ELSA GLADIAC ULTRA 64MB GeForce2 Ultra

ELSA GLADIAC ULTRA 64MB GeForce2 Ultra
Manufactured by: Elsa
Price : $ 500
Reviewed by:
Date : November 21st 2000

Introduction

Let's take a walk back to August 2000. What comes up? Yeah, you guessed right this time, it was the debut of the fastest desktop 3D graphics accelerator of all time; the GeForce2 Ultra. And let's not forget the introduction of the new Detonator3 drivers at around the same time. We tested several GeForce based cards with the new drivers and noticed increased performance of all cards by a noticeable amount. The new Radeon released by ATI was breathing fire on the GeForce2 GTS cards at the time and sometimes even bested a GeForce2 GTS or provided very close performance.

But NVIDIA soon got back their top notch with the release of the Detonator 3 Drivers. So this was all we expected from NVIDIA for the moment and were waiting for the NV20 to be they're next HOT offering. But no, NVIDIA goes out and releases the GeForce 2 Ultra! They probably went ahead with the Ultra anticipating a Voodoo5 6000 release and probably due to the run the GF2 GTS got from ATI's Radeon. So with the NV20 expected anywhere between December 2000 and April 2001 we are left with the GeForce2 Ultra, which is currently, the fastest desktop 3D graphics accelerator on the market. The GeForce 2 Ultra based cards are definitely not for the majority of consumers out there, but there is a small population of enthusiasts who are not willing to hold on even till the NV20 is released , and wants the fastest card available right now. Though the idea of spending almost half of a full systems cost on a Video card alone doesn't appeal to most of us , the hardcore enthusiasts thinks different; Or so it seems. So when there is a market (though considerably small) for such a product, the 3D graphics accelerator manufacturers cater to that market, and the ElSA GLADIAC ULTRA is the first board we review based on the GeForce 2 Ultra chip from NVIDIA.

Next>>