While I was in college, I wanted a graphics card that would allow me to play all of the new computer games, but I wanted to spend as little as possible. I looked at products by many of the top graphics card manufacturers and finally settled on the Creative Labs Banshee. That is a decision that I have never regretted. At the time that I bought the Banshee, it cost about half of what any other Voodoo graphics card cost, plus it had more SGRAM.

I have found that the Banshee delivers smooth animation, and video, as well as high quality graphics. I play all of the latest games at high resolutions with all of the extras turned on, and I have a low end Pentium II system!! Without the Banshee I would need to have a P-III to get the same level of performance.

Additionally, the card is made by Creative Labs who I have found to be a reliable company. The drivers are easy to get from their web site when you need them, and tech support is always available although I have never had to call it.

There is one problem with the card however, for some reason, Microsoft’s DirectX does not like the driver for the Banshee. I don't know if Microsoft or Creative is at fault for that but it can be annoying. The main symptom that this causes is occasional graphics anomalies in games. As an example, when I play Microsoft's Baseball 2001 in some stadiums the color of the stadium walls fluctuates during game play. I have not found any of these anomalies to prevent game play, they are just irritating occasionally. Fortunately they are few and far between.




Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 89.00