Leadtek WinFast GeForce3 TDH
I have already mentioned some time ago that in
order to improve video cards some manufacturers produce not only
new types of cards but also new revisions of already released ones.
When companies don't have enough opportunities
of improving performance of their products (NVIDIA ships video memory
chips together with GPUs, and it is quite difficult and costly to
look for a faster memory) and when developing of a new design of
a card for installation of additional devices (such as VIVO) is
very expensive (the majority of GeForce3 cards are thus copies of
the reference one) the companies, then, think out new ways of attracting
attention of their customers. They resort to, for example, changing
of colors of the PCB, supply their cards with daughter ones with
VIVO onboard, replace coolers etc.
Coolers, by the way, often become a distinguishing
feature of many companies. Remember the Leadtek Research company
and its massive silvery heatsinks which takes almost 1/3 of the
card's surface? Or Gainward with its round cooler with a 3D sticker
in the center?
Apart from a cooler, there are some other features
which can help you say what company has produced a certain card.
For example, it is the number of wires coming to a fan: two or three.
If there are three the card is probably equipped with a monitoring
function, at least it can control a fan speed. And at this moment
there are only three companies which provide their cards with the
hardware monitoring function: ASUSTeK with its SmartDoctor, Leadtek
with its Hardware Monitoring and AOpen with its OpenBIOS.
The hardware monitoring technology from Leadtek
appeared not so long time ago on one of numerous GeForce2 MX cards.
And today we will examine a card which differs from the previous
version exactly in this feature.
Before we turn to the card in question I should
remind you that the whole theoretical base connected with this GPU
is concentrated in the following articles (here you can also learn
the peculiarities of certain cards and find out how they operate
in the latest benchmark tests).
- Theoretical and analytical videocard reviews, containing functional
analysis of NVIDIA GeForce3 GPU
- Short reviews of GeForce3 cards without GeForce3 GPU analysis
This card has a "TDH" suffix while the previous
version WinFast GeForce3 had "TD". I'm sure that "H" stands for
Hardware Monitoring.
The Leadtek
WinFast GeForce3 TD and the today's model go hand in hand in
2D/3D modes, that is why today I will only concern the peculiarities
of the card in question and its accessories.
Card
The Leadtek WinFast GeForce3 TDH has AGP x2/x4
interface, 64 MBytes DDR SDRAM memory located in 8 chips on the
right side of the PCB.
EliteMT produces memory chips with 3.8 ns access
time, which corresponds to 260 (520) MHz. Like all other GPU GeForce3
cards, this one works at 200/230 (460) MHz. The memory modules are
covered with standard heatsinks that is why it is impossible to
look at them. The heatsinks are made of aluminum and have engraved
company's logo on their cases. Despite their seeming ineffectiveness
the heatsinks cope excellently with their work.
And now let's compare the Leadtek WinFast GeForce3
TDH and the reference card NVIDIA GeForce3 (represented by the ELSA
Gladiac 920).
On the photos above the Leadtek WinFast GeForce3
TDH is on the left and the NVIDIA GeForce3 is on the right.
You can see that the Leadtek card slightly differs
from the reference one (a part of the PCB of the reference card
is shown on the right). First of all, it is a chip in charge of
the Hardware Monitoring (on the central heatsink's left). There
they had to give up space for a connector of a daughter card with
a TV-out (or VIVO).
The photo on the right clearly demonstrates it.
One more feature the card differs in is a cooler
with a tachometer.
And the last distinguishing feature is 3 LEDs located
on upper right:
Usually there are two LEDs on: a green one (power
supply) and a yellow one (it signals that the AGP 4x mode is activated).
The left LED goes on in case of some bugs or overheating.
But during our tests it never went on despite the overheating of
the GPU.
The Leadtek WinFast GeForce3 TDH is equipped with
a DVI and a TV-out (S-Video connector).
The card ships in a Retail package which
includes:
- User Manual;
- CD with software and utilities, including a DVD player;
- 2 CDs with games: DroneZ from Zetha Gamez and Gunlok from Rebellion;
- S-Video-to-RCA adapter and S-Video extender.
This card is almost the first which comes with
the latest games which perfectly demonstrate possibilities of the
GeForce3.
Besides, I'd like to thank Leadtek for the S-Video-to-RCA
adapter since lack of such a trifle can cause huge problems to a
number of users.
On the photo above you can see a back side of the
package. Well, it means that this card has improved 2D quality.
According to the graphs, the voltage of the output RGB signal of
usual video cards on the GeForce3 is falling down as the resolution
increases. The Leadtek WinFast GeForce3 TDH lacks for such problem
due to the improved technique of power supply. Well, the test will
reveal the truth.
Overclocking
With the additional cooling provided, the Leadtek
WinFast GeForce3 TDH shows an excellent overclocking potential -
it has reached 240/275 (550) MHz. But it isn't new to me; some other
cards on this GPU could work even on higher frequencies.
Note:
- in course of overclocking you must provide additional cooling,
in particular, for the card (first of all, for its memory);
- overclocking depends on the definite sample, and you shouldn't
generalize the results of one card to all video cards of this
mark or series. The overclocking results are not the obligatory
characteristics of a video card.
Installation and drivers
Taking into consideration that it is not a new
card but just an improved version I won't test its performance in
3D since it doesn't differ in this respect from other cards and,
in particular, from the Leadtek WinFast GeForce3 TD.
Among the programs on the CD there is the proprietary
WinFox, a utility which allows you to easily make settings for the
card, overclock it,
and control its status.
Unfortunately, the Hardware Monitoring works properly
only under the Windows 9x/ME, the WinFox doesn't operate under the
Windows 2000/XP. I hope this bug will soon be fixed.
Test results
Today this part will be very short. I want attract
your attention only to the 2D graphics. Fortunately, almost all
Leadtek cards perform quite well in 2D. That is why the earlier
released card on the GeForce3 caused no problems up to 1600X1200
at 85 Hz.
The differences between the revisions of the WinFast
GeForce3 are almost unnoticeable. Only at 2048X1536, when the WinFast
GeForce3 TD displayed a rather soapy image, the TDH version couldn't
be blamed for the 2D quality. In 1920X1440 at 75 Hz soaping was
almost absent; but working on a computer was still impossible, though,
because of a too small font.
I advise you to read also other reviews of GeForce3
based video cards. Besides, in our 3Digest
you can find thorough information on the 3D performance of GeForce3
cards on different platforms.
Conclusion
This article extends the review of the Leadtek
WinFast GeForce3 TD and points out the differences of the new
revision of the Leadtek Winfast card.
The Leadtek WinFast GeForce3 TDH offers advanced
2D characteristics, hardware monitoring and ships with a CD with
the latest games at almost the same price as its predecessor.
The complete characteristics of video cards of
this and other classes can be found in our 3Digest.
Highs:
- Excellent performance in 3D graphics;
- High quality of the card;
- Hardware monitoring;
- Improved 2D quality in high resolutions;
- 2 latest games;
- S-Video-to-RCA adapter;
- Relatively low price.
Lows:
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