Attack of the Gladiac.
Written: Sep 26 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Stability. Performance. Compatibility.
Cons: Pricey!
The Bottom Line: A sound investment for your gaming needs.
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| search66's Full Review: Elsa GLADIAC GeForce2 Ultra, (64 MB) AGP Video Car... |
From the dawn of PC gaming in the mid-80’s, I have always been faithful to two brands of hardware. The first is Diamond for video cards, and Sound Blaster for audio. Unhappy with their latest releases, I chose to dive headfirst into a new brand. I have had consistent problems with Matrox video cards, which narrowed my search even further.
Please note: Most statistics and factual data came from Elsas’ website at http://www.elsa.com.
Background
Elsa is a new brand to me, and for most. They are a German based company, which have been around, surprisingly, for about 20 years. In the last two years, Elsa have quickly risen to the top of the intense competition in the graphic industry.
I would speculate that the increase in their popularity is from the dovetail of 3dFx . The first reason is the dissolving of 3dFx, and the second being, the building of Geforce technology.
Price
If you price any Elsa product, you will notice that they are competitively priced, and sometimes cheaper than the big guns of Diamond , Matrox and Creative .
I was satisfied with the $300 that I threw down on this card. I had a $50 mail in rebate that I picked up from Best Buy . I felt that $300 is a lot for a video card, but is justified that it will stay current with the ever-improving market.
Installation
The card is compatible with all Windows platforms, save 3.1x. This includes 95, 98, ME and 2000. It is also compatible with Linux boxes for all you Penguin-heads.
I installed this on a Windows ME machine. I am running a Celeron 900 with 256 MB of RAM. Installation was exactly as the instructions stated. Pure “plug and play” compatibility. I simply uninstalled my previous video cards (Diamond Viper and Voodoo 3) software and drivers, physically removed the cards and inserted the new Gladiac .
After booting, WinME immediately found new hardware and installed the listed video card. I was amazed that WinME found the card by name exactly. After another reboot, I was into my operating system with no problems. I then inserted the CDROM that came supplied, and installed the software/drivers that were included. One more reboot and I was done.
Specs and Features
Upon initial inspection, one thing that really got my attention was that the chip on the card had not only a heat sink, but also a working fan. In these times, cooling should be a major factor in the stability of your PC. I currently have four individual fans within my PC. One on the CPU, another on my video card, and two within the tower.
For those of you who want to compare specs with other cards, here they are:
Graphics processor: NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra, processor speed: 250 MHz
Memory outfit: 64-MB DDR SDRAM, 4 ns access time, 460 MHz effective memory cycle
RAMDAC/pixel cycle: 350 MHz
BIOS: VESA-BIOS-3.0-Support
Bus-System: AGP2x/4x, inclusive Fast Writes und Execute Mode
Graphics standards: Direct3D, OpenGL, DirectX7, DirectDraw, DirectShow
2D features: 256-bit 2D acceleration, optimized for 32, 24, 16, 15, and 8-bit color depths, hardware cursor in TrueColor, multi-buffering (2x, 3x and 4x for flowing movement and video playback)
3D Features: 256-bit engine with HyperTexel architecture, optimized Direct3D and OpenGL acceleration, full DirectX7 support, 32-bit Z and stencil buffer, single-pass multi-texturing, anti-aliasing, high-quality texture filtering, including anisotropic; advanced per-pixel texturing for perspective correction, fog and depth cueing, texture compression
HDTV and DVD playback: Extended motion compensation for full screen video playback in all DVD and HDTV resolutions, video acceleration for MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and Indeo
TV out (optional): Connection for S video and Composite/FBAS (with included adapter); PAL (max. 800 x 600 pixels), NTSC (max. 640 x 480 pixels)
Standards: DPMS, DDC2B, Plug&Play
Connectors : VGA-D-Shell (15polig) TV-out (optional): Mini DIN (4-pin), Cinch using included adapter.
Exciting, huh? In a nutshell for the tech-impaired, its one fast card. With 64 MB of DDR RAM, which is about three times as fast as your “normal” RAM, this puppy cooks.
Also included with the software is a nice DVD player and video capturing program.
Overall Experience
I have had this card for almost two months now. I have yet to have compatibility issues with any programs or games. I am an avid gamer, and have experienced no pressing issues. To give you a real idea of how great this card is, I experimented. I took my 900 Celeron out, and put in a 433 Celeron. I ran the test with and without the new video card. The video card when ran with my measly 433 CPU amazingly increased my system performance. Video games ran smooth (once IN the game), and lag was all but gone. My jaw dropped. Can a video card really improve your PC? You betcha.
Sure, once I re-installed my 900 CPU, load times were better and gameplay was even smoother. While upgrading your video card might not produce the results you want, but if you are an avid gamer, and use your system for games only; this would be a sound investment that would increase your gaming horsepower.
Conclusion
Stability and performance are the biggest points for the Elsa Gladiac . Add in a six-year warrantee, and you have a sure winner. Will this card last you another two years? I really think so. The card is fast. Its faster than the games out there…. And until the software can outrun the hardware, you should be good-to-go for years to come.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300.00
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search66
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