Diamond Monster Fusion

by Mike Andrawes on April 16, 1999 8:57 PM EST

Performance Notes

Additional benchmarks with additional CPU's and resolutions are available in the AnandTech Voodoo3 Review or the April 1999 Super7 3D Video Comparison.

Basically, the Banshee is definitely not the fastest in the face of the latest crop of cards. It is certainly not a horrible performer and provides playable frame rates sufficient for the casual gamer. But the nice thing about the Banshee is that it doesn't require tons of CPU power to maximize its potential. Of course, the flip side of that is that as CPU speed increases, the Banshee is stuck where it is now.

Conclusion

Quick Look

Diamond Monster Fusion

The Good


http://www.diamondmm.com
$99.95 MSRP
(After rebate)

+ SGRAM
+
Cooling fan
+ Higher clock speed than other Banshee boards
+ Good 2D output
+ Inexpensive

The Bad

- End of Banshee product cycle
- Poor NT4 drivers
- No 32-bit rendering
- No OpenGL ICD

With the Banshee nearing the end of its product cycle, it may not seem like a wise decision to buy one now. Remember though, the Banshee was brand new just over six months ago and now, prices are dropping to almost half of what they were back then (about $70 after rebate for the Fusion if you look around). Then again, Voodoo3 2000 boards are already showing up for not a lot more money, but with much greater performance. The Banshee is still a great buy for lower end systems and especially Super 7 systems.

Basically, the decision comes down to whether or not you want a Banshee based card. If so, the Monster Fusion is the fastest Banshee card around, so this would definitely be the one to get.

Click here to find lowest prices on this product.

Shogo Performance - AMD K6 CPU's
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