LeadTek Winfast GTS 64MB

Nvidia's GeForce GTS chipset has taken the graphics world by storm. With top-notch OpenGL and Direct3D support, the GTS chipset may actually last the video enthusiast for more than 3-6 months. Upgrading 2-3 times per year is just dandy but gets rather expensive not to mention the effort expended to locate a suitable card. What interested me most about this LeadTek version was twofold: 64MB of memory (instead of the typical 32MB) and the presence of the s-video out.

Factory Specifications

The Unit

64 MB total memory
S-video out (up to 800x600 resolution)
GeForce GTS technology (1.6 billion texels per second)
220MHz Core / 333MHz Memory Speed
350MHz RAMDAC
Web price: $335 USD

LeadTek

9/10 Rating

The features list of this particular card is so extensive that I'll let the reader peruse LeadTek's site to browse the plethora of Winfast GTS specs.

One feature that grabbed my attention was the size of that outrageous heatsink. LeadTek claims a 220% size increase over standard models and I believe them. This black monster covers a good portion of the card and I wondered why the fan was necessary at all.

Why have 64MB when 32MB seems enough? To answer that question, try using this card with various CAD programs like AutoCAD 2000 or Solidworks 2000. Solidworks has the ability to use OpenGL for certain types of rendering and when your base filesize is a whopping 100+ MB, the extra RAM comes in handy. Along slightly different lines is the enhanced 3D gaming ability when rending oh, say 1600x1200 scenes and you desire to have that resolution actually playable.

AGP 4X compatibility has been the subject of much controversy as many factors must come together in order to achieve full 4X operational status. First, the MB must support it; second, the video drivers must support it; and third, in the i815E's case, the Intel's latest .inf files must be used. For this review, all benchmarks were conducted in full AGP 4X mode. Nothing less than 100% stability was observed.

Due to time constraints, the s-video output was not tested per se; however, no significant improvements over past TV type outputs would make all that much difference because of the aging NTSC constraints of current sets. Standard broadcast resolution (i.e. viewing channel 10) limits the horizontal sharpness to 330 lines. Vertical resolution has been standardized to 525 lines, interlaced of course at two fields per frame. The bottom line is that even with the top notch s-video cable included and a $1000+ Sony V-series flat screen TV, 800x600 is a joke. 640x480 is moderately watchable, but don't ever expect to web or edit text as the inexpensive TV out converters don't do much justice compared to the VGA output capability.