Introduction

So soon?

The GeForce 2 GTS release really caught us by surprise. We knew it was coming, but had no idea it would be this soon. Everyone knows that the graphics industry runs on a six month product cycle. Given that the original GeForce 256 became widely available in October and November of last year, the May GeForce 2 launch shouldn't be a surprise. It's been seven months, right?

We assumed that NVIDIA would take its time in releasing the next product. The GeForce 256 has been the market darling for over six months now, and the card's main competitor, 3dfx's Voodoo 5, isn't even on store shelves yet. When a company is in a market dominating position, you would figure that it could rest for a little while, take a little breather, and hold off on releasing a new product until it's needed.

The Isle of Morg

Hi there

Eye of the Tiger

NVIDIA isn't that kind of company. After talking with NVIDIA's Derek Perez and Rich Black at GDC, we could see that NVIDIA is still hungry. Even after the successful IPO, and the Microsoft X-Box deal, NVIDIA isn't going to take a break.

NVIDIA has learned from 3dfx's mistakes. The company is on top right now, but everyone knows that they're just one missed product cycle away from second place. NVIDIA is releasing the GeForce 2 next month, just in time to take on 3dfx's Voodoo 5. NVIDIA is sticking to the six month cycle. This is a clear message to all the other graphics companies: if you want to compete in this industry, you're going to have to play on NVIDIA's terms.

Today we have a preview of NVIDIA's new GeForce 2 GTS. In case you were wondering, GTS stands for Gigatexel Shader. The original GeForce board had a 480 Mtexels/s fill rate. The GeForce 2 GTS has a 1.6Gtexels/s fill rate. Read on to find out what else has changed and how the GeForce 2 performs!