Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Riva TNT.(Hardware Review)(Brief Article)(Evaluation)
12/01/98
PC Magazine
Page 251(1)
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nVidia RIVA TNT; 16MB; 1,920 x 1,200 (75 Hz). AGP or PCI, $170 street. Milpitas, CA; 800-998-5227, 408-428 6600; www.creativelabs.com
The Graphics Blaster Riva TNT will warm the hearts of both general business users and gamers. Its 2-D and 3-D benchmark test scores put it in the top tier of graphics accelerators, and it should win favor for its reasonable software bundle and simple, well-integrated installation procedure. It's our Editors' Choice for 3-D enthusiasts.
The Graphics Blaster comes with Creative Labs SoftMPEG MPEG-1 player and Forsaken, a D3D game. But two bundled utilities from Sonnetech stand out: Colorific is a monitor-calibration utility that you can use to match screen colors with printer output, and 3Deep is a 3-D-specific utility that automatically adjusts your monitor's gamma value to match the intent of 3-D game developers; you'll appreciate the way 3Deep keeps the mood while improving visibility.
Performance was similar to other RIVA TNT boards in this roundup, translating to excellent results on the whole. The Graphics Blaster's results were in the top tier, just shy of the top-scoring boards from Diamond Multimedia and ELSA. 3-D scene quality was fine, with only minor problems similar to those of other top-scoring boards: a few minor MIP-mapping errors, and a lack of many fogging and some geometry rasterization capabilities. In sum, if you're looking for a mid-priced board that's ready for use in both business and gaming, the Graphics Blaster should be on your short list.
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