Introduction

 We’ve just received for review the latest new creation from Hercules, the well-known American manufacturer of outstanding graphic cards. Founded in 1982, Hercules created among other things, the monochrome graphic standard. Over years the brand has focused on making top quality products and has been bought by Guillemot Corporation in November 1999. Guillemot Corporation is a French hardware manufacturer that has a strong establishment in Europe along with a very good reputation. Since this acquisition, Hercules is back in the front scene, and is becoming one of the favorite graphic card makers among hard-core gamers. Their latest product, the 3D Prophet III, is obviously based on the newest and long-awaited new GPU from NVIDIA, the GeForce 3 (previously code-named NV20). Not surprisingly, Hercules chose to keep the name that made the success of its previous 3D cards for this new high-end model. The 3D Prophet III clearly targets a niche’s market: passionate, hard-core gamers who can afford this beast! The 3D Prophet III is actually more a showcase of Hercules technology know-how than a real source of revenue for the company. Anyway this new card represents a clear breakthrough in terms of 3D technology, thanks to NVIDIA and the architecture Hercules has developed for it. So let the review begin.

First Look

As usual with Hercules, the 3D Prophet III design is very meticulous and neat. The card is all blue conferring an unusual look. Sure once the board is installed in your computer you won’t see anymore the blue Hercules’ touch, but this thing as well as others really differentiate Hercules from its competitors. As every new GeForce 3 based graphic card, the 3D Prophet III comes with two memory heatsink blocks that cover 4 DDR memory chips, once (instead of one heatsink per 2 memory chips previously). These cooling adapters are here to ensure one thing: the reliability of the card, providing the opportunity for safe overclocking.  The engine of the board is covered by a blue heatsink that comes with a strong and powerful fan. In comparison to the 3D Prophet II Ultra both the heatsink and fan of the GPU are much bigger and more efficient. This state of the art 3D graphic card also features a S-VHS TV output: so you can watch DVDs, and play games on your TV. Contrary to competing GeForce 3 cards manufacturers, the TV output of the 3D Prophet III isn’t an adapter plugged onto the card as it is now totally integrated in the device so it doesn’t take more space in your system. Another unique feature of the 3D Prophet III is its DVI connector that let’s users plug their LCD monitors using a full digital connection for awesome, parasite free, graphics in resolutions up to 1600*1200. Finally Hard Core gamers will appreciate the fact the card comes with nice Hercules stickers to decorate your PC box

Hercules 3D Prophet III (click to enlarge)

Hercules 3D Prophet III Cooling System (click to enlarge)