TNT 2 or M64
Written: Dec 21 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Still a capable card
Cons: expensive when the compared with the geforce 2 MX
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| thepanther's Full Review: Creative Labs Creative 3D Blaster RIVA TNT2 |
The TNT range was always pitted against the more popular voodoo range of cards all the way to the Voodoo 3. The TNT range provided an alternative and often the cheaper option for most people. Nvidia released this version of the card after the Ultra version. The TNT2 Ultra was a great card but it fizzled out when the Geforce card out. Now Nvidia are selling the TNT 2 M64.
The M64 is Offering Value to its dated power and performance. Not to take anything away from the card. Its chipset was among the best, but it has to be set in the budget market now. It could also do with being dropped in price.
I did think up to a certain time last month that the M64 offered a cut down to the TNT2, now I am not so sure if that is true. I have checked the specs of the cards at Creative's website and was somewhat surprised.
It turns out that the TNT 2 and the TNT 2 M64 have the same peak fill rate of 250 Million pixels/second. There architecture is a bit different. The TNT 2 using 2 64bit pipelines and the M64 is using a single 128bit pipeline. The 3D rendering pipelines are the same and the Z buffer is 24Bit for the TNT2 and can be 16/24 and 32Bit for the M64.
Windows GDI hardware acceleration is available at 128 bit in the M64 version but not available at all in the TNT 2 original. If we look at refresh rates then the M64 is capable of higher refresh rates at all the resolutions and colors.
So is it a cut down? If anybody really does now what Nvidia released it as in terms of its roadmap I would be grateful to know, this one had me puzzled.
The price is around £70-80 UK(not sure of prices in the US) in the shops which i think is a bit expensive compared to the Geforce 2 MX which you can pick up for £100 and is far superior.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 110
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Epinions.com ID:
thepanther
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Member: Stevie Orgill
Location: Burton-on-Trent, DerbyShire, UK
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
Passing on my own experience from my business in Computer Hardware.
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