Leadtek Geforce2 GTS 32MB-$167, 64MB-$239 both w/ TV-out & free Fedex shipping

[DoobieOnline]

The free Fredex shipping makes this a decent deal at Newegg.com cuz they are the newer retail version (side-firing fan on heatsink) and both have TV-out. I've had the 32MB version and it's a solid performer. Prices are still high for the retail GTS, but these are the best I could find with TV-out.

 

[limsandy]

Link-ingfied

 

[oblivion]

IMO that is pretty hot.

 

[SST]

I know the best price was buy.com X'mas sale. Now, the best price (including S/H) I've noted is either the

Leadtek 32 MB $167 and 64 MB $239 or

Creative OEM 32 MB $150 and 64 MB $225 from dreamlandonline (as posted by untamo http://now.at/DreamLandOnline)

Which one should I buy? Any rating on dreamlandonline and newegg? TNX

 

[lzpoof]

One should also note that the Enhanced GTS's from Leadtek are some of the few Geforce GTSs that have both composite and svideo tv-out. Most just have S-video and require you to buy an expensive adapter or build one yourself to get composite. The adapter included however is a Y-adapter which means that the board has 6 pins in its tv-out socket, 2 for the composite signal and 4 for the svideo signal, then it just directs them to the appropriate dongle end plugged into the port. Cards like the Guillemot come with true svideo to composite converter cables which go for like 20 bucks online, but probably produce slightly lower quality results.

EDIT: Don't forget the hardware sensor and utility either for you overclockers. If you're playing 1280X1024 or less, the 32MB may be the card for you. It can be overclocked to around the same level as a stock Pro and the 32MB shouldn't be a limitation unless you're at higher resolutions. Regardless of brand name, these are the cards to get right now. You may want to just bite the bullet and get a Prophet Pro instead of the 64MB though for 30 bucks more. It comes with 5ns RAM, probably the 20 buck adapter mentioned above (can be used on commercial devices as well as video cards, and I believe a DVI connector. Don't be fooled by the fans on the Leadtek cards though folks, Leadtek frequently puts nice cooling on their cards that doesn't result in much end benefit.

 

[lzpoof]

WHOA!!! Leadtek has not announced the 32MB version yet on their page and it appears newegg doctored the hardware details on the 32MB version from the 64MB page. BEWARE THE 32MB VERSION. This may be Newegg pulling a fast one. Leadtek did tell me to expect the 32MB soon and that Sunway Graphics may already have them up. I haven't seen it yet, but I'd be wary of this card til you see it showing up in more than 1 place. The 64MB version is an enhanced one, but as I said you may just want to buy a Guillemot Geforce 2 Pro instead.

 

[MisterE]

This isn't a bad deal. Leadtek makes very nice and very overclockable video cards. I've owned 2 Leadtek cards (Permedia2 and TNT2 non-Ultra) and got great use out of them. I would rather have the Leadtek GTS 32MB over my Elsa Gladiac GTS 32MB (though the Gladiac isn't that bad).

EDIT: I noticed that lzpoof mentioned Sunway Graphics ( www.sg3d.com ). This is a great place for video products and is the place that I bought my Leadtek S320II (TNT2) from. I'm not sure if it is "enhanced," but they have the Leadtek GTS 32MB for $170 plus shipping.

 

[DoobieOnline]

Hey SST - unless you really want TV-out the deal that Untamo has in the "for sale" forum is great for the Creative Geforce2 GTS 32MB at $150 shipped. I'd definitely go with that, especially since the prices will probably start dropping soon with the upcoming release of the NV20.

Izproof - thanks for the details on the enhanced versions, and for the heads-up on whether Newegg's version actually includes the side-firing fan.

I went back and looked at Newegg's "see it" link for the 32MB and it looks legit plus I can't imagine they would spend so much time doctoring up the photo just to have it fly back in their face, but who knows. I would definitely call Newegg.com before ordering if anyone truly wants the newer version with the updated fan/heatsink layout (Revision C, I think)

 

[SST]

TNX doobiesnack. But you said the price is going to drop, maybe I should hold on a couple of weeks.

 

[lzpoof]

The doctoring that I mentioned is simply the fact that in one place they replace some normal font wording of 64MB 5.5ns RAM with bold lettering 32MB 5.5ns RAM. The photos and info on the page (if you look closely) otherwise are exactly the ones from the 64MB page. If you really want to be sure of what you're getting (not because the Leadtek is a bad card, it is actually a good one; but you should prob wait if the enhanced version is coming out) I would call and ask for a part number or use whatever tricks you can to figure it out. You could also call Leadtek and ask them if they are shipping the new versions and if Newegg migth have received them. Leadtek seems to be prety pleasant on the phone. If you're not interested in Tv-out or extreme overclocking then the Creative may be good for you.

EDIT: The enhanced ones would probably be called version C, as stated. The first Leadtek cards had the same 6 pin tv port that the enhanced versions have. Then leadtek cut costs a bit by just making it 4 pin s-video. Seems like a small deal, but my friend bought on under the premise that it had both 'cause the webpage' says so. We were building him a machine with a DVD drive. Inside the package , on a little yellwo piece of paper that was inserted was an apology note from Leadtek stating that they had made the change. The instruction manual itself was not even updated for the change, nor the specs on the box. That kinda sucked cause his TV doesn't ahve svideo in, so he has to watch DVDs on the monitor instead. Not bad , but not as nice as a 27" TV. He was kinda wussy, so he kept it, but I woulda returned it. Leadtek ... good company .. but you gotta wonder ...

 

[DoobieOnline]

Yeah, the only problem with playing the waiting game is that it's hard to quit The component industry moves too fast, so my advice is if you need it, buy it at the best possible price so you won't lose TOO much green when you pass it on to someone else so you can upgrade in a few months

 

[Polaris13]

How is the quality of the TV out on this card?

 

[DoobieOnline]

Polaris, sorry but I never used the TV-out feature when I had one. If you look at Anandtech's site or Tom's I'm sure one of the two will have some reviews that should cover the feature.

 

[MrSlick]

just got one... hope it's good deal.. expensive though