HOLY CRAP-A FASTER GEFORCE 2...the first one with 5ns memory!!

[TimTim]

I just saw at Tom's Hardware they got in the new Gainwards CardExpert GeForce2 GTS 400. Tom's quote is "Gainward gives the Geforce2 what it really needs, FASTER MEMORY". It is the first and only card to have 5ns memory and the default setting has it running at 400MHz, and he got it up to 472! Not only is it faster memory, but it's 64meg's of it.

I have just ordered my Leadtek WinFast GeForce2 64 meg, and i know it's an awesome card (like all Geforce2 cards) but it's on back order so my credit card won't be charged untill it comes in.

Now i am really confused, as great as the Geforce2 is, the one thing everybody agrees on..the bottleneck is the memory speed. This card would seem to solve it. Tom said it won't be available till next month though, but he got one from the company and already ran some benchmarks.

So what should i do, should i just stay with my current 64meg Geforce2 plans, or cancel my order and wait a little while. HELP!! Anybody? Go check it out at Tom's and give me some feedback please.

Um.......Er.......Um.......Hatchet, you there? What do you think?

 

[Henry Kuo]

Well, it can go either ways. If you can't way for a new video card, I would say just get it now. sure the faster memory would help a lot, but after all GF2 is fast already. On the other hand, if you can wait, maybe wait for the 5ns one is good. I personally think even if you get a faster memory now, what you will get is extra framerates. What i mean by extra is "unnecessary extra". I can't see too much of a diff between 70 and 90fps. The faster memory might be useful for future games, but who knows how long it will be. Maybe the NV20 would be out that time and blow everything away again. So I would get the card now and do not way. That's me, though.

 

[TimTim]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm..............

 

[Henry Kuo]

After reading reviews and people's talk, if you can wait, might be a good choice to get the 5ns one

 

[TimTim]

Hey Romin,

Yeah i'm starting to think so too. I don't know for sure though, it will be alot of money. Also the next generation cards from Nvidia and 3dfx will be here by the end of year and that's not too far away.

AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!

I love technology but i hate it too, you know what i mean? Very confusing, no matter what i get, a few months after there will be a better one. **sigh**

 

[dc9mm2]

Just woundering about weather the 64 meg version is worth the extra money. I have only seen one reveiw on the 64 meg version and it was about the same as the 32 meg version. If this is still correct why bother getting the 64 meg version?? Now dont yell at me because i havent been following the geforce reveiws lately.

 

[duragezic]

dc9mm2: Well I think I've seen the same review where the 64mb wasn't a whole lost faster but in the newest AnandTech Article/Review (http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1272) it says how the FSAA is such a performance hit on the GF2 because of the 32mb of memory but I don't know if he means that the 64mb version would be a lot better for FSAA.

eagle

 

[Nutzo]

Unless you are running 32 bit color & higher than 800x600 you won't see any difference between the 32MB & 64 MB model in current games.

Even at 16 bit 1024x768 you will not be using all 32 MB memory.

However, with 1024x768 @ 32 bit you start running into the 32MB limit on the video card. In Quake 3 on some of the larger, more intense maps, a 64 MB card will be somewhat faster.

With newer games comming out that will use more memroy, or if you want the higher image quality using FSAA (not as big of a performance hit on the newer drivers), then you should consider the 64 MB version.

Personally I went with the 64 MB model because I got a great price on it < $300 and figured it was worth a few extra bucks since the extra memory might give me an extra 6 months of usability over a 32 MB model.

 

[JellyBaby]

I believe Nutzo's info. is 100% goodness.

BTW, what happens in Quake if say you pick 1600x1200x32 with 4 sample fsaa on a 32 mb card? You get a crash? Does the driver simply ignore the fsaa request?

 

[DeadlyKnight]

i believe in the reviews the only time it was any faster was in the highest resolutions and all the eye candy absolutey possible most of us dont have 21 inch monitors or can afford them so the extra is of no appeal to me yet did i say yet ? might be later right now 32 is fine

 

[TimTim]

Hey thanks for all the feedback everyone!!!!

I am still undecided. I just got my first 19 inch monitor and playing at those super high resolutions sounds pretty cool though. My Leadtek 64meg card is still on back order so i can cancel at any time. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Wait for the Leadtek 64meg Geforce2 that i ordered to come back in stock? ......Wait for that Gainward Geforce2 with the faster memory to come out next month?...... Pick up a Geforce DDR at a bargain price? ......Stop playing games on my &quot;money pit pc&quot; and get a playstation2?

Maybe i will just try to milk a few more months out of my Voodoo3 3000 untill the next generation cards come at the end of the year. Hell, i still play every damn game with good results on it cause i have a pretty fast processor. I still love my Voodoo3 3000, but i got that &quot;Must have something new and exciting bug&quot;.

Man, i don't know. Graphics cards are killing me. Decisions used to be so simple, i kinda miss my console days, LOL!!!

 

[snow patrol]

TimTim, I too have a Voodoo 3 3000, and like you I have just got my first 19&quot; monitor. I'm very much tempted to get a Geforce 2 now...if I were to get one, it'd probably be the Creative 32megger.

However, now that Nvidia are on a 6 month product cycle, I've decided I'm going to wait until October(ish) and get the next generation card, such as an NV-20.

