Maxi Gamer Phoenix Banshee

As a role model for all future Banshee based video cards Guillemot did an excellent job of putting the chipset to good use, you'll find no useless features, filler software titles, or pointless driver utilities with the Maxi Gamer Phoenix.  You'll get exactly what you pay for with this card, the $89.99 final price (after a $20 manufacturer's mail in rebate) buys you what will come to be considered the average for a 2D/3D accelerator combo, with at least one title that'll keep you drooling for a while. 

If your budget dictates that $100 - $120 is the absolute most you can spend on a 2D/3D graphics accelerator, the Banshee is the ideal choice for you.  It combines the power of the Voodoo2 with the price of an i740 all in a single, low cost, average performance package. 

For users with slower processors (including Super7 users) such as the Pentium II 233, 266, and 300, the Banshee is probably the best overall choice for the price.  Anything above a 300 is more worthy of a Savage3D or a Riva TNT based accelerator simply because of the processor scalability those two chipsets (especially the TNT) boast over the Banshee. 

If 2D/3D image quality is of the utmost importance (as in you don't care too much about performance), you're probably better off getting a Matrox G200 which falls into virtually the same price range with unparalleled sharp 2D image quality not to mention its top notch 3D image quality as well.

While those recommendations are speaking in general terms, they will apply to the Phoenix once Guillemot revises their drivers.  Keep in mind that the card tested by AnandTech didn't ship with the final drivers, and improvements will come with time.  Check back on the AnandTech frontpage for the latest updates on the issue as well as Guillemot's home page at www.guillemot.com for all driver updates once the cards starts shipping.  With a company like Guillemot, it is highly doubtful that they would ship a card without proper driver support in mass quantities. 

Overall, a strong recommendation for average 2D/3D performance goes out to Guillemot for their Banshee based product, while the card isn't for high end users, it still packs the explosive punch necessary to take down the 3D performance barrier without any TNT.