Conclusion
What you're probably wondering is if this board is worth the money, with competition from Nvidia and 3Dfx already out and reporting better numbers than the Fury. I would have to say it depends on what you're looking for, and how much you're willing to spend.
If you're looking for a decent 2D/3D replacement board for your computer, this would be a good choice. If you're looking to put DVD on your computer, this is a great choice. If you're looking to play games or watch DVD movies on the TV, this is also a great choice.
If, however, you're a hard-core gamer, this choice isn't as good as its competition. The TNT2 Ultra and the Voodoo3 both report faster frame rates, as well as better 16-bit images. The Fury puts out better images in 32-bit mode, however, so again, it depends on what you want. I would have to conclude by saying that this board, while a good one, is not all it could have been.
It came out too late to be included with the last generation of 2D/3D boards, and too near the release of the current generation of boards, of which this one clearly begins to fall behind. I have read reports that ATI plans to release a new video card at the end of the year with a tripling or quadrupling of speed, as well as better 16 bit rendering. I hope that, by then, it isn't too little, too late.
Verdict
Overall Score
4 out of 5
Good
- Good 32-bit images
- Good TV-Out
- Good D3D performance
- Good price to performance ratio
- Hardware DVD
Bad
- Sketchy 16-bit images
- Compatibility problems