That's just me Be patient - ask yourself this - do you really need to replace your Voodoo 3 now, or do ya reckon you can hold out 3 more months?

 

[TimTim]

Hey Snow Patrol !!

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, i guess i should keep my Voodoo3 3000 going for a while longer. It's not like i feel i am missing anything, it's just that i wanted something new because.........um.......er......um.......well it's something new,haha!! My Voodoo3 still plays EVERYTHING i throw at it very good, and will play all types of games without compatability issues. My friend with a Geforce has problems running Unreal Tournement, Wheel of Time, and Deus Ex. I guess games with the Unreal engine just run better with 3dfx cards.

Plus if i spend $300 now, then count me out of the next round of cards. I like to EAT too.

Also, the NV20 is supposed to solve the memory bandwith problem and be awesome. And 3dfx, well who knows what they will have next. The Rampage?? I hope they do something to come back so we can have competition. I have always loved 3dfx cards, but you can't ignore Nvidia's more powerful cards are kicking some butt.

I need to keep my Voodoo3 3000 (which i am still perfectly happy with) and somehow resist the urge to go spend money right now when i really don't need to.

O LORD OF TECHNOLOGY, HELP ME RESIST THY TEMPTATION FOR A FEW MORE MONTHS UNTILL THE NEXT GENERATION OF CARDS COME UP. GIVE ME STRENGTH...........PLEASE!!!!

 

[Rudee]

&quot;Also, the NV20 is supposed to solve the memory bandwith problem and be awesome&quot;

Are you beginning to see the trend here?

No matter what, every card will have shortcomings, and the next one to follow will be better. Then the cycle repeats infinately.

I guarantee you that the NV20 will have shorcomings, so will the NV25, NV30, NV35.. and so on. If you could get all you wanted from only one card, Nvida would go bankrupt. Like any good business, they always keep the consumer coming back for more.

 

[DaveCSparty]

NVidia is stopping the Gainward card from coming out because the memory is &quot;out of spec&quot;. In another word, this card is probably close to the performance of the NV20 and they don't want it out. They will probably make Gainward strip down the card at the very least.

 

[TimTim]

Dave, are you serious? Did you hear that from Nvidia? Man, that is too bad because the card looks to be awesome. Hmmmmm, i guess that is the problem. It is a little TOO good for Nvidia to want it out YET. Damn, i would have picked one up next month when it came out. I guess now it will just fall into the pack of regular Geforce2 cards.

 

[mordrid52]

It was posted on Tom's Hardware the other day. I believe it is in the Monday Blurb section.

 

[snow patrol]

Yes it's true, the GainWard Geef2 will almost certainly not be coming out (at least any time soon). Even if it were to come out now, it would probably be over-priced, and really aimed at the hardest of hardcore games players.

That Voodoo 3 still going strong TimTim?

BTW, what are the rest of your system specs?

 

[BenSkywalker]

&quot;&quot;. In another word, this card is probably close to the performance of the NV20 and they don't want it out. They will probably make Gainward strip down the card at the very least.&quot;

Think of it this way everyone-

You have the fastest card on the market, and consumers often want to buy the fastest board(price allowing). This review comes out showing you just how fast boards will be in a month or two, all of the sudden the GF2 doesn't look so fast, and seems to be a bit too much money. nVidia's PR department catches wind of this, sees the reaction and starts worrying about returns on purchases and people holding out buying new cards.

When the 5ns GF2s do ship, which nVidia has already stated that they would, nVidia has their @ss covered by saying that Tom was running the memory out of spec and that the GF2 wasn't tested at over 450MHZ, not the 400MHZ that the board is rated for. Their exact words are honest, if somewhat misleading, but they give the impression that these boards won't be available so stick with your GF2 for now. Standard PR guys

 

[TimTim]

Hey Snow Patrol!!

Yep my V3 3000 is still hanging in there!! You asked about my system specs so here they are:

PIII 600
Iwill BD100-Plus motherboard
Western Digital Expert 18 gig 7200/ultra66
Promise Ultra66 controller
128mb pc100 sdram crucial/micron
Voodoo3 3000 agp
Sound blaster live value
Creative 48x cd blaster
Creative encore 8x dvd (just got it)
Cambridge DTT2500 5.1 dolby digital speakers (just got them)
3com/us robotics 56k modem
Antec case with 300w power supply

I built it last year, and haven't really done anything to it except my new DVD and speakers. Nothing has been overclocked, i am a chicken when it comes to that stuff.

Anyway Snow Patrol, i have pretty much decided to just wait a few months (like you said) to get a new graphics card. My V3 is still cranking pretty good, and by then we will have new stuff from Nvidia and 3dfx, plus the Geforce2 and V5's will be cheaper.

It is hard to resist the temptation though. I think i will have to stay out of the computer stores for a while,hehe.

Have a great weekend Snow P.

 

[TimTim]

Ben Skywalker, what you said makes good sense. If everyone decides to wait on that next card because of that article at Tom's, then sales NOW will suffer. I guess Nvidia responded in the only way they could. It makes sense.

 

[mastertech01]

MY Gullemot/Hercules Prophet GTS 64 already runs at least 415 on the memory clock so I would see no reason to wait?