nVidia Leadtek GeForce 3 Ti 500

High-end graphics cards are never around for very long and, as if to reinforce the fact, eight months after nVidia released its groundbreaking GeForce 3 graphics chip, we present its successor.

Two versions of the GeForce 3 Titanium, or Ti, will be available: the GeForce 3 Ti 200 is the cheaper and lesser performer of the two but the current top of the nVidia tree is the GeForce 3 Ti 500. We are looking at Leadtek's Ti 500-based card.

The Leadtek card has a standard monitor port, together with an S-Video TV-out connector. There's also a DVI connector. This means you'll be able to connect the card to all of today's monitors and take advantage of a next-generation digital display, should you be lucky enough to get your hands on one.

This card is certainly one of the fastest we've ever tested, although there's some serious competition on the horizon from ATi's new Radeon 8500, which we'll look at in a future review.

The advantage of having a fast graphics card is that you can run games at higher resolutions and increase the level of detail on screen so that, essentially, everything looks better. There's 64Mb of fast memory on Leadtek's card, which helps keep everything ticking over at top speed.

The GeForce 3Ti 500 isn't just about speed, however. It contains a couple of new features that will enable game developers to produce games that look more realistic. One example concerns hair: this is one of the most difficult things to draw realistically, but the features in the GeForce 3 Ti 500 make it possible.

Other examples include wrinkled skin, rippling water or anything with a rough surface. The demos nVidia has produced to show off the technology look impressive but it will take a year or two before we start to see games take advantage of the new features. If it follows the usual form, nVidia will have released a couple of new graphics chips by then.

Leadtek's GeForce 3 Ti 500 is great as a flagship product, but it will inevitably date quickly. You'd be better off investing in a cheaper card, such as the Ti 200, for now. As part of a new PC, however, the Leadtek, like any card based around the GeForce 3 Ti 500, is as future proof as it's possible to get.

Contact: SMC Direct 01252 339 706 www.smcdirect.co.uk

Also consider: Creative GeForce 2 Pro
An affordable way to get great graphics on your PC. £150.

See also:

Nvidia Geforce4 round-up

Nvidia's TI4600 and MX440 chipsets spearhead the new graphics generation.  20 Nov 2002

Sparkle GeForce4 MX 440

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Matrox Millennium G550 Dual-DVI

Extend your desktop across two monitors.  18 Apr 2002

Sparkle GeForce4 MX440

Not a bad deal for those on a budget.  12 Apr 2002

Hercules 3D Prophet 4000XT

Gaming graphics at a super-budget price.  06 Dec 2001

Wacom Graphire 2

Be quick on the draw with this graphics tablet.  19 Nov 2001

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