Small box. After reviewing cards for a few years, you come to expect the behemeth box full of air. Not VisionTek.
My review unit was the SVGA with S-Video out version. VisionTek through the demands of their OEM customers runs the full gamut of configurations. More of that in the interview with John Malley on the next page.
Along with an installation guide, which you can read here, I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a copy of WinDVD. Inclusion of DVD software is a growing trend in the value market. The driver disk had not been updated since the Detonator2 days, but after a quick trip to VisionTek's support site, I noticed they do have the 6.31 release available for download. I have been running the 6.49 release and will use the 6.49 Det3's for all benchmarks.
| But Do You Have References?
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For all intents and purposes, the VisionTek could pass as an NVIDIA reference board, save some component selections and the reference card's glossy finish.
And the back...
I did notice after staring at the card, which is tagged an engineering sample, that the card had a copperish conductive or isolating material around the to exposed coils involved in power regulation. A closer look...
Noise suppression efforts? I don't know. This card did not, even after trying very hard to find it, exhibit any of the Ultra interference issues reported by other Ultra owners which should not mean that it could not happen to another VisionTek card. Our Ultra Interference thread shows that VisionTek is not immune from the random interference problem. Not one of the five Ultras I have tested have shown the annoying rollings lines in either of my systems.
Here is a shot of the TV-Out.
I did use the TV-Out hooked up to the big-screen, which runs nicely at 640x480 and 800x600. I recommend downloading TV-Tool if you plan on using the TV-Out more than once in a blue moon.
With all of the success people have had overclocking the VisionTek Ultras, one of the first things I did after installing the card, was enable the Hardware Options tab through coolbits and start cranking up the clocks. If you read the news daily, you might remember that I had a bit of a delay reviewing a VisionTek card. Well, the first card failed. I put blame on a loose component as the card quit after I took it out to take a few pictures. I was sad to see that card go back to VisionTek as it was STABLE at 300MHz core and 515MHz memory. Proof that your results will vary.
Here are my current defaults.
I can go a bit higher on the memory clock and still complete a 3D Mark run with out any artifacting but Team Arena takes it's toll and will cause visual anomolies.
It seems Mike and I are making a habit of an interview in our hardware reviews. This review is no exception and makes a lot of sense because VisionTek is new to the hardware web limelight.
Next Page: VisionTek Q&A
