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Diamond Viper V330

Verdict

Not the fastest 2D card on the block, but for Direct 3D performance this is now the card to beat. If you're a gamer it's an excellent 2D/3D choice, but for professional 3D you should still look elsewhere.

Review Date: 1 Oct 1997

Price when reviewed: (£186 inc VAT)

Overall Rating
4 stars out of 6

Of course, 3D isn't the only aspect of a graphics card's performance. If you're interested in video acceleration, the Viper can handle AVI and MPEG playback to a high standard. The ATI products still have a slight edge in this area, as the Viper's scaling and interpolation routines add some fuzziness to the image, but playback is still smooth and perfectly watchable.

When all is said and done, I can't recommend a card that seriously compromises the speed of your system in mainstream Windows applications. As the results show, the Viper is fast, but doesn't have the same levels of performance as a Matrox Millennium II. If you want fast Direct 3D performance then this is the card to beat. If you haven't got a use for Direct 3D, however, the Matrox Millennium II remains the card of choice.

Author: Stuart Andrews

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