon PCI are showing up on price lists.

It beats the Geforce2 in speeds like 1280x1040x32 in almost everything

Almost everything? Not sure what review you're reading, but Anand's benchmarks in the GeForce2 Pro review show the GTS beating the Radeon 64 DDR in almost every 32-bit test up to 1600x1200. The only test where the Radeon 64 beat the 32MB GTS was in UT at 1024x768x32. Add in overclocking and it gets worse. The Radeon pretty much stonewalls at 200/200 - even if you can overclock past that, performance oddly doesn't increase significantly. Some SDRAM GeForce2 cards can overclock memory to 400MHz (and over), so add a 230-240 core overclock to that and you're in GeForce2 Pro territory. I've got my SGRAM GeForce2 at 240 core/365 memory, and there's a noticeable boost in performance at higher resolutions - more than overclocking the Radeon 32 DDR I had from 183/183 to 196/196 (the max it could hit without graphic corruption).

That said, the Radeon 64 is a pretty good buy. I hope ATI follows through on their driver support. The VIVO feature is also nice, but from comments over at Rage3D it seems like the AMC software causes people a bit of grief.

 

[dougjnn]

I was comparing the GF2 GTS 32 meg to the Radeon 64meg, which are about the same price. Not the GF2 Pro, which yes, is a bit faster. And also more expensive.

I also care about 2D image quality A LOT. At 1280x1040 on a 20in Trinitron.

still haven't finally decided. Buy next week, probably.

 

[WetWilly]

I was comparing the GF2 GTS 32 meg to the Radeon 64meg

Yes, I was too. If you actually check the benchmarks that I had linked above you'll see the 32MB GeForce2 is still faster than the Radeon 64. Note that this review is one of the latest reviews (December 2000). If you're relying on benchmarks from reviews when the Radeon 64 was released, they're probably not valid because of older drivers. For example, Anand's initial review of the Radeon 64 shows the Radeon doing as well as or better than the GeForce. Only problem? Those reviews were done prior to the release of nVidia's Detonator3 drivers, which were optimized for the GeForce. Detonator3 drivers increased the GTS' 32-bit performance at higher resolutions by at least 15-20%.

As for 2D, a Radeon is definitely better than an unmodded GeForce2. Only thing I'd check is that the Radeon's shimmering problem with Trinitrons is fixed. I still had traces of it on my FD Trinitron at refresh rates above 85Hz even with the driver patch.

 

[BChico]

Nice Find