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TNT2 Ultra : Graphic Card Roundup ASUS AGP-V3800 Ultra Deluxe Creative 3D Blaster Riva TNT2 Ultra Diamond Viper V770 Ultra Guillemot Maxi Gamer Xentor 32 Hercules Dynamite TNT2 By Chamila Sumanasekera and Vajra Chandrasekera June 28, 1999 |
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Introduction
When graphics chipmaker nVidia announced that they were going to make a second revision of their Riva TNT chipset based on a new and what should have been a 0.25-micron design process, everybody expected a graphics controller clocked at 125MHz. Time passed by, one thing led to another and the next thing you know, nVidia’s announced two processors in place of one- the TNT2 and the Ultra TNT2.
Aimed at budget users, the Riva TNT2 is the light version of the two, with a default core speed of 125MHz. Then we come to its big brother (Woohoo! About time, too...) –yes, the Ultra TNT2. This is the dream chip which was intended to take on the entire 3dfx Voodoo3 lineup in terms of performance and features. Though nVidia originally planned this part to be set at 175MHz and feature onboard memory clocked at 200MHz, this was not –as we all know- what actually happened when the final production units arrived. nVidia had come to the conclusion that many manufacturers would encounter problems if they stuck to the 175/200 specs, so instead of producing more revisions the company brought the specs for the Ultra TNT2 down to 150MHz for the core and a 183MHz clock for the memory. They also gave the card manufacturers the option of tweaking the reference design and increasing the clock speeds of the Ultra TNT2 cards if they were so inclined. As usual, cutthroat competition is the only way to survive in the computer industry.
Since 3dfx dumped all their OEM customers because of the STB merger followed by the acquisition of the company, 3dfx was going to move into the graphic card market all alone. In other words, all graphic card manufacturers had no choice but to feature the Ultra TNT2 chips for their high-end units. Since nVidia left the features and the final clock speeds of the Ultra TNT2 cards up to the manufacturers, this is where the real competition began. Did somebody say cutthroat competition?
Anyway, that being the situation, all the card manufacturers were busy at work with their TNT2 cards, every one of them intending to make the most out of their designs. Given the requirements and expectations of modern end users, it is not easy for a graphic card to be just a graphic card. We want 3D, video, anything extra that the manufacturers can throw in… and of course, we like all this as cheap as possible..
Evidently,
choosing the TNT2 card to fit your own personal requirements might not
be the easiest task in the world. It would be even messier if we went around
blathering at length about individual cards with no direct comparison between
them. To make your life easier, we've taken a different approach and conducted
this roundup of five Ultra TNT2 cards. That’s right, this is not a TNT2
roundup (you know, TNT2- meaning the vanilla version) but an Ultra TNT2
roundup. These cards are the fastest and are among the best in today’s
market. So sit tight and enjoy, as we get up close and personal with each
of these pricey but irresistible Ultra TNT2 cards.
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