Review: Hercules 3D Prophet 2 Ultra (Page 7/9)

Posted: December 1, 2000
Written by: Tuan "Solace" Nguyen

Analysis

Now that there are two GeForce2 Ultra based cards on the market (at least, that we've tested), you have more of a choice. Both the Elsa Gladiac Ultra and the Hercules 3D Prophet 2 Ultra offer unparalleled performance. What you have to look at now is which company has the most feature packed card and which is cheaper.

The Gladiac Ultra comes with Elsa’s 3D Revelator glasses so you can play Direct3D games in stereoscopic 3D. Elsa also includes its ElsaSelect gaming offer; you can pick any 3 games from a list of games for an extremely low price -- less than one full version game. The Prophet 2 Ultra comes with DVI connection and TV out capability and costs about $112 less than the Gladiac! That’s a lot less! Then again, that's ESP and prices may vary by location. Finally, the Prophet 2 Ultra is also faster than the Gladiac (though not by any noticeable amount) and produces a sharper image.

Summing Things Up

Performance:
[ 9.9/10 ]

Hercules has done a great job. Nothing currently beats the 3D Prophet 2 Ultra. Right now it’s the fastest card on the market and it’s even cheaper than the Gladiac Ultra.

Innovation:
[ 9.1/10 ]

Hercules didn’t innovate much this time. They used a reference design instead of taking their own route. But we can’t blame them. The design works well and enables Hercules to get cards out faster. Hercules did manage to squeeze in DVI connections and have TV out included as standard features -- I applaud them for that. We do however like the card’s color.

Installation and Setup:
[ 10/10 ]

The joys of sticking in a card are extremely fun. Heh.

Bundle:
[ 8.6/10 ]

Here’s what comes in the box:

The demos I listed earlier in this article, PowerDVD, utilities CD, stickers, manuals and a S-video to composite converter cable. Nothing really exciting.

Price:
[ 9.5/10 ]

Pricewatch (www.pricewatch.com) lists the 3D Prophet 2 Ultra for $437US, which is $112 less than the cheapest Gladiac Ultra on Pricewatch. This is a fantastic price. The price is still very high, but compared to the Gladiac Ultra, the Prophet is cheap. Keep in mind that NVIDIA’s next chip is coming around the corner...

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