Total Annihilation !
Written: Jan 01 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: superb performance, good resolution support
Cons: expensive
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| ccn158's Full Review: Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator 2 Ultra |
With my graphics card sadly lagging behind these days, I decided to upgrade and try out the best on the market - Creative Labs newest card, the Annihilator 2 Ultra.
Let me first say that in my opinion, graphics cards are not what they are cracked up to be. After all, they promise so much on the box - and yet they can still fail to deliver. My other graphics card is also by Creative Labs - which was a TnT Pro with 32Mb RAM. I thought at first 'wow, I won't have to buy another card again', but sadly, that's not how it turned out. It was ironic that the game it came bundled with (Expendable) suffered from slowdown a lot, especially when a lot of action was going on. Actually I'm being a little unfair. The TnT is a good card, and very good value. I am just after something which will allow me to play the latest games.
I'm not really a computer expert - am I'm pretty sure you guys will be writing comments on how I should upgrade my RAM, processor etc. If I have made a mistake - it's an expensive one - the card cost me over $500 (because I live in the UK, and everything is slightly more expensive over here.)
This card is based on nVidia's GeForce 2 Ultra Graphics chip, and Creative Labs are the first to really test out the market with this. The chip runs at 250Mhz, as opposed to 200MHz of the GeForce. The 64Mb RAM has been upgraded as well, running at 450MHz, and the 'Transform and Lightning' (T&L) allows most of the work to be done by the card itself, leaving your processor free to do other things. All this means that, theoretically, one billions pixels a second can be texutre mapped, and a maximum resolution of 2048X1536.
Here's what happened, and my experiences of the card.
Installation: The card comes in a standard box, with all the usual anti-static wrap. Drivers are supplied for Win9x, 2000, NT4.0, Millenium Edition, and MDK2. Just as well really! The Plug and Play does it's job, and thankfully the card is installed within minutes.
System Requirements: You'll need a minimum of a 266MHz brain and a free AGP slot, although if you've just got the bare minimum you should stay clear. The cost of this card alone could probably buy you TWO 266Mhz systems! Apart from that, you should get this running smoothly.
Performance: The perfomance of the card is breathtaking. I noticed an improvement in everything I played, with the expection of Championship Manager. The card supports both OpenGL and Direct3D, so should be compatible with everything. I recently read that the 3D WinMark was around 140, so that makes it twice as fast as the TnT Pro.
The maximum resolution, 2048X1536 isn't really attainable, even if you have got a 17in monitor - I think you will need at least 25in to be able to make use of it. Unfortunately theres only a standard VGA port, so you can't hook the card up to your TV.
Value: For the price, I thought that this should have really comes with a few more extras, such as the capability to link it up to a TV, for example. Okay, it does come with a bundle of games, but then again, even the cheapest cards come with software. In it's favour however, is Creative Labs backing - I have always found them to be reliable, and they do give you a one-year return to base guarantee.
If you're loaded with cash, this is the card to get. Just remember - you can get a new machine for the same price! But it's well worth it. It's better than anything else out there by a long, long way, and I predict it will set new graphics standards for some time.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 550
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Epinions.com ID:
ccn158
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Member: Simon Liau
Location: London, UK
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 87 members
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