The benchmark results make it quite obvious that the Creative Labs Annihilator Pro is an extremely fast graphics card that can extend the life of a gaming PC. With an estimated retail price of $299 for the Annihilator Pro and $249 for the Annihilator, these cards aren't cheap. However, if your systems feeling a little sluggish and you feel the need to upgrade, the Annihilator Pro easily offers a greater return on investment than upgrading to a faster processor.
You will see the increased performance and feel as though you've purchased a more powerful system. During the past 15 months, I've made the transition from the TNT, to the TNT2 Ultra, to the GeForce 256 SDR, and now to the Annihilator Pro. Each card was able to breath new life into my PC. For example, in Quake 2, at 1152x864 in 32-bit color, my frame rate on the TNT was 22 fps and is now up to 88 fps with the Annihilator Pro. That's an increase of 300 percent!
It's no suprise the the Annihilator series of graphics cards are aimed towards a niche market. Steve Mosher of Creative Labs stated in a recent interview with nV News that the Annihilator is aimed at the power gamer:
I am not sure the Annihilator is aimed at the average user. It's targeted at the serious gamer, the guy who has to have the best, the fastest. Average users should probably look at the TNT2 or Ultra.
Gamers who settle for nothing less than top-of-the-line hardware. Gamers who want to make games like Quake 3 look better and run faster.
I will end this review with a few thoughts on customer support. You will be glad to know that Creative Labs offers an Annihilator newsgroup. William Ball of Creative Labs frequents the newsgroup on just about a daily basis and does an outstanding job offering tips and troubleshooting support.
In many cases it's a thankless job, but having access to resources such as Bill and other Annihilator owners offers some peace of mind. In fact, support has been so overwhelming during the past few weeks, that fellow Annihilator owner Christopher Hill has taken it upon himself to author an Annihilator FAQ.
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