FastGraphics has posted a review on the Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 and the VideoLogic Vivid.
A few weeks ago we wrote a preview about the new Hercules 3DProphet 4500 with the Kyro II chipset from STMicroelectronics. This new chip is based upon the PowerVR technology which we´ve previously seen in PC graphics chips from NEC and also in the Sega Dreamcast. Hercules and STMicroelectronics have committed themselves to a long-term agreement to develop, built and market boards based upon the PowerVR technology. And that´s a brave step from Hercules because nVidia really doesn´t seem to like the path that Hercules has chosen. This was very well illustrated at the CeBit last month in Hannover: nVidia had road-signs at their booth pointing to the booths locations of all manufacturers which make nVidia based boards. But even though Hercules was showing their new GeForce 3 card, there was no road-sign at nVidia that pointed towards Hercules. And last week there was suddenly this ´internal´ PDF file from nVidia which trashed everything that has to do with PowerVR and Kyro technology. nVidia later stated that this PDF files was not to be released, but it shows that they are concerned about this new chip. We´ve got a Kyro I and a Kyro II board in our labs, so let´s have see if nVidia´s concerns are legitimate.Read more
