The primary feature of a GeForce, if you haven't yet heard, is its hardware transformation and lighting engine. This engine offloads processing from the CPU, freeing it up for tasks such as running AI and other fun-filled CPU work. This hardware T&L engine enables even those with lower end CPUs to achieve stellar performance levels that would make a vendor proud. Unfortunately, the hardware T&L engine only comes into play with DirectX 7 software written to support it or with OpenGL software, neither of which make up the bulk of the gaming market yet.
One thing we just have to mention about the GA-GF2560, as well as every single Gigabyte video card we test, is its physical color. It's aquamarine, like your grandfather's Impala before 40 years of oxidation. No other GeForce goes so well with blue eyes or 2000 Flushes. OK, maybe I'm taking this a bit far, but other cards with their green PCBs look drab in comparison. It's what's on the inside that counts, and any machine with a GA-GF2560 will have prettier insides for it.
We managed to overclock our GA-GF2560 up to a stunningly high 155MHz core clock and 205MHz memory clock. We were even able to push the card farther without crashing, but graphical glitches started showing up. Our test card proved extremely overclockable, but remember, not all cards are created equal. Overclocking increases your speed for free, but there are no guarantees. We benchmarked the overclocked GA-GF2560 in Quake III Arena to show you the
performance gains we realized.
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