MSI StarForce 822 Retail GeForce3 64MB

Conclusion

The improvements made to the new release of the StarForce 822 were much needed and without question leave the card in better standing.

If you recall from the review of the initial StarForce 822, we criticized the card for its poor cooling, incomplete driver set, low availability, and high price. It seems that the majority of these problems are gone with the new revision of the card.

Cooling has obviously improved, with the addition of a new (and quite large) heatsink and fan, plus the addition of memory heatsinks, which did provide much better overclocking results. The use of thermal grease only adds to the appeal of the StarForce 822's cooling solution, making it one of the better ones out there.

The driver utilities are now fully featured. Not only do the utilities contain the same features as before, including a simple multi-desktop program and detailed information screen, added was a working overclocking utility: a necessity if one wants to fully take advantage of the StarForce 822's cooling system.

As far as availability is concerned, it seems that many more StarForce 822 cards should be popping up at your favorite stores now that the new version is in full production. Since not many of the initial cards found their way out, it was rather difficult to get one of these. We are already seeing this change, with more sites promoting the MSI GeForce3 solution. MSI promises that these cards will be as available as other GeForce3 solutions out there.

Next, on the issue of price, it seems that MSI has improved in this area greatly. All new retail boxed StarForce 822 cards come with the VIVO module standard. The best part about this is the price of these cards. Although the suggested retail price (set by MSI) is $400, cards are easily found online for around $360. This leaves the MSI card less expensive than the Gainward VIVO GeForce3 we looked at last week, about $15 less to be exact.

There are a few qualmswe had with the StarForce 822. First off, since two versions of the card have been sent to retailers (although less than 1,000 of the first generation cards are out there), one should be cautious when ordering the MSI StarForce 822 online. Be sure to confirm with the vender that this is the full retail card that includes both memory heatsinks as well as the VIVO module.

The second, albeit minor item we would like to have seen on the StarForce 822 is the addition of an S-video in port. Although of the two, we would rather have the composite input port (as MSI choose), both options would have been best. Also note that there is no DVI version of the MSI StarForce 822. MSI states that the need for a DVI port on a gaming card is small because most gamers are not satisfied with the speed of the current DVI LCD solutions. It is for this reason that the VIVO module is standard, replacing the DVI port.

For those not wanting to save a few dollars (around $20) for a completely stripped GeForce3, the MSI StarForce 822 is perhaps the best solution available now considering its price. The best judge of if this card is right for you is, well, you. See, if you plan on doing video editing with your GeForce3, make sure that your device (be it a TV, VCR, camcorder, ect) has a composite out port on it. If it only has an S-video port, or if you want higher quality video editing through an S-video port, the MSI StarForce 822 should not be your card of choice; instead opt to spend a few dollars more on a card with an S-video input port. If, however, you only want video editing with a composite device, or perhaps just want to know that you have video in capabilities, the StarForce 822 should be at the top of your list.