NVIDIA GeForce DDR Roundup (March 00)

Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro - Card Specs

3D Blaster Annihilator Pro Specifications
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Memory	32 MB Infineon DDR SGRAM 6 ns
Cooling	Heatsink/Fan Combo
TV-Out	Not Supported
TV-In	Not Supported
Drivers	Creative Labs' custom Blaster Control
Highest Overclock	160/345 MHz
Overclocking Utility	Blaster Control (memory clock only)
Software/Gaming Bundle	Need for Speed 4: High Stakes, Dagoth Moor Zoological Gardens, Evolva: Scout, Colorific, WinDVD
Estimated Street Price	$270
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Of all the cards reviewed, the Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro is by far the most widely available. Creative Labs' high market status has allowed them to be the one of the only producers that can get their product on almost any store shelf in America. While availability of the product may be extraordinary, the card itself is nothing special. Based on NVIDIA's reference design, the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro is identical to many other GeForce cards on the market. The item which was shocking about our card was the high overclocked speed that it was able to reach. Most likely a result of a high yield on the GPU, the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro was able to reach 160 MHz in the core and 345 MHz in the memory clock, making it the second highest overclocked card. On the software side, Creative Labs' has chosen to include at least one useful game: Need for Speed 4. Nonetheless, the package also comes full of the demos and useless games found in most other packages.

One aspect that separates the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro from the rest of the pack are the drivers used by Creative Labs. Rather than repackage the reference drivers or copy them fully, Creative Labs created their own driver set named the "Blaster Control." Having useful features on hand, the Blaster Control center also includes some items that are not found on the reference driver set, such as virtual desktop and a memory overclocking utility.

Pros: Wide availability, useful game package, unique driver set

Cons: No TV-out, bare reference design