Exclusive Hercules TNT2 Review

The Dynamite TNT2...again?

Boy, we thought making decisions on video cards was already tough enough. First, you have to choose which chipset you want, and there are plenty of high-quality chipsets out there. Then, after selecting a chipset, there are likely to be several manufacturers who make cards based on that chipset. Finally, there may be several versions of the card within a specific manufacturer!

The Non-Ultra

The above scenario is very similar to one that many people are currently having with the TNT2 chipset. A quality video chipset, without a doubt, the TNT2 has many manufacturers producing cards based on this chip. However, to add to the confusion, there are two versions of the TNT2, the higher-end one being called the "Ultra". The normal TNT2 non-Ultra just goes by TNT2. Why nVidia did this, we're not positive, but we speculate that they had to somehow divide up chip yields, and decided to do this in two batches.

Additionally, they made this move to take on the Voodoo3 line, which similarly has different lines under its name. That way, nVidia could fight for some of the "budget" market, as well as OEM partnerships.

Enter Hercules

As you may have read if you have been here before, we were fortunate enough to have been able to have some exposure to several of the TNT2 Ultra cards. We've been consistently impressed by its performance as a chipset, and have had fun with the various cards that different manufacturers have gotten out to us, with their own idiosyncrasies and unique features.

The Dynamite Ultra TNT2 card by Hercules was one that we were impressed with, due largely in part to its high clock speed and overclockability. What about those of us who don't need the extra RAM, or don't care about a TV-out? Not everybody has a cool $200+ to spend. What are the options? Well, Hercules has exclusively given us the little brother of its Dynamite Ultra card, which would be the "vanilla" version of the TNT2 card. Believe us, there's nothing plain about this card!