Review for Diamond Multimedia Viper V770 (Reviewed by Kod from Protab, October 14, 1999)

Now days, there are many 3D accelerators out there to choose from. There is the very popular 3Dfx Voodoo3 series, ATI Rage 128 series, Matrox G400 series, the S3 Savage 4, and the TNT2. The Diamond Viper V770 is based on the TNT2 graphics processor. Every chip has its good sides, and its bad sides, but when you look at everything, the nVidea’s TNT2 (and the TNT2 Ultra) will come out the best.

Well, if you want a TNT2, now you have to decide which card you want. There are many TNT2 based card. One of the most popular ones is the Diamond Viper V770 and V770 Ultra, and for many reasons. Diamond is been making video cards for a long time, and the Viper series of cards has always been its best. We will be taking a look at the Diamond Viper V770. The Diamond Viper V770 is very similar to the V770 Ultra, except the Ultra has little faster clock speed.

The Viper V770 produces excellent Direct3D, OpenGL, and 2D graphics at very high frame rates. It also has onboard DVD decoding for people who have a DVD-ROM and want to watch movies on their computers. It supports 32-bit 3D rendering, something that is missing from the Voodoo3, which gives the Diamond a strong advantage. The Diamond Viper V770 comes with 32mb of RAM, and AGP 2x and 4x support, so you can use it with computers today, or if you ever get an AGP 4x motherboard, which will give you even faster video speed. The Diamond has a 125MHz engine clock, and a 150MHz memory clock.

Game support is excellent. Most games now use Direct3D, something that the TNT2 and the Diamond score excellent in. The Diamond is also great in games that use OpenGL, like Quake 2 and 3. This means you never have to worry if you card will work in 3D with games. Also, this card will support any resolution you want it to run in 2D or 3D modes.

If you are in the market for a new 3D accelerator, the Diamond Viper V770 is one of the best bets out there. To top it off, the card has dropped in price, so now more gamers can afford it. The V770 comes with a NetActive version of EA’s Need For Speed III, a DVD player, and some other software. Consider this card, and all the other TNT2 based cards, and find the card that you think will best fit your needs. I’m sure the Diamond will be near the top of your list.

Overall Rating – 94/100

Diamond Multimedia – http://www.diamondmm.com

Estimated Retail Price - $179.95 USD