If you've seen one GeForce2 Ultra card, you've pretty much seen them all. So why are people opting to buy from the big brand names and pay more? The same reason a lot of people don't buy generic products. While there are a lot of generic products that don't quite live up to their big brand name counterparts, the eVGA GeForce2 Ultra still has the everloving goodness that is nVidia's GeForce2 Ultra chipset. Remember, the card may be concidered generic, but the chipset is what counts here afterall.


GeForce2 Ultra Chipset

MX? GTS? Pro? Ultra? WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT???

Well, The GeForce2 GTS is the first in the GeForce2 family. It offered 50% more performance over the original GeForce. However, it wasn't long till people found out that the RAM speed hindered the performance of the GF2, so in comes the GeForce2 Pro- more RAM speed, and thus, a 10% performance gain. But, nVidia wasn't done. The performance limit of the GeForce2 hadn't been reached, yet. Speed the clock up for 200MHz to 250MHz and slap on some high speed RAM and voila- the GeForce2 Ultra! For those of you who want a decent video card, but don't play all those new 3D games and refuse to pay more than $100, go with the $50 eVGA GeForce2 MX. It's the value edition of the GeForce2 chipsets at 50% of the speed of the GTS, but only $50. Keep in mind, this review is over the Ultra edition of the GeForce2, though.

Installation

It's a relatively easy procedure, but for those who need a walk through....

Turn off your computer and unplug the power supply.
Open your case and find the AGP slot. If there is a card already in there, you will want to take that out first. Unscrew it from the case and pull the card out. Place the new card in and screw it in. Plug the power supply back in and switch on the computer. You should notice that the screen will have reset back to 640x480 and 16 colors. Go into Display Properties and click "OK" you'll be asked to reset your computer- reset it. Once Windows is back up, go into your Control Panel/System. Find the video card and get into it's properties. You'll want to install the proper drivers you've either downloaded or had all along on the CDROM. Click "Update Driver" and find your driver. Install as nessesary. After that's done, you'll need to reset. Once Windows has come back up, you should be set.

nVidia drivers are some of the smallest to download and easiest to install. Other cards I've had that weren't NVidia based had large driver files and or unreliable installation.

Performance

Really, the only environment this card won't function in is Glide- this is a strictly 3dfx ("Voodoo" series) environment. Everything else you can throw at it, it can handle well with style, grace, and, most of all, speed. Most games, if not all, function under either OpenGL or Direct3D. The GeForce2 Ultra eats these environments for breakfast! ;)

With the exeption of the GeForce3, this is really the fastest you can get. ATI's Radeon doesn't hold a candle to it.

Non-game applications run well and clean. Though, if you're considering this card and similar models, chances are this wouldn't be a major concern anyway. The drivers' stability helps a lot. Most program crashes are due to horribly written drivers- like for ATI's cards.

eVGA vs the Rest

The only difference you'll notice performance wise is going to be marginal. This is going to be dependant on the card manufacturer's board circuitry. Thankfully, most manufacturers have chosen to adhere to nVidia's specifications and there is next to no difference in performance. eVGA is no exception. In fact, eVGA is certified with nVidia- meaning they offer nothing short of nVidia expectations.

eVGA is new to the whole video card scene, but unlike those more experienced, eVGA doesn't pack all those "freebies" and flashy presentation(s). Even though they are "free," somehow the price is much higher for brands such as Elsa, Creative, and Hercules. Since all you need is the card, really, there's no reason to go with the bigger name brands. Yes, you need drivers, too, but you can easily download those from nVidia.com. See the next section below for what the eVGA retail packaging comes with.


The Retail Packaging

If you've whipped out the old plastic like I did @ newegg.com, you can pick up the retail packaging for $212, shipped, which includes the eVGA GeForce2 Ultra card(outfitted with stylish fan/heatsink combo and RAM 'sinks), a one year warranty, brief instructions (just enough to set it up), drivers disk (Win9x, WinNT, Win2K), and S-video cable.

The card itself is outfitted with your typical VGA out for your analog monitor, S-Video out for your TV, and DVI out for a digital flat panel monitor.


OVERALL

The price is very decent now. I dare not pay more than what I did for a video card- this is why I did not opt for the all high and mighty GeForce3. Fortunately I was able to get somebody to buy my Asus v7700 Deluxe @ $200, so my wallet isn't hurting as bad as you might think ;)

The speed is unmatched for a video cards of this price range and cheaper. With unstable, slow, and overpriced ATI cards serving as the only competition, I think the choice is clear.


FOR FURTHER INSITE ON THE SUBJECT OF GRAPHICS CARDS, PLEASE SEE: "3D Graphics? Coming Right Up!" [http://copain.epinions.com/content_2024775812]



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 212