Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro GeForce DDR

Many of the DDR based GeForce cards on the market are almost indistinguishable from one another. Many contain the same features, options and rarely differ in quality. Creative Labs, however, stands a bit out of the pack due to its high availability, fast overclocked speeds, and unique driver set. First, let's examine the features of the card which make it unique.

What the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro lacks in originality of board design, it makes up for with efficient cooling. It is always a pleasant surprise to have a card outperform its predecessors and Creative Labs did not disappoint. Also noteworthy is the fact that the reference design, even though it lacks some of the advanced features found on non-reference boards, cuts the cost and enhances the roll out time of a card. It was a bit surprising to find that Creative Labs did not include any TV-out support, a feature commonly found in DDR boards of this price. If you want to use the included WinDVD DVD decoder software to display DVD movies on your television, you are out of luck. The 2D quality of the board was fine at resolutions as high as 1600x1200, meaning that even larger monitors will be able to take advantage of the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro's DDR power.

The fact that Creative Labs chose to produce their own driver set from the ground up is a nice feature. Rather than see the same recycled driver features over and over again, Creative's use of proprietary drivers allow for enhanced ease of use and functionality. The software bundle decent when compared to the competition. Rather than package the same no-name games found in many video cards, Creative Labs actually included the rather popular Need for Speed 4: High Stakes game by Electronic Arts. However, Creative could not resist throwing in the standard useless games such as Dagoth Moor Zoological Gardens, Evolva: Scout, Colorific, and the standard demo package. At least you get one useful game in the package. Also included is WinDVD, a software based DVD decoder. This software was an interesting choice for Creative Labs, as it is usually found in cards with video-out (a feature which the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro lacks).

The one thing that sets the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro apart from the rest of the DDR cards is the fact that it is produced by a hardware powerhouse: Creative Labs. When you walk into a Best Buy or a CompUSA, you do not expect to see a Gigabyte card on the shelf. You are almost assured, however, that a Creative Labs card will be there (as long as it is not sold out). This provides a significant advantage to users who want to buy from a company they know, do not want to deal with the hassles of mail order, or simply want a DDR card right away. These facts alone justify its somewhat pricey $270 price tag. The 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro makes perfect sense in these cases, as the card performs well and has a very good overclocking potential. With the 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro, Creative Labs continues to dominate the retail hardware market.