Comparisons
In programs like Maya, 3ds max, Softimage XSI and Lightwave, the 5110's pure speed and high quality anti-aliasing make it a justifiable expense for the professional animator. For the slightly more budget-minded, the 5000 (under $900 street) is worthy of consideration, but it's in a performance range shared by some competitors like the cheaper Elsa Gloria DCC.

In most tests the 5110 rates two to three times faster than the 5000 and the Quadro DCC. The 5000 beat the Quadro DCC in most SPECviewperf tests, but was tied with or beaten by the Quadro in real-world Maya and 3ds max tests. The strengths of the Wildcats are in real-time lighting and wireframe, while the Quadro's strengths are in texturing and rasterizing.

Compare Wildcat II 5110 (left) and NVIDIA Quadro2 Pro's images of textures at 4004934.26 units from the point of origin.

One disappointment with the Wildcat cards is their lack of support for real-time shadows in Maya and their lack of pixel and vertex shader effects in 3ds max. Many software companies are adopting the Nvidia nfiniteFX standard -- it will be interesting to see how 3Dlabs, ATI and others respond.

Also, the current lack of DirectX support on the Wildcats can be a hindrance. While most 3D software uses OpenGL, many video editing programs and games require DirectX. Game developers may find it impractical to have a content creation card that can't also be used to run their game engine. 3Dlabs plans to address this problem with future products. For now, the Nvidia cards may be a better bet for game developers. Film, broadcast and post-production animators, however, will hardly notice the problem.

To sum it all up, the Wildcat II 5110 is the most powerful card out there for the hardcore 3D animator. It speeds up your workflow significantly, making it worth the substantial investment. If something cheaper is in your sights, things are a little less clear. The excellent Wildcat II 5000 is available as an add-on to your current workstation, but so are a number of other competing products. Future reviews will reveal how they stack up.

John Edgar Park is a 3D animator, instructor and writer based in Los Angeles. He received his B.A. in Drama from the University of Virginia.