Introduction

Making Dreams Out of Pixels

So far we have seen the initial GeForce 2 offerings from the likes of ELSA, ASUS, and AOpen. Now its time for Leadtek to step up and dance with its own GeForce 2 GTS card. These cards are starting to come fast and furious now, leaving a nice little selection for those that were able to resist the temptation to run out and buy the ELSA Gladiac the second it was released. Leadtek was first with the choose to supply the internet vendors Let's take a look and see how much Leadtek decided change from the NVIDIA reference design.

Leadtek History: Abridged

Leadtek was established in 1986, not too long after the insurgence of consumer PC sales began in earnest. Leadtek has established itself with a diversified product line, ranging from high-end computer workstation graphics and motherboards, to Internet appliances, computer controller video surveillance equipment, and mobile global positioning systems. Over the years, the company has developed a nice reputation as a solid, cost effective performer in the video card market. Nearly half of Leadtek's 230 employees are currently involved in R&D (research and development), and the company recently went public in Taiwan last year.

Aren't There Enough GeForce2 Card's Already?

With 3dfx now producing its own PCBs and VIA's purchase of S3's graphics division, NVIDIA is the only fabless graphics company in the market. Certainly NVIDIA is not hurting for sales, with so many manufacturers lined up to buy their processors, but it brings back an old dilemma (created by rival 3dfx's Voodoo graphics): What makes one card better than a competitor's? Verily, all of the offerings of GeForce and GeForce 2 cards are pretty much all the same. The only difference usually turns out to be the software bundle, and the color of the PCB. If you're lucky, you might find a couple different TV outputs and extra tweaking utilities.

Since we are not ones to pass up an opportunity to play with a new piece of hardware, let's examine the Leadtek WinFast GeForce 2 GTS. Can the WindFast stand up to the big name competition? Read on to find out!