To: BillyG who wrote (37135 ) 11/6/1998 1:35:00 PM From: DiViT Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 50808
Editors' Choice Business: Matrox Millennium G200.(top-rated graphics accelerators)(Hardware Review)(Evaluation) ------------- From: DVXplore PR:Supporting C-Cube in a unified vision for ease-of-use and proliferation of DVD-quality video on the PC and PC/TV platform, leading multimedia and PC product innovators Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), Matrox , Creative Labs (Nasdaq:CREAF - news), and Ulead are endorsing DVxplore. ------------- 12/01/98 PC Magazine Page 232(1) COPYRIGHT 1998 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company Copyright 1998 Information Access Company. All rights reserved. Enthusiast: Creative Labs Graphics Blaster For business use, 2-D performance, high-resolution support, and stability all rank above pure 3-D speed in the wish-list hierarchy. That's why the Matrox Millennium G200 ($130 street) garners our Editors' Choice in the mainstream business category. The Millennium's scores on our 2-D benchmark tests were solid. Its MGA-G200 chip doesn't offer the screaming 3-D acceleration of cards based on the hot nVidia RIVA TNT or the 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee, but its 3-D test results were respectably mid-pack, which means performace that is more than adequate for the coming spate of 3-D business apps. Unlike so many other cards we tested, the Millennium proved a stable, trouble-free performer in our labs, and its DirectX 6.0 implementation was among the best we saw. The card also did the best on our Video Bandwidth Index test, which promises a clean video signal for high-resolution viewing. Matrox also offers a range of upgrades--TV tuner, DVD MPEG hardware decoder, video-editing package, and (most important) a Panel Link digital flat-panel connection--that let you customize the card to fit your needs. If you're a PC enthusiast looking for the best 3-D acceleration available in an integrated 2-D/3-D card, check out our Editors' Choice for the enthusiast, the Creative Labs Graphics Blaster Riva TNT ($170 street) from Creative Labs. Its nVidia RIVA TNT chip lets it deliver top-tier 2-D and 3-D performance. Plus, Creative Labs adds stable, robust drivers and a host of useful utilities. In a field crowded with very similar accelerators, the full-featured and affordable Graphics Blaster showed the fewest problems in our labs. Three other cards we tested are worthy of honorable mention. The TNT-based Diamond Viper V550 ($200 street) edged past the Graphics Blaster on our tests and might be the right choice for gamers who want every iota of speed and are willing to pay a little extra for it. The Banshee-powered Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix ($110) and the Metabyte Wicked3D Vengeance ($130 street) offer nearly the speed of the top finishers for less money. There are more test results in the online version of "Who's the Fastest?" plus results for accelerators we purchased at retail. Do these cards perform the same as those submitted for review?