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It would be an error on my part not to mention all of the troubles I've had with this card. They have ranged from non booting computers to certain 3D modes not working. The plain fact is, that these cards do not work fully with all motherboards at this point. I don't think the problems should deter anyone from purchasing one of these gems.
The card is really, truly a gem in a pile of stones. The Savage 3D is definitely a winner. Being the first card that uses a .25 micron fabrication process on the consumer market, the Savage 3D based SGRAM video cards are meant to run at 125 MHz, with their SDRAM counterparts (like the Beast) running at 100 MHz. Even the heralded Riva TNT based cards are only running at 90 MHz now. We have managed to bring the Terminator Beast (SDRAM based) up to 120 MHz with good cooling , but noticed heating problems even with the SGRAM reference board we tested at this speed. Again, the fan fixed this, and let us go up to even 130 MHz.
The 100 MHz SDRAM boards are quite a bit slower (about 15%) but the benefit of these comes in the price tag. The Terminator Beast will sell for $119 MSRP, and my guess is we will see them under $100 shortly. There is no pricing information about the SGRAM boards, but speculation tells us that it would be around $150 or so.
The benchmarks clearly show that at 120 MHz, the Savage 3D is THE card to have. It easily beats the G200 scores, and edges the Voodoo2 by as much as 20%. The only place the Voodoo2 won was in Quake 2 on the Demo2.dm2 level in 800x600, but the Savage 3D showed it's superiority on the Massive1 map at every resolution, and even at 100 MHz was faster than the Voodoo2. For the most part, even at 100 MHz this card is a clear rival for the Voodoo2, but at 120 MHz, the Voodoo2 is blown out of the water, and the G200 is just left by the wayside.
I was glad to see such good scores on the Savage 3D based cards, as it has been my pick since E3. I think the performance speaks for itself, but if you still don't believe me, try one out.
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