GeForce 2 series: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 05:12, 5 May 2004

The GeForce 2 was the second in the line of GeForce graphics cards by nVidia.

The first model was the GeForce 2 GTS (GigaTexel Shader, owing to the fact that it could process 1.6 billion texels per second, compared to 480 million texels on GeForce 256), and the main difference between it and the GeForce 256/DDR was the addition of a second texturing unit, thus increasing the texel fill rate to 3.3 times that of the initial GeForce. It was also clocked considerably higher than the previous generation GeForce cards - 200MHz, compared to 120MHz.

Competitively, in OpenGL games (such as Quake III) it outperformed the Radeon, Voodoo 4 and Voodoo 5 cards in all modes, but in DirectX games the Radeon was sometimes able to take the lead in 32-bit colour modes. This was attributed to the Radeon having slightly faster memory, and a better memory controller. Compared to the previous GeForce model, it was around 30% faster than the GeForce 256, but only around 10% faster than the GeForce DDR. This is generally thought to be because most games at the time were only using single-layer textures (which would not benefit from the second texturing unit on the GeForce 2).

There were three more revisions on the GeForce 2 GTS core - the first was the GeForce 2 Ultra, launched in late 2000. This was basically a GeForce 2 GTS with much higher core and memory speeds, and put a definite lead between it and the Radeon and Voodoo 5. Some say it was intended to prevent 3dfx taking the lead with their Voodoo 5 6000 card, but in the event it would not have been necessary, as the Voodoo 5 6000 was never launched (though later tests showed that the Ultra most certainly did outperform the Voodoo 5 6000). Owing to its high speeds, even the GeForce 3 did not initially outperform it, and it was not until the release of the GeForce 3 Ti500 in late 2001 that the GeForce 2 Ultra finally ceded its performance lead.

The other two revisons were the GeForce 2 Pro, and the GeForce 2 Ti (for "titanium"). These were clocked at middling points between the GTS and Ultra cards, and intended to provide cheaper alternatives to the GeForce 3, which never had a mass-market mainstream version.

However, Nvidia's real success story was with the GeForce 2 MX cards. These were cut down versions of the GeForce 2 GTS, with dual-monitor support (while there was a partial dual-monitor mode in the GTS, the monitors weren't independent, and would show the same image).

The MX performed well enough to make it a viable mainstream alternative to the GTS (and its later revisions), supplanting the older TNT2 cards. There were two later versions - the low-performance MX200, which had a crippled 64-bit memory bus and was suitable only for office work, and the MX400, which was a slightly faster MX. No graphics processor before or since has matched the GeForce 2 MX (and its variants) in sales.

Models

(Performance ranking, slowest to fastest)

GeForce 2 MX200
GeForce 2 MX
GeForce 2 MX400
GeForce 2 GTS
GeForce 2 Pro
GeForce 2 Ti
GeForce 2 Ultra

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Competitively, in OpenGL games (such as [[Quake III]]) it outperformed the [[Radeon]], [[Voodoo 4]] and [[Voodoo 5]] cards in all modes, but in DirectX games the Radeon was sometimes able to take the lead in 32-bit colour modes. This was attributed to the Radeon having slightly faster memory, and a better memory controller. Compared to the previous GeForce model, it was around 30% faster than the GeForce 256, but only around 10% faster than the GeForce DDR. This is generally thought to be because most games at the time were only using single-layer textures (which would not benefit from the second texturing unit on the GeForce 2).
-There were three more revisions on the GeForce 2 GTS core - the first was the '''GeForce 2 Ultra''', launched in late [[2000]]. This was basically a GeForce 2 GTS with much higher core and memory speeds, and put a definate lead between it and the Radeon and Voodoo 5. Some say it was intended to prevent [[3dfx]] taking the lead with their Voodoo 5 6000 card, but in the event it wouldn't have been necessary, as the Voodoo 5 6000 was never launched (though later tests showed that the Ultra most certainly did outperform the Voodoo 5 6000). Owing to it's high speeds, even the [[GeForce 3]] didn't initially outperform it, and it wasn't until the release of the GeForce 3 Ti500 in late 2001 that the GeForce 2 Ultra finally ceded it's performance lead.
+There were three more revisions on the GeForce 2 GTS core - the first was the '''GeForce 2 Ultra''', launched in late [[2000]]. This was basically a GeForce 2 GTS with much higher core and memory speeds, and put a definite lead between it and the Radeon and Voodoo 5. Some say it was intended to prevent [[3dfx]] taking the lead with their Voodoo 5 6000 card, but in the event it would not have been necessary, as the Voodoo 5 6000 was never launched (though later tests showed that the Ultra most certainly did outperform the Voodoo 5 6000). Owing to its high speeds, even the [[GeForce 3]] did not initially outperform it, and it was not until the release of the GeForce 3 Ti500 in late 2001 that the GeForce 2 Ultra finally ceded its performance lead.
 The other two revisons were the '''GeForce 2 Pro''', and the '''GeForce 2 Ti''' (for "titanium"). These were clocked at middling points between the GTS and Ultra cards, and intended to provide cheaper alternatives to the [[GeForce 3]], which never had a mass-market mainstream version.