When we compare results with it's predecessors we can immediately see by the tech specs that this videocard is a gamers wet dream. With 64MB 460 MHz memory the videocard has a memory bandwidth of 7.4 freakin' Gigabyte per second. That's roughly 2 Gigabyte/sec more than the GF2 GTS. Furthermore the Ultra will be capable of processing 1000 million pixels per second, 200 Million more than the GF2 GTS. Finally when we take a look at the amount of polygons per second then we'll see an increase of 6 million polygons/sec more then the GF2 GTS at a rock solid 31 Million Polygons/sec. Amazed by the numbers ? Well, I am :)

With the release/announcement of the Ultra there was a new set of drivers released by NVIDIA (maker of the GPU). The new drivers are called Detonator3. We've seen many driver leaks lately. The latest revision is at 6.34 and compared to the 'older' Detonator2 drivers we've seen a huge increase of performance. The Detonator3 drivers also carry a new set of options:

Advanced, object-oriented software technology:

• NVIDIA's unified driver architecture reduces support costs and end user confusion when installing new drivers. Users don't have to figure out which drivers to install
• Allows rapid implementation of new features and enhancements, protecting user investment.
• Leverages NVIDIA's hardware technology by offering forward looking support of new products while maintaining compatibility with existing products.

Full support for modern graphics APIs:

• Direct3D 7.x (including DirectX 7.1 in Windows ME). Full support for Direct3D hardware transform and lighting, multitexturing, cube environment mapping and dot3 bump mapping.
• Full support for the new OpenGL 1.2 standard, plus an extensive array of NVIDIA feature and performance extensions.

Support for TwinView multiple monitor technology:

• Supports virtual desktop, application zooming, display clone mode and Windows 9x and Windows 2000 multi-monitor modes.
• Hotkey support for easy mode switching

• Enhanced for the full range of Intel chipsets, including the i815, i820 and i840
• Takes advantage of advanced CPU instruction sets, such as AMD's 3DNOW! and Intel's SSE and SSE2
• Highly efficient blending modes implemented in both Direct3D and OpenGL
• Reduced OpenGL driver call overhead over previous driver revisions
• Improved OpenGL asynchronous command processing
• Advanced vertex buffer support in Direct3D
• Advanced vertex array support in OpenGL
• Improved Direct3D texture management

General hint: the Detonator drivers will benefit ANY GeForce based videocard If you don't have them yet then get them here (click here) now. We can recommend them very much !

While looking closely at the Ultra we can see that it is a very close resemblance of the reference design GeForce2 GTS from NVIDIA. The card is of course equipped with a luxury 64 MB DDR (Double Datarate) estimated at 4.6ns SGRAM (2x230MHz), unfortunately the heatsinks cover the DDR memory so I cannot check carefully right now!

There is a TV/S-VHS Output available on this videocard, and the card has a DVI connector for Digital LCD-screen connectivity. This Ultra comes in a cool design box and includes of course the necessities like the videocard (who would have figured that one out), a detailed manual, and a driver CD covering all the basics. Furthermore a complementary full version of PowerDVD is included. The GeForce2 and later videocards are equipped with a HDTV processor, a new standard that is introduced in the US at this time. The HDTV processor can be connected to a HDTV decoder. Now we should be able to watch Full-screen HD television. Unfortunately in Europe this new standard is not introduced yet, so it will not play a big role on this side off the world.  However this is an excellent enhancement to show off and view DVD movies. It can decode in hardware MPEG streams in HQ and of course realtime. Luckily PowerDVD 2000 (full) is included in the software bundle, that's definitely better than nothing, (Hint -> Creative).

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