Cheap GeForce2 Pro? NICE!
Written: Aug 28 '01 (Updated Sep 09 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: GeForce2 Pro, what else is there to say?
Cons: DVD playback with included software on Win2k, 2D quality.
The Bottom Line: The StarForce 815 Pro or 831 is a cheap quality GeForce2 Pro. How can you go wrong?
|
|
|
| cptsulu's Full Review: MSI StarForce 815 Pro Graphics Card - NVidia GeFor... |
If you've read my "A GeForce is a GeForce" review, you'll know my opinion on different GeForce cards is that they all pretty much perform at the same level so you should go for the one with the best value and features. Accordingly, this card (actually, I'm reviewing the StarForce 831 which is basically the same exact thing as an 815 Pro, but with 64 instead of 32 megs of DDR memory) is designed exactly like nVIDIA reference design and performs the same and, at the same time, priced a lot lower than other GeForce2 Pro cards.
A low price is not the only thing that differentiates this card from other GeForce2 cards. It's big heatsink fan makes it appealing to overclockers. If you look at typical nVIDIA reference design, you'll see that they use a smaller fan than the StarForce. Experimenting with it a little, I was able to overclock the card to the specs of a GeForce2 Ultra: 250mhz core and 230/460mhz memory clocks, but I got snow effects because the RAM got too hot. I didn't go any higher, but I think the core could have gone further. I just wanted to go for GeForce2 Ultra performance and didn't worry about getting even more than GeForce2 Ultra. However, MSI does not include ramsinks. Feeling the card, I did notice it gets considerably hot, even at default speeds. I've since added ramsinks, thanks to Thermaltake's memory cooling kit, and the board stays resonably cool now. And if I overclock it, I don't get artifacts.
You can't overclock the card without software, so MSI includes their 3D Turbo utility. This allows you to play with your core and memory clocks. I've found that the memory clock doesn't have as many options. For example, you're limited to 215/430mhz DDR memory clock. You'd have to find better software, like PowerStrip, to achieve a GeForce2 Ultra 230/460mhz DDR memory clock. The core clock, however, has an impossible limit, meaning you can overclock it as high as you want. Nice feature for overclockers.
If you're not an overclocker, it also includes S-Video out and 6ft S-Video cable as standard. The video output will allow you to send your computer's video signal to you T.V so you can play games and watch movies on a bigger display. But watching movies and playing games is the only thing I recommend you do with the video output because TV's display at a much lower resolution than computer monitors. As a result, making out text and other things will be very difficult since it will look distorted. You're not going to be typing an essay with this video out.
You can't watch a movie with your TV-out unless you have DVD decoding software, so MSI includes their MSIDVD software. MSIDVD is PowerDVD with MSI's name on it, so you'll be getting the same functionality as PowerDVD. And hey, PowerDVD is known as a great DVD decoding program so DVD's will look great. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with me. I used to have an ATI Radeon and used a Rage128 Pro before that. ATI is known for it's DVD playback, so comparing it to the playback with the StarForce made me wish for more. This could be because I'm using MSIDVD under Windows 2000 and MSIDVD can't use nVIDIA's Hardware DVD assit features (hardware motion compensation) due to Windows 2000 driver issues. If you're using a Windows 9x platform, you'll get better playback. I know this because I was so upset with the DVD playback that I bought a copy of WinDVD, since they support nVIDIA's Hardware DVD assist in Windows 2000, and found that playback is a lot better.
Another 2D related flaw, besides the included DVD software, is 2D in general. It's widely known that ATI and Matrox are one of the best in 2D quality, but this cards 2D quality is even worse than nVIDIA reference design. AnandTech recently did a roundup on GeForce3 cards and found that MSI is one of the worst in 2D quality. I'm betting the same is true for their GeForce2 Pro cards. The quality isn't as great, but its very bearable. I'm just being too hard. However, my default resolution is 1024x768. I haven't played around with higher resolutions, but I'm sure quality will suffer as you increase the resolution. Also for an advertized 350mhz RAMDAC, I can only get a 120hz refresh rate at 1024x768. On a Radeon, and other GeForce2 cards, with 350mhz RAMDACs, I should be able to get 200hz out of it. False advertising? I don't know.
Ok, I know I've pointed out a lot of flaws, but that's the only thing I could do. GeForce2 Pro cards are GeForce2 Pro cards. And as a GeForce2 Pro card, this MSI StarForce 815 Pro or StarForce 831 performs like an industry leading GeForce2 Pro card. Framerates are absolutely awesome, getting 150+ frames on pretty much any game (even the new ones) at 1024x768x16bpp and the graphics look fantastic. Despite all the flaws I pointed out, this is an AMAZING gamer's card. It's manufactured by MSI, a company known for manufacturing great motherboards so they should manufacture great graphics cards too, and priced a lot lower than any of its competitors.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 139.95
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
cptsulu
|
|
Member: Ryan Samiley
Location: University of California, Irvine
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 15 members
About Me:
Third year Information and Computer Science major at UCI.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.